DENVER — As egg prices soar across the country, people in Colorado have turned to finding solutions at home, raising their own flock. While some see the success firsthand, others are facing challenges even getting chickens into their backyard, due to Home Owners Association (HOA) regulations.
Cities across Colorado have different rules and regulations in place when it comes to raising chickens and following HOA rules.
Alison O'Connor is a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension in Larimer County and has raised chickens since 2014.
"I know when I applied to have my backyard chickens, I had to have neighbors on all sides sign an agreement, just to make sure that they were okay with that," O'Connor said.
She lives in Windsor. In Denver, residents can pay a one-time fee of $25 to the Denver Animal Shelter, along with filling out this permit, and can own a maximum of eight chickens. In Castle Rock, you can have up to eight chickens. In Aurora, residents can email an application to the permit office and pay a one-time fee of $40. Northglenn residents can fill out an application online and also need to pay a fee of $25 to the city.
Chris Banta recently created "The Chicken Petition," as he once raised chickens at his old home. After moving to a new HOA, though, he found he could no longer continue raising chickens and getting fresh eggs.
"It's no chickens, no poultry, non-domesticated animals," Banta said. "Chickens aren't really cows, they're not pigs, they're not these big lumbering animals that are going to destroy the neighborhood. When you have good regulations around it, such as only hens, they’re quiet, they're not a big nuisance."
Currently, Banta is hoping to get the attention of Gov. Jared Polis and create statewide change, following other states' laws like Missouri with Senate Bill 985.
"SB 985 be the ideal, bill to introduce to our state as well, in order to have that ability for us as homeowners to have chickens, bring those natural eggs to our homes, teach our kids where food come from, and have that nutrition as well as not have to worry about 'Does the grocery store have eggs when I want to go get eggs from the grocery store?' So there's a lot of pieces that go into that, that make me passionate about it," Banta said.
In Northglenn, the McCarthy family has seen the positive impact of raising chickens and are coming up on one year of their backyard coop. They followed the city's regulations, filling out a permit and paying the fee along with keeping to the maximum of six chickens in their backyard.
"We definitely thrifted as much as we could," Luke McCarthy said. "We tried to save as much money as possible, may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but it produces for us, and we provide safety."
The family has learned about the responsibility of owning chickens, and the challenges that can come with it, including regularly checking on the health of the birds.
"I think making sure they're healthy, so making sure you're doing your work of checking them every day, not just cleaning the coop, spot checking, it's actually looking them over," Luke McCarthy said. "So Janelle does a great job of it, every day she goes out and not only tending to each one, but you can pick them up and look over each one head to toe. You have to make sure that they're healthy."
As more people explore the option of having backyard chickens, O'Connor recommends people do their research in understanding the different city regulations, the expense that comes with owning chickens, and the care these animals need.
"It's not nearly as inexpensive as it was even 5 or 10 years ago when I started, and I assume costs will continue to raise just because regulations and making sure that having our poultry safe is the number one thing," O'Connor said.
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