Can Chicken Coops Be Classy? At Least They Won’t Get Your Goat

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Want to keep chickens but don't want to build your own coop? Williams Sonoma is selling the Bentley of chicken tractors.

City Chickens have officially gone mainstream. If the idea of building your own coop seems expensive, daunting, and well, impossible, you can now just order one from Williams-Sonoma.

The chicken coops, which are actually chicken tractors because of their mobility, are part of the store’s new agrarian line.  And there are beekeeping supplies there, too, as well as some of the flashiest trowels I have ever laid eyes on.

Now, two of the toniest areas of the good ol’ DF-Dub don’t even allow backyard chickens. But since it’s A-OK in Dallas, how can we keep city chickens classy? Where do we draw the line?

Well, according to an in-the-know Realtor, a recent Oak Lawn Heights sale had the buyers putting a provision in their contract for a super tall and sturdy fence to keep the neighbor’s chicken coop AND GOAT out of sight and out of mind.

“At first I was a little taken back,” said the buyer, “however, I have seen similar stories on the news and Martha Stewart about how the coops can be kept nicely and are safe (from a health standpoint).  As long as there are no roosters, I was not that worried about the noise.”

But what about the goat? A city goat? Well, apparently they are a thing.

What do you think? Should we draw the line at goats, or can urban goat keeping be classy, too?

Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

7 Comments

  1. Alex Roostaei on April 19, 2012 at 11:17 am

    looks nicer than my first apartment

  2. Alex Roostaei on April 19, 2012 at 11:17 am

    looks nicer than my first apartment

  3. Amanda on April 19, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    City goats are definitely city-classy. You should see the heads turn when you take your goats on a walk! A lady goat gets pretty loud when she's in heat but otherwise they're pretty city-friendly, as long as the backyard's goat-proof. If you're not careful, they'll eat the bark off the trees and all your rose bushes and just about everything else (except high grass – go figure.)
    Roosters are a nuisance but even chickens can be a bit boisterous before laying an egg so the neighbors will know you have a few (unless the neighbors are away at work all day.) Chickens aren't as messy/smelly has people told me they would be, as long as you clean the coop weekly and have a good compost system for it all. They'll also tear up the yard if you let them. They eat every small leafy green and scratch up the earth all over (aerate the soil, but killing the grass after a few days in a row.)
    They're both fun pets, and perfectly city-friendly but it's like any other pet (aside from getting milk or eggs from them) – it's time intensive and can be $ intensive when one gets sick. Takes a bit of dedication on occasion so it's not for the feeble-hobbyist.

  4. Amanda on April 19, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    City goats are definitely city-classy. You should see the heads turn when you take your goats on a walk! A lady goat gets pretty loud when she's in heat but otherwise they're pretty city-friendly, as long as the backyard's goat-proof. If you're not careful, they'll eat the bark off the trees and all your rose bushes and just about everything else (except high grass – go figure.)
    Roosters are a nuisance but even chickens can be a bit boisterous before laying an egg so the neighbors will know you have a few (unless the neighbors are away at work all day.) Chickens aren't as messy/smelly has people told me they would be, as long as you clean the coop weekly and have a good compost system for it all. They'll also tear up the yard if you let them. They eat every small leafy green and scratch up the earth all over (aerate the soil, but killing the grass after a few days in a row.)
    They're both fun pets, and perfectly city-friendly but it's like any other pet (aside from getting milk or eggs from them) – it's time intensive and can be $ intensive when one gets sick. Takes a bit of dedication on occasion so it's not for the feeble-hobbyist.

  5. Grace on April 20, 2012 at 8:01 am

    At our last house,,our next door neighbors raised chickens, ducks, rabbits, and had dogs for pets. Eventually they released the ducks to Bachman Lake. We were never bothered by noise,,smell, or anything else. Of course, had an acre over in Bluffvuew. Not sure how it would be on a smaller city lot.

  6. Grace on April 20, 2012 at 8:01 am

    At our last house,,our next door neighbors raised chickens, ducks, rabbits, and had dogs for pets. Eventually they released the ducks to Bachman Lake. We were never bothered by noise,,smell, or anything else. Of course, had an acre over in Bluffvuew. Not sure how it would be on a smaller city lot.

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    […] and would be a pretty cool DIY project.  Via Buzzfeed This classy chicken tractor seen on Candy’s Dirt has lots of room for the chickens to roam but can still be easily moved around. Last but not […]

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