Don’t Fly
the Coop! Chickens in an
Urban Environment Michaela Hruba, CMCA, AMS
As a ten-year veteran as a portfolio manager, the notification about the August 23, 2010 approval of the Seattle Municipal Code for Urban Farms and Community Gardens that allowed for up to eight chickens (but no rooster!) on any lot in the City of Seattle made me giggle. My imagination went wild; all the dream house chicken coops on the decks of our Seattle condominiums and the communities fighting to amend their governing document for the privilege to be the first one to place one of these urban-appropriate lodgings for domestic fowl on their property. How practical—fresh eggs daily and the added feeling of being close to nature. With some hesitation, I explained to my ten-year-old daughter (already a proud owner of a dog, cockatiel and beta-fish and always inquiring about more pets for our menagerie) what made me laugh, further elaborating on the subject of the new ordinance as it pertained to common ownership association properties.
As predicted, and against the wise advice of my friends and family, approximately one month later there it was—a brand new Amazon-made chicken coop, with a special start-up package of three, three-day old chickens with headlamp and baby chick food for one month. I truly did not believe that the three chickens in our care would last for a month.
Well, now, five years later, they are still happily dwelling in our back yard and I am truly enjoying my daily supply of fresh eggs as well as the friendly company of my three wards every time I work in my garden. And, as an added benefit, my garden has really blossomed with the added chicken waste nutrition. But, there were some bumps in the road. First, chickens without a rooster like to roam around and a regular fence will not stop them so our fence had to be built much higher. Then, the chickens are not as noisy as roosters but they do make a riot every time they lay an egg (three chickens equals three eggs per day which means three riots for the neighbors to suffer through, every day). Luckily, I have very tolerant neighbors. And then there are the rodents that will learn that there is always some food in the chicken area— after testing a number of products, Victor® PestChaser® with its varying intensity and frequencies of ultrasonic sound waves was the only effective tool that finally convinced our unwanted visitors to go back where they came from.
With that being said, even now, as a proud veteran chicken owner enjoying the benefits of the 2010 Seattle ordinance, I would continue to advise the communities in my portfolio to stay away from the new Seattle chicken trend. Not all neighbors are as tolerant as my neighbors when dealing with the noise and rodent activity generated by neighborhood roaming fowl.
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