Hello from a Texas newbie!

Howdy Y'all!

Wow, what an awesome site/forum y'all have created! I'm happy that I stumbled upon it during a down-the-rabbit-hole-dive while searching for hardy varieties of peach trees!

I am a hobby/amateur gardener with a thumb that is more blue than green (meaning I tend to overwater everything and drown them out)
I'm learning how to let my plants grow a little more organically without a lot of human oversight and am LOVING the results.

I have 3 little raised garden beds in a very large backyard and have successfully grown tomatoes, green beans, basil, green onions and (crossing my fingers) may have a potato crop this year.

I have lots of plans for my little slice of green, including 4-5 more veggie beds, spots for 3-4 varieties of fruit trees, and a number of native water-wise ornamental beds.

If our HOA ever removes the sticks from their bums I hope to have a small flock of chickens; I've raised chickens before in a previous home and desperately miss my little feathered friends.


My husband and I are trying to be more Eco-concious in our new home: so far we have installed solar panels on our house, and have made improvements to other materials to make our home more efficient and earth-friendly.

All in all I'm extremely happy to be here and will try my best not to pester y'all with too many questions.

Howdy!

If chickens are too loud for your HOA, what about quail?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXzz5b7kVQM

Howdy,

I second the quail option. I even have some quail roosters and they're not loud at all.

Welcome Carolyne! Look forward to hearing about what you've got growing.

Tyler Ludens wrote:Howdy!

If chickens are too loud for your HOA, what about quail?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXzz5b7kVQM

I'd be completely happy with quail. Unfortunately the HOA contract thingy specifies "all varieties of fowl" as well as "all varieties of livestock and animals excluding dogs, cats, and small animal pets."
They're a pain in the butt. I honestly wish we had chosen somewhere else to live...

We did attempt to have the bylaws changed by bringing the chicken issue up for a vote: Unfortunately we didn't get the minimum 75% of households voting on the issue, so even though the "for" votes outnumbered the "against" votes we didn't have enough total votes to get it changed.

HOA board has said we now have to wait a year before we can attempt to have it brought up for a vote again.

Carolyne Castner wrote:

Tyler Ludens wrote:Howdy!

If chickens are too loud for your HOA, what about quail?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXzz5b7kVQM

I'd be completely happy with quail. Unfortunately the HOA contract thingy specifies "all varieties of fowl" as well as "all varieties of livestock and animals excluding dogs, cats, and small animal pets."
They're a pain in the butt. I honestly wish we had chosen somewhere else to live...

We did attempt to have the bylaws changed by bringing the chicken issue up for a vote: Unfortunately we didn't get the minimum 75% of households voting on the issue, so even though the "for" votes outnumbered the "against" votes we didn't have enough total votes to get it changed.

HOA board has said we now have to wait a year before we can attempt to have it brought up for a vote again.

I think you could skate quail underneath the watch of an HOA. I keep mine in a 2' (W) X 4' (L) X 2' (H) movable pen that could easily be a guinea pig residence. In the past I've kept them in a hutch on my apartment balcony. If you have a privacy fence no one would be the wiser.