Six months after ordinance passes, we have chickens in the city
These chickens are being kept legally in the City of Manchester. All of the Hannah family’s chickens are named. The bands on their ankles help them keep track of who is who. Photo courtesy of Jessyca Hannah.
by Sara Swanson
As of January 1, it’s been 6 months since backyard chickens have been legal in the City of Manchester and by the interest in and popular support for the change you may have guessed that now, for the first time since the 1980s, when they were banned, we again have legal chickens residing within the city limits!
Almost a year ago, some city residents created a petition to legalize backyard chickens. The end goal of the petition process would have been for the petitioners to create an ordinance that would have been presented to the City Council for vote, and if failed, go on the ballot for city residents to vote on. The City Council, supportive of the idea, headed off the petition process by forming a committee to draft an ordinance. Jessyca Hannah, a newer resident who raised chickens at her previous home and kicked off the process to legalize them here when she discovered that they were prohibited, was a key member of the committee and is now happily raising backyard chickens.
Under the ordinance, households can raise from five to 15 birds, depending on yard size. Since Hannah’s property is a little under two acres, they meet the requirements to have up to 15. They decided on 12 total, and started with eight: two Leghorns (white chickens that lay white eggs), two Easter Eggers (black/brown and brown chickens that lay green eggs), two Australorps (black chickens that lay dark brown eggs), and two ISA Browns (brown chickens that lay light brown/pink eggs). One of the Leghorns died mid-summer. She explained that they will be adding five to the brood in the spring and as of right now, they know they want to replace the Leghorn, but they aren’t sure what the other four will be yet.
There are lots ways to get chicks, but Hannah’s family got theirs from Family Farm & Home and Tractor Supply. She stated, “We didn’t have a real plan on what we would pick; the Leghorns and Easter Eggers were ‘mystery’ chicks, which essentially meant that the staff at Tractor Supply had no idea what breed they were, and what we ended up with would be a surprise.”
Hannah doesn’t have a strong preference for any specific breeds but does recommend the standard breeds over designer breeds and purchasing in person rather than through the mail. She stated, “I had a friend who ordered chicks from an Ypsi-area hatchery, but it took her months to get them. I’ve also heard horror stories of chicks being shipped overnight through USPS but then getting stuck at the post office … not here in Manchester. I’d rather bring them home right away, plus I hate waiting.”
This spring in late April or early May they plan to go see what the options are at Family Farm & Home and Tractor Supply and make a decision for their flock. She explained, “We will keep the babies separate from the big girls until they get to be about the same size, and then introduce them to the flock fully.”
The Hannah family purchased a pre-fabbed coop from Tractor Supply but have an old shed on their property that they plan to convert into a coop. She stated, “We were initially going to use the existing structure, but it’s too old and unstable, so we’ll tear that down and rebuild with the current foundation. I bought a book on how to build a coop, because I imagine that what I have in mind versus what my husband has in mind are two different things.”
It’s the job of city manager Michael Sessions to issue permits for backyard chickens and he reports that so far he’s issued four permits; there have been no violations, and the city has received no complaints. Hannah suspects that number will go up in the next few months, noting that she knows of a few people involved in getting the ordinance passed who are waiting until this spring since the ordinance didn’t go into effect until mid-summer last year.
When asked if she had any advice for Manchester residents considering getting chickens, she stated, “No one should just get into chicken raising strictly for the eggs. They are a lot of work — keeping the coop clean, making sure they get along, keeping them sheltered in the extreme heat and extreme cold, and, of course, fed and watered.”
She also warned that chickens do slow down on egg production in the winter. She advised, “We added a light on a timer to our coop that we only use during the winter months to try to keep the production regulated. We also have a heated waterer for the cold days, but it only works to a certain temp, so I have to make sure they are getting water even when it’s freezing out. In the summer, I purchased a big, 5-gallon water tank, and they seem to like that, and it keeps the water off the ground and prevents it from filling with dirt. Straw is good for keeping the chickens warm in the winter; they only need wood chips in the summer.”
Hannah states that chickens are very smart animals and know their humans. Photo courtesy of Jessyca Hannah.
Photo courtesy of Jessyca Hannah.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login