How do I… Keep chickens and keep my neighbours happy?

Keeping chickens is a fantastic way of embracing green, sustainable living. But how do you strike the balance between eco living and happy neighbours?

Two or three chooks in a coop in your back yard can produce enough fresh eggs for your family, and a great eco project to boot.

But there are downsides. Chickens can potentially be noisy and messy, especially if they escape into your neighbour’s garden.

Guidelines for keeping chickens

Each council has its own guidelines for keeping chickens to look after the interests of neighbours. It’s important to check with your council before setting up a coop and moving its residents in.

NSW’s Sutherland Shire Council, for example, places no restriction on the number of chickens you can keep, but states chickens must not be a “nuisance to neighbours” through noise, hygiene or roaming.

The council states “roosters are likely to cause a noise problem” and will be directed to be removed if they do.

Finally, chicken coops are subject to development controls in each state and may, if they are big enough, require development approval.

Secure chicken coop

The Backyard Hen House website offers tips on how to make sure your chooks don’t get you on the wrong side of your neighbours, and the key is in the coop.

Do not, for example, build a huge coop that interrupts your neighbour’s view. And build the coop as far away from your neighbours on any side.

The coop should also be secure to prevent any real-life repeats of Chicken Run. Escaped chickens can wreak havoc with a neighbour’s neatly manicured lawn, damaging it and leaving mess everywhere.

Also, bear in mind that chickens can jump – they can scale a 120cm fence in one fell swoop.

Avoid keeping roosters

A rude awakening at dawn every day thanks you your backyard rooster is the last thing your neighbourhood will want.

So, the best advice is not to keep a rooster unless you really have to.

The Backyard Hen House says: “If you do decide to get a rooster, try and get by with just one as, often when there are two, they can encourage and feed off each other, as if they are trying to determine who is more macho.”

Share the egg wealth

You’re sure to get on the right side of your neighbours if you offer them some of the eggs.

Sydney accountant Howie Kingsly keeps chickens in his backyard and writes a blog, Keeping Chickens, about his experiences. According to Kingsly, there will be plenty of eggs to go around.

“Chickens are friendly animals and make great pets,” he says in his blog. “They’re fun to watch, enjoyable to raise and an excellent way to have your own fresh eggs almost every day. Hens can lay eggs for up to five years of their lives, sometimes as long as eight years, so just a few chickens will produce eggs for a long time.”