Chicken Coops
Rules and Regulations for Chicken Coops
The ability to keep backyard hens in Hope Valley Farms North is a privilege; therefore, so as you build your coop and keep hens, please be sympathetic to your neighbors’ attitudes. Not everyone who looks out his or her backyard wants to see a coop; every effort should be made to keep coops discreetly screened and located.
- Hens, coops and runs are to be in compliance with all City of Durham rules and ordinances.
- Coops and runs are to be in backyards only.
- Coops should look like your home, a playhouse or similar structure and should blend with the architecture of your property. Construction must comply with Architectural Review Committee (ARC) Guidelines specified for dog houses and other exterior structures.
- No selling eggs.
- No raising meat birds.
- No culling/slaughtering of the hens upon the property after their egg-laying prime.
- Maximum of four hens are allowed; no roosters.
- Coop should be a minimum of 4 sq ft per chicken.
- Chicken wire is acceptable screening.
- Plant screenings and vegetation is required to block view of the coop and run from streets and neighbors.
- The Hope Valley Farms North ARC reserves the right to not allow coops or hens on smaller lots that would make them obtrusive to neighbors.
- Complaints from neighbors can be grounds for removal of the birds and coop.
- An ARC application is required for all coops.
- The homeowner’s yard must be fenced in.
Acceptable examples of coops and runs include (but are not limited to):
