Every landlord knows the feeling of striking a balance between listening to tenant requests while also protecting their investment. As the trend of self-sustainability continues to grow, you may receive a few off-the-beaten-path requests that you haven’t heard before. One of those requests may be if you allow chickens in your rental.

To best answer this question, a landlord should carefully consider the pros and cons of this action. It’s not as simple as allowing cats and dogs onto the property. Let’s take a look at what you might expect and what you should be on the lookout for.

Advantages of allowing chickens on your rental properties

There are some unique upsides of allowing chickens on your rental properties. A few that rise to the surface include: 

• Attract a Larger Tenant Base. There are certain tenants who won’t even consider a rental property if they can’t bring their chickens with them. This means that in order to attract the largest possible tenant pool, a landlord must consider allowing chickens. The sustainability and self-sufficiency movement is growing in popularity. The best way to keep that crowd happy is to allow chickens on the property. 
• Demand Higher Rents. You can certainly consider demanding a higher rent from tenants who want to have chickens on the property. This is not done as some type of punishment for them. Rather, it is because you are taking on a higher level of risk and responsibility by allowing chickens on the property. The higher rent helps to offset that risk.
• Lower Turnover. Tenants with pets tend to stay in a rental longer than they might otherwise. It is more of a challenge for them to move, and this adds to the pressure to stay in one place. Thus, you save on turnover costs. 

Downsides of allowing chickens on your rental properties

To be fair, we have to look at both sides of this issue. There are some downsides to allowing chickens onto your rental properties as well. Among the downsides that are most often noted are: 

• Noise Complaints. It’s possible that your tenant’s neighbors will begin to file noise complaints for the constant clucking of the chickens. Neighbors have just as much right to live quietly in their homes. If you choose to allow chickens, you should have a plan in place for this.
• Zoning Restrictions. Chickens aren’t permitted to be kept just anywhere. There are zoning restrictions that mean that chickens might not be permitted where your rental property is located. If that is the case, then it’s out of your hands entirely. Your lease should be clear on the types of animals allowed. 
• Property Damage.  Chickens can scratch up a property pretty severely. This can contribute to damage to your investment that is not easy to bounce back from. You should consider this in your calculations as well. 

Protecting your investment if a landlord allows chickens

If you do decide to allow chickens on the property, carefully consider how you can protect your investment. There are certain measures that you can take to ensure that your investment is safely protected. Among those measures include the following: 

• Add a chicken addendum to the lease agreement. Add a clause to the lease agreement that specifically puts the responsibility of caring for the chickens on the tenants.
• Require an animal deposit. The tenant should put up additional funds in the form of a deposit before they are permitted to have animals on the property. Those funds can be used to repair any damage that might have been done. However, this deposit must be returned to the tenant if there wasn’t any damage done to the property. 

Depending on where your rental is may dictate how likely you are to receive a request like this, but you should always be prepared. Do your research and make sure that your lease reflects your decision and protects your investment first and foremost.