# laws on havving backyard chickens



## ninabl (Sep 23, 2010)

any one know the laws or who should i call?
i want to get a few chickens to raise in my backyard,
im in barrow county between winder and bethlehem but not in any city limits. im in a older neighborhood, thats the only reason i could see not being able to have them.
i have lookind online and couldnt find anything.
thanks


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## SarahFair (Sep 23, 2010)

Call the Extension Office and ask for the Zoning Dept.

http://www.barrowga.org/contacts/


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## buckshot4:13 (Sep 23, 2010)

if they are considered "pets" you can have them any where you can have a dog.


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## clown714 (Sep 23, 2010)

i've got a few and a rooster.

no problems,here.

clown


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## ninabl (Sep 23, 2010)

clown714 said:


> i've got a few and a rooster.
> 
> no problems,here.
> 
> clown



are you in a neighborhood?
thnaks


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## ninabl (Sep 23, 2010)

SarahFair said:


> Call the Extension Office and ask for the Zoning Dept.
> 
> http://www.barrowga.org/contacts/



i will give them a call when i get home. thanks


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## jason4445 (Sep 23, 2010)

Here they are illegal to have unless you get a permit.  You can only have 6 hens and no roosters, the pen has to be a certain size and chicken coop has to be a certain size and cannot be within so many feet of another house.  You have to pay a permit fee of $25 a year and pay another $25 as a one time fee to pay a inspector to come out and approve the permit.

Guess what - there ain't to many chickens around here.


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## FX Jenkins (Sep 23, 2010)

jason4445 said:


> Here they are illegal to have unless you get a permit.  You can only have 6 hens and no roosters, the pen has to be a certain size and chicken coop has to be a certain size and cannot be within so many feet of another house.  You have to pay a permit fee of $25 a year and pay another $25 as a one time fee to pay a inspector to come out and approve the permit.
> 
> Guess what - there ain't to many chickens around here.




I'd move...


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## manok (Sep 23, 2010)

A guy at work built a ' chicken tractor ', it's not what it sounds like.

Has a 1/2 dozen hens & gets plenty of eggs.

Just lifts it up & rolls it to another part of his yard.

He's in an older subdivision in Mcdonough with no covenance.


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## ninabl (Sep 23, 2010)

manok said:


> A guy at work built a ' chicken tractor ', it's not what it sounds like.
> 
> Has a 1/2 dozen hens & gets plenty of eggs.
> 
> ...



thats what i was looking to do. i have a half built chicken tractor and was just looking to get 2 or 3 rhode island reds and no roosters.
there is alot of people that have them around here just havent seen any in a neighborhood.


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## slip (Sep 23, 2010)

walk over and ask your neighbors if they mind, if they dont there wont be any problems no matter the rules.

if they do, there well end up being problems no matter the rules...


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## jcinpc (Sep 23, 2010)

I have 23 chickens for my kids to sell eggs, we have no ordinance against it.  I`m out of the city limits. Dont need a rooster for eggs and they are mean and too noisy
we have barred rocks, reds, buffs austrolorps and a few americanas that lay green eggs


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 23, 2010)

buckshot4:13 said:


> if they are considered "pets" you can have them any where you can have a dog.



Want to lay a little money on that?


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## skiff23 (Sep 23, 2010)

Check Georgia's new right to grow act. As long as you are not under pre-exhisting neighborhood restrictions ,you should be ok. No county can zone it out. Just look at the new law.


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## crackerdave (Sep 23, 2010)

Go ahead and gitcha a nice flock. If anybody complains,just tell 'em the administrators at GON/Woody's said you could have 'em.


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## SarahFair (Sep 24, 2010)

slip said:


> walk over and ask your neighbors if they mind, if they dont there wont be any problems no matter the rules.
> 
> if they do, there well end up being problems no matter the rules...


No no...
On the chicken site I am a member of its pretty agreed upon that when it comes to chickens its best to act then ask for forgiveness.

See, a lot of people have _ideas_ about chickens. They think they are loud, nasty, stink, etc. They are actually the opposite unless you have a rooster or dont clean the coop. 
I have two roosters, my neighbors have two roosters, and the people next the them have roosters. The only time I hear them is if Im outside or when they are right up against the house, even then its not loud enough to wake you up out of your sleep (unless you put them up under your bedroom window, dont ask me how I know )


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## ninabl (Sep 24, 2010)

well i called the barrow county zoning department and they are going to see what my property is zoned as. i think its r3 and am not aloud to have chickens. he said you have to have at least 2 acres to be zoned residential agricultural. he said he would email me the info before he went home (yesterday) and i still haven't got it. no surprises there. it might be time to sell this house anyways and move.


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## dawg2 (Sep 24, 2010)

ninabl said:


> well i called the barrow county zoning department and they are going to see what my property is zoned as. i think its r3 and am not aloud to have chickens. he said you have to have at least 2 acres to be zoned residential agricultural. he said he would email me the info before he went home (yesterday) and i still haven't got it. no surprises there. it might be time to sell this house anyways and move.



If you bought hens and kept them penned up no one would know.  They rarely make loud noises.  But don't be fooled, hens can make a racket from time to time.


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## slip (Sep 24, 2010)

you could always 'bribe' the neighbors with fresh eggs every once in a while.

and if they turn into a pain in the butt you could fertilize their lawns for them...


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## SarahFair (Sep 24, 2010)

dawg2 said:


> If you bought hens and kept them penned up no one would know.  They rarely make loud noises.  But don't be fooled, hens can make a racket from time to time.


Yes...
Some have an "egg song" where they can get kinda loud when they lay an egg. But what bird doesnt make noise from time to time 
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## PWalls (Sep 24, 2010)

I live in the city limits. Fenced in back yard. I called the "city" and after about 5 different people, I had someone tell me that as long as they didn't "get out", then it was OK. I keep their wings clipped so they do not fly out of the coop. I was letting them roam in the back yard some but the chicken poop everywhere discouraged that. And, I only have about 8 hens and 1 little bantam rooster. I found that sharing some eggs with the neighbors every once in a while smooths over any ill feelings. To my knowledge they have never once complained about the chickens being there or the noise they make.


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