partner, friends, family, neighbors, and greater community—about the realities of factory farming and the industry we’ve been inadvertently supporting with our dollars. Keeping backyard chickens ensures that your birds are cared for in a humane and respectful way and that they live dignified lives, free from unnecessary suffering. In turn, you’ll be rewarded with the healthiest eggs available. Erect a beautiful coop that you’re proud of and invite the neighborhood over for a coop-warming party. Or, take your kid’s pet chicken to his class’s show-and-tell day and empower him to educate his peers. Surprisingly, there are many who just don’t know that a chicken lays an egg and that an egg is not just a manufactured food product that turns up on grocery store shelves. Or, that it’s not a dairy product. See? As a culture, we have collectively forgotten some of these very basic tenets of living.
Through your chicken keeping, you can educate a community about where their food comes from. You and your family can show friends and neighbors that chickens can be respectfully cared for, live happy lives, and still provide you with more eggs than you can eat.
Who Is the Chicken Keeper?
So, that’s the chicken. But who is the chicken keeper?
The answer is simple: anyone.
The chicken keeper is someone who values sustainable living, likes good food, wants to take control of his or her food sources and personal health, and enjoys the company and entertainment of chickens. The chicken keeper is someone who has a bit of outdoor space to spare for a flock (they’re social animals, so they need companions—a bare minimum of three chickens is best). The chicken keeper is someone who has time for quick daily feeding and watering, basic monthly maintenance, and a yearly coop clean. The chicken keeper doesn’t mind occasionally getting his or her hands dirty and doesn’t mind sharing garden space with a few quirky birds.
Raising chickens can be fun and very rewarding, too. They are easy to look after, don’t take up much room, and provide a steady supply of fresh, nutritious eggs.
2: Keeping Chickens in the ‘Burbs
In my grandmother’s youth, a small family flock in the suburban yard was commonplace. Chickens clucked contentedly in the background as American families went about their daily lives. It wasn’t a hobby so much as a way of life. In tandem with a garden, putting food on the table directly from the land was how it was done. After World War II, a massive shift in the way Americans eat began to take place. With the advent of highway systems and the growth of cities, food was more easily transported, and grocers could stock their shelves with exotic foods grown some distance away. Eventually, food was mass-produced on large farms, frozen, prepackaged, and trucked to local grocery stores rather inexpensively. Acquiring food in this way soon became incredibly convenient for the typical American family. Trade artisans, such as bakers and butchers, began to disappear, as it became easier to stock a kitchen or pantry with everything from under one retailer’s roof. And so, the American supermarket was born.
Almost simultaneously, many suburban and rural communities created regulations against the keeping of domestic chickens. Some cities outlawed the keeping of chickens within their limits altogether (although others, such as New York City, never changed regulations and still allow backyard flocks to this day). With the resurgence of self-sufficient philosophies and values and the reclassification of chickens as pets rather than livestock, many cities are now overturning their ordinances and allowing backyard chickens once again.
Are Chickens Right for You?
Almost anyone can raise chickens, but is keeping chickens right for you? Whether your city or town has recently overturned ordinances or never shed its rural roots to begin with, this chapter covers all of the concerns, costs, and considerations you need to think about before embarking on backyard chicken ownership.
Building an attractive chicken coop may not matter to the chickens, but it will go a long way in promoting good relations with your neighbors.
Your City’s Rules and Regulations
Like anything worth doing, there may be a few hoops to jump through before you can start your flock. First, it’s important to determine whether your city or town is one that allows backyard chickens.
Start by contacting your city’s health and zoning boards to see if chickens are legal within the city’s limits. If you’re lucky, your town may have municipal codes posted online for the public to read. (Be forewarned: Municipal codes are dry reading and can be a tad bit overwhelming.) Look under headings labeled “Animals” and “Zoning”—these two sections will likely provide some answers. If your online browser offers a search function, try searching for words like “fowl,” “poultry,” “livestock,” and, of course, “chickens.” Using these keywords to find the appropriate paragraphs could significantly speed up your search time.
When in doubt, county clerks or code compliance officers are great resources to help you sift through the heady terminology. However, if you speak with someone who assumes chickens aren’t allowed in your city, ask to see the codes that state the rules to be sure. For some municipalities, there may be no mention of poultry under the “Animals” section, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed. Sometimes, the rules for how many of each animal species is legal per zone may be under “Zoning,” so try searching there before you give up. If your city does allow chickens, bear in mind there may be a limit to the number of birds you may keep, and there may be additional fees for any birds or other pets over that limit. Some cities may also require a permit and charge a small yearly fee.
Finally, if you live in a neighborhood with a homeowner’s association, you’ll also want to check with the association’s board to learn whether they allow chickens in your neighborhood. If they are against chickens, you may feel passionate enough to take steps toward reversing those restrictions. Educating your fellow homeowners and board members is the first step: Speak to your neighbors, start a petition, and present to the board all of the many reasons why chickens are a great addition to any backyard.
Know Your Chicken L.O.R.E.
To find out about your city’s chicken laws and ordinances, go to the website backyardchickens.com. There, you can search by state to learn all about chicken L.O.R.E. (Laws and Ordinances and your Rights and Entitlements): www.backyardchickens.com/atype/3/Laws
The Right to Bear Chickens: Eight Tips for Changing City Ordinances
If you find that keeping chickens is illegal in your hometown, all hope’s not lost. It is possible for citizens to petition, educate, and lobby to have an ordinance overturned. Really, anyone can do it. If you’re passionate about poultry and are ready to see legal backyard chickens in your city, here are eight tips for getting started.
1.Knowledge Is Power. Keep reading this book—and any other chicken book you can get your hands on. To convince fellow citizens, skeptical neighbors, and government officials that chickens belong in backyards, you’ll need to know enough about them to speak confidently about their needs, behavior, and proper care. Get to know chickens inside and out by visiting regional farms and speaking to current chicken owners in neighboring towns or cities.
2.Build a Team. Next, find like-minded citizens who are willing to help see this project through to the end. Assemble a small task force that includes two to four
