"---Opinions? Three doesn't seem like many but I can see the potential for odor."

Canadian geese make a big mess everywhere.

No odor for three hens, as far as I can remember. No more than rabbits, hamsters. Dog poop makes a lot more even after you scoop up.

I was in Vancouver, I think they just passed an ordinance also allowing more than three. I don't remember what's the maximum. No roosters either.

dcarch

No potential for odor if the coop and run are kept clean by scooping manure frequently. Some city compost piles have the potential for as much or more odor than a well kept hen house. Damp surroundings would cause more odor so care must be taken to site the coop in a well drained place in the yard.

Teresa

Denver passed this on June 30, 2011. Of course it doesn't apply to Boulder.
Lee

"We came a long way here in Denver.

From my initial posting on this forum on February 22, 2009 when I announced a campaign to change the laws, we finally did it.

Denver now allows up to 8 chickens and/or ducks and 2 goats per lot by vote of the City Council on June 20, 2011.

This is a victory for our campaign and a victory for urban homesteading. Unfortunately, however, the new law also outlaws chicken slaughtering. In addition to being unsustainable, this does not address what chicken owners can legally and practically do when their chickens are old, sick or unwanted. It is also a waste of valuable meat.

James Bertini
Denver Urban Homesteading"

I have seven hens in my little urban yard in Atlanta. We feed them, and they feed us. So long as it's clean, there's no odor. If we had many more, though, it would be difficult to keep the coop clean enough. Dog poop is worse, and you can't compost it.

There's a couple of small mobile processing businesses in Georgia, so we could grow meat chickens and have them slaughtered (I don't know if we have rules against it or not). But we're far too attached to our chickens to eat them.

Dallas has allowed hens for some time, now. I think they allow up to 4. My town, a suburb of Dallas, also allows 4 hens. My next door neighbor had some for a while. I never smelled them. I did benefit from them, as they gave me eggs from time to time. I would love to have chickens, but haven't gotten organized enough to do so. I just don't think I have the time for them right now.

Sally

I don't know what the law is here, but I assume it's ok to have the hens as a friend of mine did!

Her daughter raised chickens two separate times from chicks to full grown hens. It was for a school/4H type project. She kept them in the laundry room when they were small but they moved to the backyard as they grew. I have no idea if they made a lot of noise or smell but my friend gets along well with all her neighbors so they must have been ok.

They didn't keep the chickens for laying purposes though. They had them butchered and tried to sell them but was unsuccessful. I did eat a couple of them!

Though I have no intention of doing so, apparently I can keep up to 12 hens in my town. In a low density zone. I'm not sure of my particular zoning.

10-2.507 - Animals and Fowl.

(a)
The keeping of the following animals and fowl is a permitted use:
(1)
A maximum of two (2) dogs, five (5) months or older, per dwelling unit.
(2)
A maximum of three (3) cats, three (3) months or older, per dwelling unit.
(3)
A maximum of twelve (12) other domestic fowl (hens only), rabbits, hares, or other domestic animals customarily considered to be household pets per dwelling unit.
(4)
A maximum of two (2) pygmy goats, three (3) months or older, per dwelling unit.
(5)
A maximum of two (2) miniature potbellied pigs, excluding boars, three (3) months or older, per dwelling unit.
(b)
The following animals and fowl are permitted upon securing a conditional use permit from the Board:
(1)
A maximum of fifty (50) racing homer pigeons maintained in pens or lofts on a lot which contains at least one (1) dwelling unit.
(2)
A maximum of two (2) exotic pets.
(3)
Additional numbers of the animals and fowl permitted in (a)(3) above.
(c)
There shall be a minimum of forty (40) feet between the window or door of any building used for human habitation and pens, coops, cages or similar housings where animals and fowl, except household pets, are kept.
(1)
All animals, fowl, and birds, except household pets, that are not kept in habitable buildings shall be contained in pens, coops, or cages.
(d)
There shall be a minimum separation equal to the required side yard between any property line and any pens, coops, cages or similar housings for animals and fowl.
(e)
All animals and fowl shall be kept in conformance with all other laws, ordinances and regulations governing them, including licensing regulations.
(f)
Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall be unlawful and punishable as an infraction.

Wow, barnmom, you could have a farm there. Or a petting zoo!

Actually, roosters cause a lot more neighbor contention because they are so loud, usually very early in the morning. Two or three hens would cause a negligible odor as long as the coop is kept clean. IMO the worst "odor" offenders are rodents, like hamsters and gerbils, they somehow always smell bad. That many hens would be far less messy and smelly than a couple of big dogs, and less likely to roam and/or be destructive than cats. They would also create no more odor than birds such as parrots, which can be large.

Annie

Annie, I looked for a maximum total of animals and there isn't any that I can find. Only limits on individual species. But what limits a person is the 40 foot rule. I live in a low density zone by their zoning but my lot is long and narrow and there is no place I could situate a coop and legally be far enough away from my house doors/windows and the neighbors' doors and windows.

Hamsters are very stinky. We had guinea pigs for a long time. The one boy we had was stinky but the girls were not.

There was an article in Los Angeles Magazine a while ago that was all about keeping farm animals in an urban environment. Turns out there are plenty of appropriate species (small, quiet, not too active, don't need space, not stinky) that can be easily integrated into a city house/backyard.

DH wants chickens but we might have trouble finding someone to hen-sit when we are away. My father, who was an egg rancher in his previous life, would be tickled.

We can have chickens in our NJ town. My backyard neighbor has had chickens and ducks over the years for the eggs. We've never had an issue with noise or smell. Several months ago I noted that I hadn't heard the "girls" clucking. My neighbor said that raccoons got them, so he was reinforcing the base of his chicken coop and was going to restock. I miss their soft noise.

Helene