Urban Chicken Ownership A Review of Common Issues Using Common Sense
Urban Chicken Ownership Owning a micro flock of chickens (4-6 hens) is gaining popularity across the United States and is apparently here to stay. These hens are raised as pets with names and are kept until the end of their life cycles. They are not treated as a traditional live stock commodity. Lets be pro-active instead of reactionary.
Urban Chicken Ownership Appropriate Context is a must! Small flock Creative coops Named pets Healthy fresh eggs Not: Large meat operations, large confined coops
What are the concerns? Health and Safety Property Values Nuisance Control and Ordinance Construction
Health and Safety Salmonella Predators
Salmonella Live Poultry is only one of many sources of this bacteria. Others include, but are not limited to: Dogs Cats Reptiles such as pet frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards Wild birds Pet rodents such as mice, hamsters, rats, gerbils, guinea pigs Pet rabbits Even dry dog food!
A recent CDC report ( http://www.cdc.gov/ salmonella/smallturtles-03-12/index.html) shows a current salmonella case count of 391 with 63 hospitalizations over 41 states. The culprit? Small, commercially sold pet turtles. Salmonella cont..
Salmonella: Public Health Concern? Due to the obvious concern with live poultry, I personally contacted Dr. Colin Basler, a Veterinary Epidemiologist with the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases at the CDC His conclusion: Wash your hands Limit exposure of poultry to those familiar with the animals Use caution around the elderly and very young
Salmonella: Public Health Concern? owning chickens typically do not put the general public at an increased risk since they are not contacting the birds or their environments. Dr. Colin Basler (personal email correspondence) Also: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states on their website: There is no need at present to remove a (family) flock of chickens because of concerns regarding avian flu.
Predators There is a concern that having a small number of hens in the backyard could cause an asymmetric increase in the number of predators such as raccoons, possums, rats, snakes, even coyotes.
Predators cont Predators are present with or without the presence of chickens Many of these predators are currently feeding themselves on trash, pet food and bird seed Dr. Stanley Gehrt quotes in his new book, Urban Carnivores, urban coyote diets typically are made up of less than 6% "urban" type items, including trash, feral cats, etc. They are much more likely to eat fruits, berries, roadkill, rats, mice, snakes, etc in parks or undeveloped land.
Predators cont Back yard chickens will put themselves away in their coop at sunset, long before these nocturnal predators begin to forage. A well constructed coop will keep predators from having success in obtaining an easy meal. For a territorial predator, the easiest meal is the most likely to be revisited. For now, this includes trash and pet food.
Property Values and Backyard Chickens Lets look at some of the top housing markets and their current ordinances regarding the ownership of backyard chickens
Housing Markets vs. Chicken Laws Top 5 Housing Markets in the United States http:// www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/home-values-best-markets.aspx#slide=1 Pheonix, AZ Yes Las Vegas, NV Yes San Jose, CA Yes San Francisco, CA Yes Sacramento, CA Yes
Property Value cont Top 5 Median Home Price Markets in Texas Median Home Sale Price University Park 1.78 million no Chickens Allowed? Restrictions? Horseshoe Bay 1.1 million no Southlake 958,695 Yes, 12 per ¼ acre The Woodlands 870,610 no Colleyville 842,250 Yes, only restricted by nuisance complaints
Property Values cont Top 5 markets with highest increase of list price in Texas List Price Increase Chickens Allowed? Restrictions? Wills Point 17.3 % Yes, nuisance complaint controlled Vidor 12.3 % Yes, closer than 100 requires written consent Flower Mound 11.8 % Yes, up to 3 on less than an acre lots Weslaco 11.1 % no Mineola 8.50 % Yes, in a coop, 50 from other residences
Property Values cont The issue of backyard chickens and the effect on property value is ambiguous at best. I recently randomly polled Austin realtors on this subject and received permission to quote the following two realtors: I sell homes in the East Austin area where there are many backyard coops. I have never had a sale impacted by the presence of chickens. I have actually had some buyers state that they liked knowing the chickens were nearby Shawn Rooker, The presence of chickens in adjacent property has never caused a negative impact on the sale price of any of the properties that I have been involved with the sale of, and I have sold several properties with adjacent backyard coops. Ashley Holmes,
Nuisance and Ordinance Construction There are several nuisance concerns that are repeatedly brought up: Noise: Hens are generally not noisy. Their decibel range is far less than an average dog barking. Hens have a 60-70 decibel range about the same as a normal conversation. They typically only make noise during and after they lay which is once a day on average and generally during normal working hours. A dog barking is upwards of 90 decibels as is a rooster (which is why they should not be allowed). And a songbird, such as a wren or mocking bird, can be as loud as 85 decibels.
Nuisance and Ordinance Construction Smell: The fear of odor problems caused by backyard chickens is unwarranted. Chickens themselves do not smell- only their feces has the potential to stink, which is also true of feces from dogs, cats, or any other animal that leaves waste in the yard. But unlike dogs and cats, who leave waste on the lawns of their neighbors or in public places, chicken waste in an urban setting is confined to the coop & run, due to ordinances disallowing them to free range. It s also important to realize that the maximum number of chickens a city allows is important. As an example, four small hens weigh less than 20 pounds collectively, and generate less waste than one average dog.
Nuisance and Ordinance Construction Smell cont.. The reason people fear an odor problem is because their only experience with chickens (if they have any at all), is a farm or commercial poultry operation. In these situations, chickens are viewed as a commodity and are raised with the intention of profit from meat or egg production. Under those circumstances, hundreds, if not thousands, of chickens are often kept in crowded conditions with poor ventilation or regular cleaning. As a result, ammonia can build up and these facilities can stink. In contrast, people who want to raise hens as pets in the city are not looking to make a profit: they want eggs laid by healthy, happy chickens that they treat like pets. A few small birds housed at least 10 from adjacent dwellings and in close proximity to the owner s home, are extremely unlikely to create an odor problem for neighbors. http://ferndalechickens.com/2012/05/18/myth-chickens-stink/
Ordinance Construction So what would a less restrictive ordinance look like? Here is a break down of the current City of Cedar Park ordinance: Allowed only in certain zones 1 acre or more needed for free range Coops need 3square feet of space per chicken http://z2.franklinlegal.net/franklin/z2browser2.html? showset=cedarparkset
Ordinance Construction What back yard chicken owners would like: Ownership opened to allow chickens in the currently excluded neighborhood zones A no rooster policy A maximum of 3-6 hens A workable setback from neighbors of no less than 20 and no more than 50. A requirement of maintaining a humane and well kept coop that provides adequate protection from predators Allows free range of hens in backyards that have an intact privacy fence of at least 6 in height.
Ordinance Construction Luckily, this is not new territory. There are literally thousands of communities that have existing or recently changed ordinances that allow for backyard chickens in a low setback urban setting. Look at some of these: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/corpus-christitexas-chicken-ordinance http://66.147.242.185/~urbanch5/wp-content/uploads/ 2012/02/Ordinance-research-paper.pdf http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/3/laws/tag/ texas-ordinances/page/10
Ordinance Construction But what about enforcing these new ordincances? Good news! The fine men and women of the Cedar Park Animal Control division already respond to, and professionally mitigate, complaints of noise and smell. Hens would be held to no different standard than a dog or cat.
Conclusion 40 or 50 years ago, raising chickens was relegated to farming operations and rural settings. Things have changed. In a society with so many misgivings about the quality of our food supply, it has become common place for urban home owners to raise micro-flocks of hens for the benefit of fresh eggs, the free organic lawn fertilizer and the non-chemical laden weed control. The setting for raising these micro flocks is considerably less invasive than your average large agri-business operation. The coops are creatively designed and well maintained. The birds are named and cared after as well as any conventional pet. The impact to the community as a whole is insignificant. Allowing less restrictive ordinances would result in only minor changes to the already successful animal control practices.
Conclusion We want to shoot for this:
Or this Conclusion
Not this! Conclusion
And definitely not this! Conclusion
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