Backyard chickens?
Posted on: December 12, 2008 - 3:32pm
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Backyard chickens?
So we've got our eye on a real house with land -- hard to find here in the Bay Area. But the city it's in allows chickens, which would be GREAT to have along with a standard French Intensive raised bed veggie garden and a permacultured orchard/herb garden. We use as much fuel to ship our food as to drive around as private citizens, and battery cages are frankly evil. So that's ecological, health, and ethical reasons to keep two or three chickens to provide eggs, compost, occasional meat and pets.
Who else raises chickens? I've been poking around and would like to discuss feed, coops, runs, tractors, etc.
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
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I was raised on a small farm in Illinois, but moved away almost 18 years ago. I still have 35 acres waiting for me when I retire. So, I have some knowledge with livestock. What kind of questions do you have that maybe I can help to answer?
"Always seek out the truth, but avoid at all costs those that claim to have found it" ANONYMOUS
Thanks!
I'm looking for a discussion on urban homesteading in regards to chicken. If you have any links to urban chickenkeeper blogs, that would be great too.
This will likely be too practical for most folks on this forum who appreciate a more intellectual approach. I was just thinking: words are not as effective as dirt for fixing all the topics listed.
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
Neighbor of mine tried this years ago...
Was working pretty well for him for about a week
I was waking up 4 hours early for about a week
I think every one can draw in the blank >.>
So uh... good luck with your neighbors
What Would Kharn Do?
Argh, I know, roosters SUCK. That's why we're having none of them. Slept next to a henhouse in my childhood... the rooster only lasted two days back then, and then coq au vin!
Hens don't crow, and they stop making their quiet clucking noises at dark.
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
Thats totally untrue... theres always 1 weird ass hen that steps up to be an alarm clock... wonder if its a chicken culture thing o_O
What Would Kharn Do?
Ummm.
Eggs don't just happen, sweetheart.
When a daddy chicken and one of the mommy chickens love each other very much...
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I believe you! Since I like sleeping in as much as the next person, that chicken will become dinner.
Is there anyone out there with practical experience? Or a link to someone that has this?
(I think the lack of practical advice to reduce ecological footprint in a forum which decries large footprints is hilarious... please tell me I'm not the only serious urban homesteader working towards self-sufficiency?)
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
Actually, they do. That's why battery cages with thousands of hens produces all the eggs mindless consumers could ever want.
Without a rooster.
Ever.
Let me know if you need a link or two; wikipedia is a good place to start, though.
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
LOL.
No thanks. I have had first-'hand' experience with turkeys.
I just wanted to make sure you knew someone has to do the deed.
I'm trying not ot be condescending, but I grew up in Indiana on one of those farms that produces food for the 'mindless consumers'.
City-farming is quaint. Suburb-farming is fucking hilarious.
I get this picture of Paris and Nicole filling milk bottles over and over.
I only have big-farm experience. Sorry I can't help more.
Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server, which houses Celebrity Atheists.
A small walk-in coop with a couple of half inch dowels suspended low for roosting is about all the space you would need. A 6" by 4" enclosure with just enough head room for you would be fine for three or four chickens. If your yard is fenced wel enough to hold them, you can let them roam around while you are outside, collecting them and putting them back in the coop before going inside or leaving. Add a few upright evenly spaced separators along the bottom of the back and throw some hay or even dried grass in them and the chickens will more often than not lay their eggs there. Some snakes are egg eaters as well, so take precautions against them if you live in a snake infested area. Depending on the weather, a couple of heat lamps on the wall can keep them from freezing. If your climate is mild, you can make do with mostly a chicken wire frame, adding a roof and a semi enclosed shelter for protection from the elements.
Chickens aren't prone to jail breaks. Your biggest worry is a dog breaking in. Make sure that any structure is sturdy enough to prevent this. Since most dogs are willing to do a little digging in order to reach a tasty clucking treat, you might want to think about pouring a cement floor for the coop as well.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/chicken-coop-small.html
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Save a tree, eat a vegetarian.
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