I wish we could have chickens!!

I've found lots of info on this site:

Urban chickens

I have chickens in a coop in the corner of my 1/3 acre lot in Augusta, GA. You have to check with your local government to determine the rules and regs in your area. Here we can't have more than 75 per acre and they have to be kept in a coop that is at least 25 ft from the nearest dwelling.

You want to make sure you have plenty of room for them so they don't start picking on each other. 6 to 10 sq ft per bird is a good amount to aim for. Keeping just one bird is not recommended--they are social animals so at least 2 or even 3 to 5 would be better. It is not difficult to set up a coop with water and food arranged so you do not have to tend to them every day--so it would be very easy to leave them for a weekend. Be sure to study what is required to protect them from predators such as coons, possums, foxes, hawks and dogs.

BackYardChickens.com is an excellent source for info on all aspects of keeping chickens.

He does need to check local ordinances, I have just shy of an acre and would be allowed three within city limits.

What morz8 said. I live in the country but the bylaws for my community prohibit it even though I have an acre and a half of land.

First step is definitely to check if he is legally allowed.

Not me, but two doors from me in urban St. Paul MN. There are 5, and they have a lovely warm coop for our long winters. I greet them every day as I walk down the alley and they come rushing up to the fence to say hello.

From what I've read, it's best to have more than one, not sure why. It would be wonderful to have fresh eggs.

Chickens are flock animals; it would be cruel to have just one. Is your son prepared for the fact that they lay eggs for a very few years and that no one operates chicken sanctaries or no kill shelters?

They require particular care to their shelters, the type of feed that they must have, disease and pest control, protection from predators, etc.

It's bad enough with yapping dogs next door. You can have 4 chickens in San Francisco.I suppose I could put up with a couple of clucking chickens....but I draw the line at a rooster. Contrary to common belief, they don't just crow in the morning. They crow all day long.

Check your local ordinances.

There is a Facebook page for people who keep chickens in our town. Perhaps there is an equivalent local resource that could be consulted?

I think they're permitted in my general area but I believe prohibited in my specific neighborhood of houses by covenants of our homeowners' association. At least such was the case when I last looked at the covenants about 10 years ago.

Hurray for that.

I have friends who keep chickens. They live in a semi-rural setting, however, it is incorporated and houses are not far apart with a few subdivisions scattered around. The have a 3 acre lot, so codes allow them to have chickens with one restriction: No roosters.

Roosters crow at dawn waking up those who work 2nd shift and those who wish to sleep past dawn. Crowing roosters can create a lot of ill will and complaints, thus the code bans them. A crowing rooster does not bother me. It invokes a bit of nostalgia since I was raised on a small farm with a flock of free range chickens and enough roosters to keep the flock happy. There are many others who do not share the same feeling.

Before planning on getting chickens, check local ordinances to find what is permitted. It will save a lot of hassle later on.

Within our city limits you may keep up to 6 backyard chickens without a permit, 10 with a permit or up to twenty if you meet distance from other dwelling requirements with a permit. No roosters over four months old.

I would love to have a few chickens; they can be funny little busybodies. I had a friend who had several including one who would insist on being held. She would climb up in your lap if you sat down!

But, even though I live just outside the city limits and have an acre lot, we also have coyotes, skunks, hawks, raccoons, fox, and other common urban/suburban predators. In my area, fire ants can be a serious issue, too.

I'm too much of a worrier to be able to relax my guard....and what about our long weekends out of town?

And, of course, I'd end up being the caretaker of several happy but nonproductive hens as they lived out their natural lives as my pets!

Nope, I'll never be able to have chickens. :-)

I am zoned agriculture where I live so my chickens are fine. However in a nearby town you can only have chickens if you have a child in a 4 H project then they may have them, that is my understanding. Yes, roosters crow a lot. I have one Bantam rooster and he is pretty good, but can be loud. He and the 4 hens are confined this winter to their chicken house and the big attached screen house. Maybe next year we will put up a pen. Too many coyotes around to let them run loose any more.

Sue

It's always a joy to learn someone is keeping a few chickens, enjoying them and treating them kindly instead of the hideous manner in which the chickens we buy from the market are kept. Good luck to anyone with backyard chickens.

I agree to check with the neighbors to avoid trouble. Personally I wouldn't care if my neighbors had chickens but DH would. I actually think it would be cool if my neighbors had chickens. Not sure about roosters though.

At one house we looked at several years ago in a rural area of the county, if you stood out in the yard you could plainly hear a rooster crowing about every 5 seconds. After we left that property we drove further down the road, as saw just past the property on the other side of the road the homeowner there had about 50 blue barrels in the yard, each of which housed a rooster on a short leash. I don't think they were raising them for the eggs.