Urban Chickens

[annecros]

My wonderful family decided, because I am prone to wax nostalgic about my parent's and grandparent's fowl, that the bestest birthday present they could surprise me with are four young pullets (Americauna's or Easter Eggers) so that I might relive my youth.

Ack!

Hubby had the good sense to look up our local ordinance, and we can keep up to 10 chickens as pets as long as they are penned and do not breed. Fine with me. I don't have much use for roosters. They don't lay eggs.

They will be ready for pickup sometime in April as I do not want to go through the brooder thing. They are sexed, but I know that isn't 100%, so there might be a fryer in there somewhere. Hubby is trying to figure out what sort of coop and run to build. We have a dog, I know for a fact there are garden snakes around, and several feral cats.

Is anyone out there doing this? How's it working for you? What sort of structure are you using? What about feed?

I must admit - I'm really excited and surprised. It has been a long time since I was around chickens though, and my memories are foggy. In fact, I have probably forgotten more than I would care to admit.

[chezcherie]

hi anne-

happy birthday! what a great present. it seems your family has thrust you into something you might have only pondered...but chicken-keeping is really great!

i've had chickens for eight or nine years, and would be happy to answer any questions via pm. they take very little work, and provide great pleasure. the eggs, of course...wait til you see your first gorgeous greenie (see my avatar for proof!) but the chickens themselves are almost therapuetic. their soft contented clucks, the way they rush to see you (and what treat you may have brought them), their crazy antics while they dustbathe...i love to take a glass of wine out into the backyard and just sit and watch them poke around for bugs and make their happy sounds. cheap therapy!

there's a new book out called the joy of keeping chickens that i think is a great primer. might want to pick that up--author is megyesi. and again, congrats, have fun, and pm me if you like!

[rooftop1000]

hi anne-

happy birthday! what a great present. it seems your family has thrust you into something you might have only pondered...but chicken-keeping is really great!

i've had chickens for eight or nine years, and would be happy to answer any questions via pm.  they take very little work, and provide great pleasure. the eggs, of course...wait til you see your first gorgeous greenie (see my avatar for proof!) but the chickens themselves are almost therapuetic. their soft contented clucks, the way they rush to see you (and what treat you may have brought them), their crazy antics while they dustbathe...i love to take a glass of wine out into the backyard and just sit and watch them poke around for bugs and make their happy sounds. cheap therapy!

there's a new book out called the joy of keeping chickens that i think is a great primer. might want to pick that up--author is megyesi.  and again, congrats, have fun, and pm me if you like!

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cheep cheep therapy

couldnt resist

tracey

[sparrowgrass]

I have chickens, too. A great source of info is your county Extension office--we (here in Missouri) have a guide sheet for the home chicken flock. Do the google--Extension, your county and state. You can probably find the guide sheet on line.

Four hens will get you 2 or 3 eggs a day, starting when they are 4 or 5 months old.

Feed them chick grower, until they are 4 months old, then switch to layer feed.

They are great garbage disposals, and will eat all the table scraps you have, along with lawn clippings and other garden waste. Chickens are omnivores, like us--they eat grain, vegetables, and any meat they find--mice, for example, or each other, if one dies.

If you are a gardener, be warned that 4 chickens can make your landscaping look pretty shabby. Chickens scratch, they think mulch is a gift from the chickengod for them to scatter all over the place. They eat any tender greens they can find, and that means roses and nasturtiums, too. A chicken yard is a necessity, but they can come out once in a while. If you let them out an hour or so before dark, they can't do much damage, and they will return to their coop when the sun begins to go down.

Snakes won't hurt the chickens, but they can and will find the eggs and eat them. Dogs are more of a problem--make your chicken yard dog proof by burying the wire a foot or so below the surface. I suppose a really dedicated cat could catch an adult chicken. Raccoons, on the other hand, are minions of the devil.

I have about 30 hens, a chicken yard that is about 30 by 30. My fence is not high enough (only four and half feet) to keep the girls from flying over, so I keep netting on top.

My hen house is 6 by 8.

I can talk chickens till your ears fall off--don't hesitate to pm me with any questions.

[annecros]

hi anne-

happy birthday! what a great present. it seems your family has thrust you into something you might have only pondered...but chicken-keeping is really great!

i've had chickens for eight or nine years,

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Yeah, they've got me into something alright!

Do you just keep layers, or do you do meat chickens as well? How do you find the Americauna's as layers? Temperament? I'm looking forward to them coming home. We just have to figure out how to keep them safe and secure first.

We have our first Grandchild on the way, so it should be fun in a few years. Granny is so magical, her chickens lay Easter Eggs.

cheep cheep therapy

couldnt resist

tracey

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Heh, a lawn chair and a glass of wine would do me just fine! Nobody here but me and the chickens.

Four hens will get you 2  or 3 eggs a day, starting when they are 4 or 5 months old.

Feed them chick grower, until they are 4 months old, then switch to layer feed.

They are great garbage disposals, and will eat all the table scraps you have, along with lawn clippings and other garden waste.  Chickens are omnivores, like us--they eat grain, vegetables, and any meat they find--mice, for example, or each other, if one dies.

If you are a gardener, be warned that 4 chickens can make your landscaping look pretty shabby.  Chickens scratch, they think mulch is a gift from the chickengod for them to scatter all over the place.  They eat any tender greens they can find, and that means roses and nasturtiums, too.  A chicken yard is a necessity, but they can come out once in a while.  If you let them out an hour or so before dark, they can't do much damage, and they will return to their coop when the sun begins to go down.

Snakes won't hurt the chickens, but they can and will find the eggs and eat them.  Dogs are more of a problem--make your chicken yard dog proof by burying the wire a foot or so below the surface.  I suppose a really dedicated cat could catch an adult chicken.  Raccoons, on the other hand, are minions of the devil.

I have about 30 hens, a chicken yard that is about 30 by 30.  My fence is not high enough (only four and half feet)  to keep the girls from flying over, so I keep netting on top.

My hen house is 6 by 8.

I can talk chickens till your ears fall off--don't hesitate to pm me with any questions.

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2 or 3 eggs a day would be plenty. There is just myself and my husband most of the time, and there is an older couple next door that would appreciate the eggs if we have overruns.

The big thing right now is suitable housing. I do garden (looking forward to the fertilizer), and the dog really doesn't play very well with others, so they will have to be cooped and penned the vast majority of the time. Hubby wants to do a permanent structure, but I am thinking about a homemade "Chicken Tractor" sort of thing. Have any of you guys seen them, or had any experience with them? I worry that we can't keep the contraption light enough to be portable, and still big enough for the hens. The kids are providing the materials, and hubby the labor. We want to keep it reasonable as all the kids are young adults just finishing school so we want to keep things as cheap as possible.

No raccoons have been sighted lately, but I have seen a possum or two. I'm guessing those guys would go after the eggs? Fortunately, the dog hates those.

What breeds do you have, and what are the best layers? The guy we are getting these from is a friend of a friend of my son's, and he has quite a variety coming through his place over the next few weeks. I may consider mixing and matching.

It has been quite some time since I have eaten a fresh, fried egg right out of the nest box! I am looking forward to it - a lot. Oh, and then a yellow cake with fudge icing, and then, and then....

Thanks guys! There will be questions, both here and in PM.

[maggiethecat]

I am so jealous I could cheep -- er weep. I can't raise chickens here, and it makes me mad.

I have no hen-specific advice to add, but I have to say that sparrowgrass's eggs were the best I've ever eaten. In my life.

[chezcherie]

my girls live in my daughter's old playhouse, complete with heart-cut-out shutters. we wire-clothed it in (we do have both a dog and visiting raccoons, so it needs to be heavy gauge around here). they have an attached scractch area, and we also let them out to free range when the dog is secured. you might want to check craigslist or the like, for free or near-free playhouses or garden sheds. then you need roosts and laying boxes and you're about set.

i've had a varied number over the years--barred rocks, amercaunas, an austrolorp and a rhode island red (the only mean one i ever had) and one mongrel, we never knew what she was. all had lovely temperments. the only trouble we ever had was when we tried to "adopt" one from another flock...didn't go well. (pecking order, you know.)

we only do eggs...we name them, and consider them pets (with a bonus), and we don't eat our pets. i admire folks who raise them both for eggs and meat, but i can't do it. we've gotten about 6 eggs per week per girl during laying season. i never was one for leaving a light on in the coop to simulate more hours of daylight---i figured they could take it easy, and quit laying when the days got shorter. i think it paid off, as my girls live long and happy lives. just lost one a few months ago, and she must have been 9 yrs old...

[Domestic Goddess]

Maggie, how did you manage to get a sparrowgrass' egg? And how did it taste in comparison to a fresh hen's egg?

[maggiethecat]

Maggie, how did you manage to get a sparrowgrass' egg? And how did it taste in comparison to a fresh hen's egg?

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Sparrow's brother lives in my little town, and after he paid her a visit he brought me back a dozen eggs.

The first thing I noticed were the brilliant, almost day glo orange yolks. Wow. And when I fried my first egg, the yolk stood up hard and firm, the whites kept close, and the flavor was indescribable -- the very essence of egg.

And that's the reason I've craved my own hens. Sparrowgrass's brood showed me what eggs are meant to be.

[sparrowgrass]

Maggie, my brother's next door neighbor has some hens--shall I send a couple of the girls up to you next time I see him?

I do on occasion murder a chicken. My neighbor took his little girls to the feed store on the wrong weekend last spring--the weekend that all the little chickies and duckies come in. They bought 6, and when they got big and dirty and straggly looking, the little girls lost interest and James asked me if I wanted them.

Of course, they were all roosters, and anything more than one rooster in a flock of 30 hens is overkill--the girls were getting more attention than they wanted. Sooo, one day the time came to dispatch the extra roosters.

There are good instructions on line for butchering chickens, so I won't regale you with the details. It is a little bit hard--I wouldn't want to do more than 3 or 4 at a time. I kind of have a feather phobia--I don't mind any of the process except removing the feathers.

Home grown chickens taste as much like store bought chickens as home grown eggs taste like store eggs. The flesh is much firmer, and much, much more flavorful. AND, most importantly, I know where my chicken comes from, what it eats, and what kind of antibiotics (NONE) they have ingested.

Right now, I have 40 some eggs in the incubator, and I will be raising those chicks for meat. (I will probably get about 25 chicks out of the 40 eggs.) They will hatch about Easter, and they will be butchered 10 or 12 weeks after they hatch.

If you do have chickens, you should probably be aware that you might have to kill one someday. The first one I ever killed had been mauled badly by a raccoon--so it was a mercy killing.

Funny thing--my mom, who was raised on "home-made" chicken, does not like the meat from a home raised bird anymore. She doesn't like the "strong" flavor and the firmer texture. I also have a friend who is absolutely grossed out by my eggs. She says they smell bad.

Chezcherie, I do use extra light in the winter, and my girls also live long lives. Barring encounters with raccoons and the neighborhood dogs.

Chickens have been the best thing ever for my garden. I use a deep litter method, to keep down the smell and to increase the amount of good stuff for my garden. I use a foot thick layer of straw in the house. I sprinkle a little scratch feed on the straw a couple of times a week, so the girls keep it loose and dry. When the straw starts to get dirty or smelly, I add some more.

The straw and manure actually compost in the house, which keeps the girls warmer in the winter. Once a year, in the spring, I empty all the litter out and spread it on the garden. Because it has a lot of straw in it, and because it has composted somewhat, it does not burn my plants.

I also, very cleverly (actually, totally accidentally ), situated my chicken house upslope from my garden, so the surface runoff runs right where I need it. I gather all the leaves I can find in the fall, and fill the chicken yard. The girls scratch and poop and turn all those leaves into compost, ready to use when I need it. And the leaves in the yard help to keep the mud under control in wet weather. Wet chicken feet mean dirty eggs.

I told you I could talk your ears off.

[DerekW]

This will be our first season with a few chooks in the yard, at least since the ones that my wife's mother used to keep a long time ago.

We're going to try the "chicken tractor" thing. A nice chap a couple of properties over from us has a lot [20? 30?] of girls in tractors and it seems to have been working well for him. He's going to supply us with a few layers to get started, and Santa brought the tractor plans and timber so we will be ready to go fairly soon [once the snow is past].

An idea whose time has come [back], it seems. I'll look forward to reading about your successes.

[annecros]

Maggie, my brother's next door neighbor has some hens--shall I send a couple of the girls up to you next time I see him?

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She should be able to keep two hens in something as small as a larger dog house or rabbit hutch, shouldn't she?

I am seriously considering going down to 3 hens rather than 4 (maybe even just two) because I want to keep it manageable and to ensure success.

This will be our first season with a few chooks in the yard, at least since the ones that my wife's mother used to keep a long time ago.

We're going to try the "chicken tractor" thing. A nice chap a couple of properties over from us has a lot [20? 30?] of girls in tractors and it seems to have been working well for him. He's going to supply us with a few layers to get started, and Santa brought the tractor plans and timber so we will be ready to go fairly soon [once the snow is past].

An idea whose time has come [back], it seems. I'll look forward to reading about your successes.

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No fair reading about others success and not reporting your own! Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into this - what made you decide to go with the "Chicken Tractor" thingy? I like the idea because I can move it around and hopefully keep the lawn a little more uniformly "worked" and give the ladies the advantage of new pasture regularly. I would think a stationary coop and run would get pretty boring very quickly.

Listen to me - worried about bored chickens! Granddaddy Moore would snort.

On the meat issue, I can't think of a way it would work out on a small scale practically. Once upon a time, though, Dad would get 25 free chicks from the feed store per purchase of a 50lb bag of feed. He'd bring in two or three waves of chicks like this over a period of time. A couple of months later, he would cull out all the roosters and any hens that were less than desirable (and many were) and these ended up in Mom's freezer. When it was down to just a few of us kids at home, it was pretty much chicken for the household.

I could put down a severely injured chicken. Hubby will have to handle the actual execution and butchering should the need arise, but I don't mind acting as his lovely assistant in the process. They really do blur the line between pets and livestock, don't they?

I have had a little communication with the guy that has my pullets (he has an impressive number of birds right now, and coming in over the next few months) and I think I am going to stick with the Americauna's. He has lots of unusual birds (Sultans and Polish Hooded) but I am particularly interested in eggs rather than lawn ornaments. They are beautiful, though. He does have some Buff Orpingtons, so that may be an exception. He also says that he is hopeful that he will have some White Faced Spanish. Now, if I wanted a rooster, that would probably be it - but I don't. Super nice guy, can't wait to drive up there and check out his operation. In fact, all the chicken people I run across are super nice and helpful.

[ChristinaM]

I love my chickens I actually have two lots, a trio of 'oldies' who live at the bottom of the garden, they don't lay anymore (the oldest is 12 years old) so they live in gracious retirement with the resident wild ducks, pheasants and partridges, we have had no trouble with wildlife (mink and stoats where we are) but my dogs (Chows) did create a fair bit of havoc in years gone by. The other lot are the layers, 2 Sussex Stars (Light Sussex crosses) and 2 Bluebelles (Marans crosses). Both breeds are rated at 330 eggs per year and my goodness they live up to that! No need for artificial light or anything like that. When they stop laying they will join the other three at the bottom of the garden. I am lucky enough to have a small (tiny) walled yard adjoining the house where they are completely safe, even the resident cats don't bother them. This is important as they share the yard with my daughters' two giant rabbits! The only problem I have is that the chickens have developed at taste for rabbit food and the bunnies just love layers pellets and flaked maize!

The main advice I'd offer to the OP is to make sure that your chicken house is easy to clean, a removable nest box is a real boon, as is a slide-out floor if you can manage that. I also put a couple of bales of straw out in the yard one a year as the chickens enjoy pulling it apart and it helps keep their feet clean. Oh, and watch out for lice and mites, they live in the cracks in the henhouse and can cause misery for the chickens, plus egg laying can really suffer. There are good organic powders available for dealing with these. And (particularly if you live in a soft water area) make sure the birds always have oyster shell grit available or you will get thin shelled eggs.

[annecros]

And (particularly if you live in a soft water area) make sure the birds always have oyster shell grit available or you will get thin shelled eggs.

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Yeah, we are scratching (hehe) our heads for ideas for a suitable dust bath, hoping to combine it with a grit source? I don't know. Use a large litter box maybe?

We are notorious for over thinking things. Before you know it, we'll have a veritable Chicken Disney World!

[BarbaraY]

I have six little red hens. They have been laying 6 eggs nearly every day through the winter, occasionally 5.

The eggs are great and although we eat them often, we have eggs to share with friends and family.

I was letting them out to scratch and eat weeds but my neighbor came over to tell me that they were getting into his garden so now they have to stay in their coop.

I throw them a few handfuls of wild geranium leaves that they love and when the grapes leaf out they will get some of those, too. We also feed them kitchen scraps.

They get laying pellets and scratch to eat regularly.

We revamped an old 8x8 green house for their house and they have a small run which I want to make larger as they can't range anymore. I like the tip about putting leaves in the coop as they do make a muddy mess when it rains.

I have killed chickens but am not planning to do so unless necessary. One of my earliest memories is of being attacked by a Plymouth Rock rooster.

Edited March 25, 2009 by BarbaraY (log)

[ChristinaM]

And (particularly if you live in a soft water area) make sure the birds always have oyster shell grit available or you will get thin shelled eggs.

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Yeah, we are scratching (hehe) our heads for ideas for a suitable dust bath, hoping to combine it with a grit source? I don't know. Use a large litter box maybe?

We are notorious for over thinking things. Before you know it, we'll have a veritable Chicken Disney World!

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Nice one! I doubt you could combine the two as they probably wouldn't want to eat what they bathe in! A small pot of oyster shell is enough, they don't eat much. Generally they will make their own dust bath remarkably quickly but if not a large cat tray with chinchilla sand in would make a great Disney World style 'chicken spa'.

i am embarassed to admit that when I bought the 4 new layers my youngest daughter and I decided their 'house' was too plain for our little treasures so we painted it leaf green with white eaves and door

[Kouign Aman]

I'm looking forward to having backyard chickens in the next year or so. It will be grand to read of your adventures in the meantime.

We had a pair of bantums when I was a kid. Oh my, those yolks. The color of orange juice.

[BarbaraY]

This is our hen house and the biddies. Just for fun my daughter painted it to look as if it had been painted by a child.

[annecros]

That's just adorable Barbara! I have some old stencils in the garage leftover from when stenciling a chair rail around every room in the house was in fashion. I think I'll pretty up the coop with them.

You, or any other chicken keepers, how much overhead space do they need? Hubby and I were discussing heatedly last evening. We are also discussing the cover or not to cover the top of the run issue.

I'm thinking four feet tall for the run, and a cover of additional fencing. He thinks they can do with less overhead space than that, keep flight feathers clipped and the run open on top. I see hawks being a problem.

I do think the coop will be on wheels and we are using sort of a chicken tractor arrangement. That way I think I can actually even let them clean out my used up garden spots for me by moving the run to cover the raised beds.

Ever the optimist, I saved my first used egg carton yesterday! I know it will be months before I see the first egg, but better early than not.

At least another two weeks before I pick up the girls. I'm so excited.

[BarbaraY]

Their fence is 5" high and they have never flown out of it. The house is 8" high and square as it was previously a green house that high winds had demolished leaving only the frame. The top is not screened.

I think the tractor type coop is great for a small number of chickens and sure does help the garden. If you use this system it doesn't have to be very high. Chickens are pretty short.

I'm planning on putting ours in the back yard in the afternoon so they can clean up weeds.

Edited March 27, 2009 by BarbaraY (log)

[sparrowgrass]

I think a doghouse would be fine for a couple of hens, with one caveat. They like to roost up high, and might not like the dog house unless you put it up on posts. That would have the added benefit of not making you get down on your hands and knees to gather eggs.

Make one side of the roof hinged, and put the house about waist high. Remember in the cartoon, the chicken house always had a little ramp with cleats nailed to it? Use one of those to make it easy for fat old hens to get in and out. Having the hen house at least a foot off the ground means rats won't nest under it.

My chicken house has a remnant of vinyl flooring on the floor--keeps the floor from getting wet and rotting, and makes scooping litter out easier.

I thought about making a chicken tractor out of PVC and poultry wire--it would be much lighter than using 2x4s. PVC is really easy to work with. There is actually a book about chicken tractoring--I used to have a copy but I lent it out, and can't remember the author. I think the title was just "Chicken Tractors:.

[sparrowgrass]

There is another option for urban carnivores--rabbits. They are quiet, not smelly, can be confined in a small area, even in a garage or basement. The meat is lean, white and tasty.

When I was in college, I lived in a trailer park, and raised rabbits behind the trailer. I don't think any of my neighbors ever knew.

Rabbits have the additional advantage of being very easy to process, once you get over the whole cute little bunny thing.

[annecros]

OK, now there is a marital discussion of Banty vs. Standard!

I was initially opposed to the idea of Bantam sized birds. I think it is a prejudice from my upbringing. Granddaddy never bothered with Bantams. Daddy always kept a flock, but strictly for entertainment purposes as pets. I have never eaten a Bantam egg, and Dad always said they weren't worth the trouble to gather. Of course, he probably had 30/40 standard layers most of the time.

They are incredibly cute - and I could probably get more birds and more variety in a limited space - but wouldn't that take like three or four eggs to make up for one standard egg? I can't imagine deviling the little suckers! It seems like it's defeating the purpose. I guess it feels more "pet" like to me, based upon my upbringing.

We have settled the tractor debate. Tractor it is! He using 1by's, and thinks he can make it light enough for us to handle. Considering corrugated greenhouse type roofing material (not sure what you call it) to keep the coop end lighter. I have a tomato bed that is past its prime and needs clearing that I am going to give them the run of as a welcome home location. Beats tearing everything up and just piling it on the compost heap, I think. Plenty of bugs and fruit that would otherwise go to waste. I hope they eat stinkbugs! Stinkbugs are very seasonal down here, and tend to ruin my tomatoes early and late in my growing season. I am also hopeful that they will help with the Palmetto bugs (they are everywhere down here!).

I have actually toyed with the idea of raising my own rabbit - but hubby won't have it. In another life, he purchased pet rabbits for my two stepdaughters. Needless to say, they really were too young for the responsibility and he ended up being the rabbit keeper until they died of old age. Did you let them breed freely sparrowgrass? I am thinking that consumption might have a hard time keeping up with production. That, and I would have to harden my heart even further to kill a bunny, I think. They always came home field dressed when I was a kid, and not so cute little bunnylike. Sounds like a great "stealth" meat production arrangement.

Thanks everyone for your advice. This is definitely doable.

[Nyleve Baar]

Banty eggs are adorable. Actually perfect for when you're halving a recipe and you need half an egg. Also make really really cute devilled eggs for a cocktail party. Never mind the fact that the chickens themselves are lovely little critters. Our flock is about 1/3 bantams and the rest full size, which gives us an excellent variety of egg sizes and make for attractive lawn ornaments.

[sparrowgrass]

It has been a long time since I have had rabbits, so take this with a grain of salt.

Rabbits are not kept in a group like chickens--they are kept one to a cage/hutch, and mama only meets daddy when babies are wanted. We usually had one buck and two or three does, and never were we overrun with rabbits.

I might do it again one day, for meat, because they are so much easier to deal with than chickens--I bet I can clean rabbits 3 times as fast as chickens.

The cute bunny thing only applies til they are about a month old, when they are weaned. By the time they are ready for slaughter at 8 weeks, they are fully capable of scratching your arms off, and, unless you treat them like pets, are not cuddly. At all.