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    Urban Chickens

    We're allowed to have urban chickens here and I'm doing some research because we're interested in getting a few. I'm having a tough time getting information, partly I think because urban chickening is relatively new. I've found some interesting coop ideas and the basics or raising and keeping chickens, but I'm looking for more detailed info.

    I'm trying to locate a decent breed for this region (Iowa). Egg-layer because we aren't planning to use them for meat, friendlyish, and not prone to health issues. It's hard because it can be really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. And I honestly don't know enough about them. If we decide to go forward with it, we'll have to take a class (I believe with the DNR) about urban chickens in order to get our permit, but I want a plan before I take it that far.

    We can't breed them because we can't have roosters in town. So something that has a decent life expectancy would be nice too.

    The other major problem is that with not being able to have a rooster, I would need to know the sex when I got them. So, either a sex link chick (which would also be more work) or I would have to find somewhere to buy half grown chickens and I have a feeling that would be much more expensive (then again, I'd have to buy an incubator set up or whatever too for chicks). And the places I've found to buy chicks from usually have a minimum of 15 or 25 chicks and I can only have a maximum of 6. And that would be committing a good chunk of my yard (not that I don't have the space). The city requires 4 sq ft per chicken. I don't know if that's reasonable though, and maybe I should give them more space.

    Still researching, but I know a couple of the people around here at least used to have chickens, so I thought there might be someone out there with resources and advice.
    We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

    I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
    It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
    Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
    -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

    Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

    #2
    Re: Urban Chickens

    My parents had a few Rhode Island Reds for a few years, in northern New Jersey. I was already an adult and out on my own so i don't know anything else about them, but they did produce eggs. "Urban chickens" makes me picture Foghorn Leghorn in a leather jacket.
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    Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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      #3
      Re: Urban Chickens

      I can't help you with breeds for your area but I can help with everything else... I'll get back to this later when I'm on the PC rather than my tablet.

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        #4
        Re: Urban Chickens

        Lol. Find some Mexicans and ask them! Seriously. Every hispanic neighborhood I've lived in, there are chickens. I know this because one, as a kid we had chickens. And most importantly.....never rile a chicken in their own yard. They will peck the heck outta you!
        Satan is my spirit animal

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          #5
          Re: Urban Chickens

          Do an internet search for "poultry breeds for sale" and you'll get to hatchery pages. Then, browse & read the descriptions like a seed catalogue.
          Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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            #6
            Re: Urban Chickens

            Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
            We're allowed to have urban chickens here and I'm doing some research because we're interested in getting a few. I'm having a tough time getting information, partly I think because urban chickening is relatively new. I've found some interesting coop ideas and the basics or raising and keeping chickens, but I'm looking for more detailed info.
            Yay! Chickens are awesome, and are totally suited to an urban situation if you have the right set up. Torey and I always intended to have chickens once our house is built... but as it turns out we've ended up with two duck so will have urban ducks instead.

            Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
            I'm trying to locate a decent breed for this region (Iowa). Egg-layer because we aren't planning to use them for meat, friendlyish, and not prone to health issues. It's hard because it can be really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. And I honestly don't know enough about them. If we decide to go forward with it, we'll have to take a class (I believe with the DNR) about urban chickens in order to get our permit, but I want a plan before I take it that far.
            This one I can't help much with, being in Australia and with a completely different environment. Here, ISA browns (which are not actually a breed but an indication of generic cross bred layer) are popular in backyards but have the drawback of not being friendly to other breeds and being a bit inconsistent in temperament. They are high yield layers, don't tend to go broody but have a relatively short life span. In that sense they are a bit of a double edged sword. So this is a warning rather than a recommendation lol

            It would be worth seeing if there are any poultry groups in your general area, or at least your state. There probably is, and they will be able to give you recommendations as well as sources for buying chickens.

            Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
            We can't breed them because we can't have roosters in town. So something that has a decent life expectancy would be nice too.
            You don't really want to breed them anyway. It's a lot of work and involves some special equipment unless you want to let the chickens do it naturally, which involves some risk to the chicks depending on your climate.

            Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
            The other major problem is that with not being able to have a rooster, I would need to know the sex when I got them. So, either a sex link chick (which would also be more work) or I would have to find somewhere to buy half grown chickens and I have a feeling that would be much more expensive (then again, I'd have to buy an incubator set up or whatever too for chicks).
            This is the harder part. Most people buy a set, then do a cull when they can tell the roosters from the hens. You will need a brooder set up for babies, which actually isn't quite as expensive as it sounds but does involve having them in the house or in a well insulated shed until they are starting to feather up (or possibly fully feathered if you are in winter right now). It's messy and time consuming (though not as messy and time consuming as ducklings!) but super rewarding and gives you a chance to really tame up and bond with the chickens. You can still tame up and bond with pullets, it just takes a little more time and patience.

            Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
            And the places I've found to buy chicks from usually have a minimum of 15 or 25 chicks and I can only have a maximum of 6. And that would be committing a good chunk of my yard (not that I don't have the space). The city requires 4 sq ft per chicken. I don't know if that's reasonable though, and maybe I should give them more space.
            Do a search around different fodder stores (the big stores where people buy straw, hay and animal feed) for chickens... often backyard breeders advertise their chickens at fodder stores and poultry shows rather than on websites etc. I think it would be a bit strange if you couldn't find anywhere that would give you the number that you are after. But then I'm not sure how city-fied it is where you are and the US is a little different to Australia!

            The general rule here in Aus is 1 square meter per average sized chook, which is... just over 3sqft I think, so 4sqft is a bit over that and would be completely reasonable. Personally, I'm a fan of as much space as possible for them, unless they will get the chance to do some daily free ranging (which is difficult in a backyard setup if you work all day). So with 6 you'd want 24sqft PLUS nighttime housing. They 4sqft per chicken usually doesn't include nest boxes and perching areas, so you'll need to factor that in.

            Do you have foxes and stray cats in your area (or any other small predator I haven't thought of that we don't have in Aus... quolls obviously aren't an issue for you!)? If so, you will need to fox-proof the chook run so that they are safe at night. If you will be able to let them out after dawn and lock them up before dusk all through the year, then your day run doesn't need to be fox-proof but you will need fox-proof night housing. Fox-proofing means either a solid or mesh floor, sinking the fence line under the ground a ways, or creating a 'skirt' around the pen. You're aiming to stop foxes from digging under the fence. Foxes can also climb to an extent, so you should have a roof... this can just be bird mesh though, because they generally wont walk out onto an unstable surface (as long as it's securely nailed down!) A roof also protects them from eagles and other aerial predators, which may or may not be a problem depending on your location. Don't assume that because you're in the city you don't need to worry about predators! There are plenty of urban foxes, birds of prey, snakes, and even ravens and crows will have a go at small or young chickens.

            Chickens can jump and fly a bit, depending on the breed. So the fence needs to be at least 6ft high, including the boundary fence of your yard if they'll be free-ranging at all. They will use objects as climbing or staging platforms to get over fences, so anything by your fence line (trees, sheds, barbeques, kid's play equipment etc) may increase the chance of escapees. You can wing clip, but that WONT stop the jumping or 'climbing'.

            Night time housing needs perches and nesting boxes. I can't remember the length of perch you need per chook, but I think it's under double the width of the chook. Usually two tiers of perch is best, because chooks have a very specific (and bitchy) hierarchy... they are one of the few species that actually has a true dominance/submission hierarchy (you know the type that people THINK dogs and wolves have, but which they actually don't? Chooks have it.) If you have only a single tier, chooks low on the pecking order (there's a reason we call it that!) will be kicked off the perch and forced to sleep on the ground, which is VERY stressful for them. Nesting boxes need to be enclosed on three sides and the top, and partitioned so that they don't all have to share the same space. You don't actually need one per chook... you can have half as many and make them wide enough for two chooks if you want to give them all plenty of space. But only broody hens (sitting on eggs) will stay in there... everyone else will usually time-share to lay their eggs. Nesting boxes don't need to be ground level, but need to have easy access with ramps and perches.

            If you get very cold or stormy you'll need to enclose the night time housing to protect them from the wind and weather. Chooks are descended from junglefowl, and while they are pretty adaptable they don't do well in extreme cold or in extreme heat. Here in Aus we tend to have to worry about the heat more... and have to set up sprinkler systems and special ventilation to help keep them cool. But you'll have the opposite problem. Insulating the coop is a very good idea, but can be tricky due to the risk of attracting mice etc. Ventilation is essential for enclosed night housing... usually an open front on a non-windy side, plus a strip of open mesh at the TOP of the coop on the opposite side is a common set up here. Either that or a solid roof over the whole yard with a little sheltered corner for night housing.

            The reason I'm getting into housing is because a lot of the little modular coops that you can get for urban chickens are actually not that suitable. Most aren't fox proof. Most chicken 'tractors' are not suitable for night time housing in extreme cold, even if they are fox proof. Most of the typical enclosed wooden ones with the fence and the little house don't have sufficient ventilation and therefore require cleaning at least 2-3 times a week (plus they don't have a roof on the yard). If you've got the time to do this then it's not a problem, but just be aware of that when you are choosing a coop to purchase. You might need to DIY upgrade a purchased urban coop to be predator proof.

            A final note on that... chicken wire is NOT predator proof. I dunno why we call it that (at least, we do in Aus), but foxes can chew through it. Aviary mesh is a much better option. I can pull the actual recommended figures for wire gauge and hole size if you need it, but I'll have to look them up.

            Food: Please do NOT get caught up in the trend of feeding them wheat and corn etc. Also avoid scratch mixes (the feeds that have different seeds and bits) because the chooks lower in the pecking order will end up malnourished while the top chickens will get fat and still be malnourished (these mixes allow them to preferentially pick out the yummy stuff and leave the other stuff and incidentally this is also the same problem with many commercial seed mixes for cage birds). Scratch mix can be given but no more then 10% of the daily ration of food... ie it's a treat, not food. The better option is to use a pellet style chicken feed, and provide shell grit in a separate dish, plus as many kitchen scraps as you like +/- free range time. Diets made up of cracked wheat and corn and whatever aren't balanced and can lead to malnutrition, which will affect their egg laying.

            Finally, check out this forum. It's Australian based but there is a TON of REALLY useful and fantastic information on it, which has been well indexed by the administrators. There are some US members, and most of the information will still be applicable to you... you'll just have to adjust it for climate zone (though you might find some states here in Aus are a similar climate zone to you... it's worth checking it). I'm sorry I don't have a US based forum recommended, but this one will still be useful for you and you can lurk without having to register because it's all public.

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              #7
              Re: Urban Chickens

              Raeya thanks for all the info. I know we have to have an enclosed coop and we're required to lock them in at night. There are some pretty specific rules for coops and the areas the chickens can be in. The hardest is that they have to be 10 feet from the property line and 25 ft from any neighboring buildings. It'll take some planning because the regs for a firepit are about the same and I don't want the firepit too close to the chickens. I imagine coop building and maintenance will be covered in the class.

              My main problem with buying chicks that haven't been sexed is that my vegan friend is planning to be really involved in this process and there's no way she'd be okay with my culling the roos. She'll prolly already by attached to them. Which is why I'm thinking of getting a sex-linked breed if I can find a good one for this region. Then I can just be sure to start with.
              We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

              I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
              It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
              Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
              -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

              Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

              Comment

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