Backyard Chickens Ruffle Neighbors' Feathers

So funny I saw this here, I was just talking about my neighbors. I live in a regular middle class suburb where everyone in the neighborhood has lived for like 20 years. 2 years ago the man behind me died and his son finally sold his house last summer. A nice man, wife, and 2 kids from Bosnia moved in. Within one week, 13 other people moved in. There are now 13 cars, including a 30 foot box type truck, an a semi tractor, a big back yard absolutely FULL of junk and just installed about 2 months ago, a full chicken coop. The chicken's sealed the deal. It's a nightmare. Nothing to do with them being Bosnian, could have been anyone - but my god, the smell, the noise, and I think at least 3 people live on the covered patio in the backyard and are the dedicated chicken handlers. It's so sad. I keep thinking about the man that used to live there and how beautiful and peaceful this place was, now it's chickens squawking 24 hours a day. Reply

Chickens are harmless. We have 25 of them in our (large) back yard. Just don't keep roosters (you don't need them for eggs) and if you have squawkers, kill and eat them. As far as the Bosnian thing - well, you know, have you maybe spoken to them ans asked them to fix things up a little? Or offered help? Sounds like they are trying to save money by compressing living arrangements. Reply

Put down that chicken, and kiss me with your greasy lips! I'm glad to see people taking more steps to raise their own food and get away from having everything they eat come from a plastic package. It's a good sign. I try to buy as much as I can from little ethnic groceries that have lots of locally-grown, fresh food. Their clientele are disgusted by the idea of food having been dead for many days before it arrives at the big upscale supermarkets. Reply

I actually keep a yard full of ducks. Much quieter, eat all the bugs out of my garden and lawn. And my neighbors think they are the funniest things they've ever seen. Not to mention the little autistic girl across the street will simply sit in the yard for hours just watching them and laughing, its the only peace her poor mother gets. Reply

Does the smell and the noise come from the chickens or the three people living on the back deck? Just kidding- but seriously, i have 22 hens that free range my property. I live on a vast parcel of land in a rural area, so neighbors are not an issue, but i DO have lots of experience with back yard chickens. My girls are neither smelly nor noisy. Actually they are well behaved, and are very much pet like in nature. They are friendly and eat out of our hands, and follow me while i do chores. I realize that some homeowners might see them as a detriment to property values, but in the right surroundings free range hens are wonderful. The real estate broker quoted in this article says "eggs aren't even that expensive anyway", but there is no comparison between store bought eggs and organically produced free range eggs. The latter are free of growth hormones and are the second highest Omega rich food (fish oil being the first). Because Chickens are omnivores their eggs are high in many vitamin and minerals if allowed to free range and choose what they consume, which is not true of commercial birds. Also non commercial eggs are higher in the good cholesterol and lower in the bad cholesterol, and overall lower in both then eggs you can purchase in the store. Mostly, watching chickens in the yard is extremely entertaining as they are so full of personality, and when they are baby chicks they are so darned cute! Reply

They should restrict the conditions for chickens, but an outright ban is wrong. Something like only a certain number of birds based on the square footage of the yard should work, and no roosters. Reply

This is just proof of how disconnected from reality modern urbanites are. Stop squawking about man destroying nature when you won't let nature in your backyard. Reply