Where you can raise backyard chickens
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More people are flocking to backyard chickens amid high egg prices, but raising them can be expensive — and in much of Franklin County, you'll need land the size of a football field to legally do it.
Why it matters: A confusing, changing patchwork of local regulations has many aspiring owners scrambling for answers on what's allowed.
- We combed through city zoning codes to help make sense of it.
Zoom in: Columbus, Bexley, Hilliard, Whitehall and Worthington are among the most chicken-friendly cities, with specific ordinances allowing backyard poultry.
- There are bird limits and space requirements, but they're generous.
- But Homeowners Associations and landlords could have their own rules, and in most cases, permits are still required.
The other side: Chickens are explicitly banned in Grandview Heights, Grove City and Reynoldsburg. Typical concerns are noise and sanitary issues.
- Reynoldsburg may reverse course, though, based on recent resident feedback.
- Roosters, which are notoriously noisy, are prohibited almost everywhere, unless you own lots of land.
Between the lines: Complicating matters is that many suburbs effectively prohibit raising poultry — even if a chicken ban isn't officially on the books — by restricting the practice to larger properties (1-5 acres), which aren't common.
- Franklin County has its own zoning rules allowing chickens on unincorporated properties over a half-acre.
Caveat: Townships can set their own, stricter zoning rules or default to Franklin County's.
Reality check: Ultimately, raising chickens at a small scale isn't a cost-saver.
- A decent coop ($500) and food and upkeep for two birds over six months ($120) would produce four to seven dozen eggs, an expert told Axios' Carly Mallenbaum.
- That many eggs cost an average of $25-44 at the grocery store in March.
Yes, but: Proponents say backyard chickens are fun, educational companions that give owners control of their food sources.
- Ohio State University Extension started offering a $25 backyard poultry certificate course last year due to the increased demand, educator Tim McDermott tells Axios.
The bottom line: "One of my first slides, if not my very first thing that I say, is: 'Check the regulations for your city or municipality before you buy any birds,'" McDermott says.
💬 What readers are saying
💸 Juliet K.: I've been convinced by friends and the online crowd that owning chickens wouldn't actually save any money (because I would certainly spoil them).
- I asked ChatGPT to do the math based on how I would realistically treat them and it was giving me like 80 cents an egg, which is like $9.50 a dozen.
- If you have the space to have a lot of chickens there are economies of scale, but in my small urban plot I could only get away with having four.
👀 Bev L.: We don't have backyard chickens but my husband would like to. Homeowners Association says no, we have three cats and a dog … and, well, it's also a no from me.
- I work in D.C. and am only home on weekends. I would not be surprised if he is hiding chickens somewhere.
🦆 Steph S.: Instead of chickens, backyard ducks! Ducks, on average, are better, more consistent layers and their eggs are higher in omega-3 fatty acids. The eggs are also bigger and make baked goods fluffier and richer.
- Plus, they're just more fun to watch swim around! I pick up my day-old ducklings in May!
🙅 Nicholas P.: I don't own backyard chickens, but my neighbors own front-yard chickens, something I'm not too thrilled about as a set-in-his-ways old millennial who identifies as a boomer.
- There's a time and place for raising livestock and growing row crops, and a residential setting in any incorporated area is not it.