Cows are a common sight on the Olympic Peninsula, including Sequim, Port Angeles, and Port Townsend. Many who move to this area want a little acreage, and enjoy having a horse, or a cow or two, and perhaps some sheep or goats. Chickens are also popular. If you’ve lived in a condo or on a postage sized lot in the Bay area or any metropolitan area, you may long to have room to breath and have a few animals. Moving from Los Angeles to Sequim is like a breath of fresh air literally, and walking around on two acres in Sequim is like being set free after sharing a neighborhood area no bigger than a prison playground.
No wonder many who retire to Sequim want to spread their wings and have some cows or a horse or some sheep. Some retirees have told me they feel like they are free for the first time in decades. I understand the feeling. I have a cow and two sheep on my 2.58 acres.
Cows and Covenants
If you do want cows or other animals, make sure the property you want to buy does not prohibit animals in the covenants. Of course, if you’re looking at property in the city limits of Sequim or Port Angeles, the zoning code prohibits farm animals.
It’s not easy to find a property that is suitable for animals like horses and cows and sheep, but you do need enough acreage to support the animals, and there are other obvious questions about fencing, grass, watering (and irrigation if the property is within the water management area). We don’t have any pig farms in the area, but if you intend to have a “sounder of swine” you’ll need to do a lot of due diligence, because you could get some push back from neighbors.
Cows and Lawn Mowers
If you have several acres as I do, you may want a couple of grazing cows or other animals to keep the grass in the fields neatly mowed right up to the fences and around the fence posts. I don’t have to mow or use a weed eater in my fields, because the cows and sheep do all the work, and they do an exceedingly good job.
The other important feature to look for would be a small barn or horse stalls, or at least shelter that can protect the animals during storms. Cows and horses are tough, but in cold or rainy weather, they do need shelter.
Last Updated on May 19, 2016 by Chuck Marunde
