chickens

What do YOUR documents say? It's always useful to see what others aredoing, but you should start with your own documents because you don't live in the other communities.

With chickens you do need to be concerned about noise and smell, and the racket can kick up several notches if you are a rooster to the mix. they may also attract other predators who may start with the chickens and then decide your neighbor's Yorkie might make a tasty snack.

You should also check with you city or county (start with animal control perhaps). You may live in an area where there not allowed at all because they've considered livestock.

FWIW, a semi-rural HOA in Texas, allowable farm animals
include horses, mules, donkeys with a minimum lot size of 1.25 acres total.
Goats are allowed for a short period before and after stock show (some of you
will get this)and no pigs of any type at all.
We allow up to six chickens with the ACC approval of the chickens and pens.
Absolutely NO ROOSTERS are allowed.

The OP never followed up, so I assume she got what she needed.....

I am no longer on our HOA board but did serve 9 years (8 years as HOA president). Our city allows 8 chickens or ducks (no roosters). That has been in place for 8 or 9 years. We should have been proactive in updating our bylaws to address chickens. One homeowner family (husband served on the HOA board with me and his wife served on our ARC) decided they would get chickens. At first, they kept the chickens in the house. Yes, I know...disgusting. They would let the chickens run around the house almost like pets. As warmer weather came about, they would bring the chickens outside and put them in a temporary pen of sorts during the day. They eventually moved the chickens to their garage at night. They submitted a design review request to build a coop and a fence on the back portion of their lot. They only had 8 feet of space between their house and their property line; 3 feet of that was easement. The coop was going to be 5 by 8. Add the fence and they would encroach on the easement. The ARC denied the coop saying it wasn't in harmony with the neighborhood but did say they could put in the fence if they choose. The homeowner appealed to the board. We met (minus the husband) and denied their appeal. I researched the issue, looked at zoning laws and realized their project would encroach on the easement. Once I pointed that out, they dropped their project.

After that, the board instructed the ARC to revise our bylaws to prohibit chickens/ducks and outdoor coops. We had several board meetings to discuss the language. The husband missed those meetings and we were able to get new language approved. We had a final vote and the revisions were passed. During this entire process, the wife took to social media calling us out of touch nazis and power hungry. Based on her conduct, we removed her from the ARC. In the next HOA election, the husband lost his re-election bid for his board seat. We have been a chicken-free HOA for 6 years now.

Sorry, yes that is what I meant. It was the covenants.