I Have Five Goats and Eight Chickens in my Apartment
Have you ever wanted the benefits of living on a farm, but live in an apartment or house in the city? Some people in the U.S. are not allowing their small living spaces to get in the way of their desire for fresh meat and dairy (milk) products.
One recent trend is for urban-dwellers (people living in cities) to keep barnyard (farm) animals in their backyards or even indoors. Some people keep chickens, rabbits, turkeys, bees, and even dwarf (miniature; small-sized) goats! This trend has been fueled by (encouraged by) people wanting to eat food grown locally and organically (without the use of chemicals), and also because the uncertain economy has made people want to be more self-sufficient, able to rely on themselves for producing food.
Some people keep chickens for eggs, and there are even companies that sell diapers (material you normally put around a baby’s bottom and between his/her legs to keep clean) for your indoor chickens. Miniature goats are kept for milk and for eating weeds (unwanted plants) in the yard, and bees are kept for honey. Still others keep animals like pigs for meat.
As you can imagine, not everyone is happy about having barnyard animals as their neighbors. Some animals are noisy, others smell, and still others can do serious damage if they escape (get out of their cage or living space). That is why cities are scrambling (doing something quickly and perhaps not doing it well) to change or develop new laws to control and limit this type of animal husbandry (the science and keeping of farm animals).
In Seattle, Washington, for example, you can have no more than three goats on a 5,000-square-foot property. In Atlanta, Georgia, you are limited to 75 rabbits on a residential (home) property, and in Oakland, California, you must leave 20 feet between any place chickens are kept and a place where people live; roosters (male chickens) are not allowed.
Do people keep barnyard animals in or near cities where you live? What types of restrictions are there on keeping animals?
~ Lucy
September 29th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Hi ! I am happy to be again together with you all . I felt alone without you .
All the best for you all ,
Tania
September 29th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Dear Lucy, in Germany there are restricted laws in order to avoid animal husbandry in cities. Apart from the fact that such a stock breeding would offend against ethical husbandry, animals could also pass dangerous bacillus or virus to humans [e.g. SARS].
In addition to the above mentioned issues, you should keep in mind that slaughtering of animals requires sanitarinnes, which is not possible ito achieve in private circumstances.
All the best for you and your team.
Thorsten
September 29th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I use to see these farm animals when I was a child and I went to the little villages in Spain, but now?. No, I think that´s not possible and being
in Europe I think we have similar laws that in Germany, as Thorsten said, or other European countries.
I wouldn´t like to have these kind of animals here at home, not at all, I have never have to kill one to eat and sure it should be very difficult to
me to do such kind of thing.
Sure I would prefer to eat vegetables all my life instead of killing by myself a rabit a lamb, pig, or chicken. No, please, going to the super
I always buy the meat once in the packets and I prefer to think the chops are like the apples, or the potatos, and sure it´s an hipocrisy of me
thinking that way but as time goes on I buy less and less meat or fish and more fruits or vegetables, why? I don´t know, may be our
best friends Camila and Alicia are vegetarians and have some influence in my way of thinking about food.
Farm animals at home? No, please…….vegetables if I have a land….Yes, that´s nice.
But I live in a little flat and I have only two little plants in two receptacles outdoors, a cactus and a geraniums, nothing more.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:52 am
It’s just as well that I don’t have to change the diaper to a chicken!
I think it would be a terrible experience. I hope not to have to do such a job.
Anyway, here in Spain, except on the farms, I think people only have some pet, as a dog, a cat, a bird or so, but I haven´t seen other type of animals yet. Nevertheless, from now on I will have to pay attention to this subject, perhaps I could find out any surprise, either a cow in my neighbour’s house or even a lion behind my mirror.
Thank you very much, Dr. Lucy.
Best regards from Spain,
Julio (Jack).
September 29th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
My mother was born in a very small village in Burgos, one of the coldest South European land that exist, more or less the same as other highlands in the spanish Old Castilla and Leon.
In all of these little villages they have all kinds of farm animals, chickens, pigs, lambs and cows. They don´t use to much money because all the food was from the land and the animals they have, milk, eggs, bread, fruit, potatoes, corn, vegetables, nealy everything. But that wasn´t all, they have the animals inside the house, just below the
bedrooms, on the second floor, and by this way the people have warm inside the house in the cold winters as the animals warm the bedrooms with their own hot bodies.
I think that this custom was similar everywhere in the North of Spain, but I know nothing about other countries.
Now, since a long time, nothing of this way of living remains any more. No farm animals at all, and the small villages are without people. In winter they are nearly empty, and the schools are closed.
I know that some people from these little villages are giving lands, and houses to some inmigrants or people from the big cities without a job that wanted to live over there again with their families. These villages need children to reopen the schools, cultivated the lands, have farm animals and so on, and the Big Crisis are forcing the return of many families to the places where their ancestors were born and lived before.
Living this way is much cheaper that living in a big city without a salary enough to survive.
More or less the same that you tall us Lucy but in a different style. Thank you so much, it is an interesting topic to dicuss, the Crisis is changing the way of living of too many people everwhere.
I am a little old and retired to change my life now, but may be in other life afterward it should be nice to live in a farm having all kind of natural food, good air, and farm animals too.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I thought very interesting this report, I am totaly favorable to have animals at home, but each case must be analysed carefully. That’s why is needed to respect sanitary law, unfortunately in the Brazil is not possible to do this, because here is not allowed to create animals in urban areas. Of course, in some cities the people haves some animals, but is against the law. The products sells in the supermarket haves too much taxes, and if we create our own food at home we go save some money, beyond be less chemichals. My bottom line is one day have a little land to create animals and vegetables. Thank for hear my opinion,
Best regards.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I have many spiders an daddys long leg in my house, as this year’s weather condition in Britain was very good for their husbandry ;D
And their are huge, like never before. Brrr
September 30th, 2009 at 1:35 am
Sorry, but reading the story I said before it´s not clear where the bedrooms where, and I have to explain it again. The stables where inside the house but on the ground
at one side of the house, and the bedrooms where just above them on the first floor. What I don´t say before was that on the ground of the bedrooms there was a
tramp that once open you may use it to make the bodies necessities that fell directly inside the stables where the farm animals where sleeping too. Very useful because
there wasn´t bathroom or similar, even they haven´t run water inside the houses and the people have to carry the water from the public fountain to the houses.
That was a way of living on the forties and fifties, not a long time ago.
It was very funny to me when I was a child and I went to see my grandmother in her village, the use of the tramp was amazing, and I could see the pigs or the chickens
going along everyway below the house. Also to pick up the eggs was very funny because not every chicken put their eggs on the same place and it was necessary to find out where
they were.
Now all is over and we have the super, the computers, the food inside the plastic bags, and the need of having farm animals inside the houses because there isn´t enough money to survive.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Welcome back.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:26 am
For a while in 80′s – 90′s it was very usually to keep animals near city where you live . In front of the apartment building we could plant onion , for instance .
If you can eat something like that taking into account all dogs and cats visit these places .
And many people could have pigs or chickens near city . I know a funny story when a family went to feed their pig then they left .
On one’s way to their apartment they see a man with a pig . The woman said : Look , it is like our nice pig .
Indeed , next day they saw that their pig has disappeared .
But a lot of rats , mice , flies invaded the cities . Now , it isn’t trendy to live in a town and to keep animals . It is against the law .
And anyway the smell , rats , flies , bacilli … awful ! And pet -wise I fill the same .
All the best for you all ,
Tania
September 30th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
In Russia it’s very common to have dacha and grow vegetables, fruits and keep barnyard animals on them. I know there is no such thing in English-speaking countries, because they use this Russian word “dacha”, so I’ll explain the meaning.
Many families in Russia have a house in countryside with land where they spent most of summer. Around big cities like Saint Petersburg and Moscow there are even villages comprised only dachas. In winter time they are empty and in summer they are crowded. It might sounds strange but the main entertainment on dacha (or IN dacha?) is work such as growing vegetables and feeding poultry. Although animal husbandry is not popular nowadays, old people are still keeping barnyard animals. Some of retirees are moving on dachas from cities and live there constantly, so they can keep poultry and cattle. The most popular type of cattle are cows (most people who keep barnyard animals have them) and goats. Chickens for eggs are also quite popular. Usually there is only one cow and one goat for milk.
These dachas help old people to make two ends meet. Some sell vegetables, berries and fruits from dachas, others eat them themself.
September 30th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Hi Lucy,
Honest, I am not into having pets or barnyard animals,too much hassle.they limit ur freedem.Animal husbandsry is too much of a task. It could be costly.
In my part of city people mostly keep dogs.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:14 am
Hi ! Romantic like usually , Emiliano ! Indeed , life in the country has a special charm .
Ilya , you have such a nice name ! I have not forgotten the great skater Ilya KuliK yet .
All the best for you all ,
Tania
October 1st, 2009 at 10:33 am
My husband has chickens in our backgarden ( a lot of them). I live in Brazil in a smal town (of course in big cities it wouldn’t be possible), but here, in countryback people usually ignore the sanitary laws Actually I hate the chickens and just my husband take care of them *laughing*. So, I have to admit that I like it’s fresh meat very much… *laughin again*
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Oh my god !!!
We are live Now at One world and modern (village), we need to (Natural) way to be human !!!
August 18th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
My husband and I live in a city in the U.S. and keep 5 chickens in the back yard which we use for their eggs. The neighbors did not know what to think at first, till we got our first eggs. Since we have way more eggs than we can both eat we give away the extras to our neighbors and they just love them! They are much healthier (they contail less cholesterol) and tastier than store bought eggs. We clean out the coop often so there is no bad smells and the chicken poop has been great fertilizer for the yard. They are much easier to keep cleaned up after than our two dogs. Plus, they are getting a nice life of running around a yard, unlike the chickens who lay the store bought eggs. Even the so-called “free range” chickens are not outside all day foraging. We are now moving to place where we can have more land so we can get some goats, alpacas, and more hens. I don’t like the idea of harvesting a chicken or goat myself to eat, nor do I know how. So I plan to take it to a butcher to have it done. For meat eating, I find it nice to know my meat I’m eating was raised in a humane and happy way, being fed well and taken care of. We can feel guilty and pretend we are not eating meat, but I would rather appreciate and see the value in the animals who provide me with nurishment.