About Those Chickens...

It was a controversial idea, said Oconee County Planning Director B.R. White, to allow residents to have chickens in a subdivision, in a non-agricultural zone, on land an acre or larger. Not a flock of chickens, just one or two, and certainly not a rooster. 

In early November, the Oconee County Commission voted down the proposal unanimously, going with the status quo of allowing chickens just in A-1 zones. Commissioners didn't flock to join the Pro-Chicken movement that allows urban dwellers to keep chickens and harvest their own eggs.

Paul Smith, head of the county's code enforcement department, says he has had only about six or so chicken-related complaints from homeowners living in areas zoned R-1. Roosters are restricted to homes with three or more acres, and would never be allowed on one-acre lots because a crowing rooster violates the noise ordinance, Smith said. But chickens, they aren't real noisy.

His department doesn't go around conducting chicken checks, so he's pretty sure that some people are keeping fowl at home, in violation of local ordinances. But if no one complains, there's no reason for his department to get involved.

In Athens Clarke County, the number of chickens one can have is geared to the size of property, with each chicken requiring an acre of land on property not zoned agricultural.