While it seems counter-intuitive that chickens are permitted in urban settings like Seattle, but not in rural Mirrormont, there are several reasons why it’s not a good idea to have chickens here.
We share the forest with coyotes, raccoons, weasels, opossums, owls, and bears—all of whom need to eat to live—and more available food in Mirrormont can attract predators from nearby Tiger Mountain State Forest.
After bringing baby chicks home, giving them names, raising them, and becoming attached to them, it can be heartbreaking to see them ravaged by a stray dog or eaten by predators looking for an easy meal.
Your investment of time and money in a chicken coop and gear can be lost overnight, along with your chickens, if a bear crashes in.
Like birdfeeders, chicken eggs and chicken feed attract rats, mice—and bears.
While some people may enjoy the sound of chickens, other neighbors may hear them as noisy and annoying.
Chickens are prohibited by Mirrormont Covenants: Mirrormont’s Restrictive Covenants Section C.5 - Livestock & Poultry states: No animals, livestock or poultry of any kind shall be raised, bred, or kept on any portion of the premises affected by these covenants. https://www.mirrormont.org/covenants
Every year, the Mirrormont Architectural Review Committee (MARC) gets complaints from neighbors about chickens, including concerns that waste from the poultry is contaminating runoff that flows into salmon-bearing streams.
Note that properties outside Divisions 1–5 are not bound by Mirrormont’s Restrictive Covenants, so chickens are not prohibited there. Please see Mirrormont Map with Divisions and Precincts and “Defining Mirrormont.”
Please be considerate of your wild and not-so-wild neighbors and abide by Mirrormont’s Restrictive Covenants.