Rollcall: TF mamas . . .Do you raise chickens???

[abclan]

I was just wondering how many TF mama have their own chickens. After reading the any TF and small budget thread, I always think, "Get yourself some chickens!".

We've currently got 4 hens (although one is broody) and 3 pullets whom I am expecting eggs from in the next month or so. We are getting about three eggs a day and I expect to double than when my others get old enough to lay. It more or less feeds our family of five - plus I know how well my birds are treated and what they eat.

Anybody else got chickens as part of their TF lifestyle ??????? (insert nonexistent chicken smilie here)

[OceanMomma]

I've got chooks but I would not describe them as a cheap option myself. I only feed mine certified organic feed. I've got too many to just feed scraps to & they hardly lay in the winter & probably need more food coz it's cold. However, I have a heap of passengers such as pet roos, spare breeding roos, older pet chooks, broody chickens with chicks & so on. I have even had a breeding roo die of old age as I am a bit hopeless about eating things with names : I am also a bit hopeless about eating older chooks whose production drops as I feel they have done their bit & need to retire

I think if you can keep a very tight flock ie ruthlessly cull anything that stops being superproductive & let them range & forage for a portion of their feed, it could be a much more economical option. I am working on reducing the flock right now precisely for this reason. I do sell the excess eggs in the summer & we do eat the extra roos from the year's chicks but they still don't pay for themselves. I don't buy commercial poultry, even organic, so I am always pleased we know where our food comes from.

[pampered_mom]

We don't have chickens b/c the city laws won't allow us to, but I'd really like to have some! There's talk of the city reconsidering the laws and believe me...if they ever do, I'll be first in line!

[sasshell]

I have 6 illegal chickens. I went to Town Hall and was told that I could have as many as I liked without a permit so I started with 6 just for eggs. I wanted to raise them to eat but found out that, per the county, I do have to have a permit and the permission of the neighbors that are ajacent to my property. Since I know that would never happen I decided to just keep them for eggs and have found a chicken CSA close by.

I hope these girls aren't too loud when they start laying. I've had them for 5 months and so far no one knows...but they have a lot of room to run around and I move the coop around so the poop is spread out and there is very little smell.

And it's easy (although illegal for me). I feed and water them each day and they keep themselves entertained for the most part. Give it a try!

[ani'smommy]

I wish I could. Our city won't allow it. We would do it illegally, and were all set to, but now we're moving into a co-housing community and it wouldn't really work. Some day. . .

[JElaineB]

Yup. We currently have 4 hens and 1 rooster who isn't long for this world. We get about 3-4 eggs a day and have them in a chicken tractor DH built.

[scorch_dc]

I want them...our city allows them within specific guidelines, but we live in a "new urbanism" development right now, and the homes are too close to be legal (and I think our neighborhood compact says something about fowl). BUT when we move out a bit more and have more space (soon, I hope) we will DEFINITELY have chickens.

[ccohenou]

How do you find out about chicken policy in your area? I looked through our city ordinances and found no mention of chickens whatsoever. There were rules about not keeping horses, mules, llamas if you don't have a certain square footage per animal - and no pigs within city limits - and no large carnivores - but no chicken rules. Should I just assume that chickens are legal as long as I don't allow them to be a nuisance w/smell, noise or filth?

[scorch_dc]

My city has an organization just for urban chicken owners, and they have info. Perhaps your city does too? Here is the one for my area:

http://madcitychickens.com/

[Kimmiepie]

We don't have any, and we don't have a fence. We're renting our house so they won't put one up unless we build it ourselves and dh is way strapped for time as it is. I'm also not sure about the chicken policy as we're in a small town, but in the city part. I'll have to check into that for future reference.

[newcastlemama]

We have 3 buff orptingtons that have not started laying yet...hopefully anytime now. It was really fun for ds to raise them from chicks and I think he will be pretty excited when he goes out there and finds eggs.

Jen

[zzwhitejd]

Nope... No chickens. Maybe one day. DH would love them.

[Gale Force]

We have five laying right now, bought fifteen more about three weeks ago but they got attacked by a predator. I bought another fifteen yesterday. It's been a hard season for our bird.s

[sewingmama]

I may in the future, if we can figure out how to keep predators away from them, but I'm not sure. Right now, we get eggs and chickens from a local family. The eggs are inexpensive and pastured, and they're very good. They ask me how many chickens I want with each batch, and then they order and raise that many just for me, and I get them immediately after they're processed (I freeze all but one or two, and they freeze well), at a very reasonable price. They raise the birds the way I would want to raise them. The family is really sweet and friendly and helpful, with young children, and my support helps, in part, for another mama to be home with her little ones. So, while I may try raising my own chickens in the future, at least right now, buying the meat and eggs is a choice with which I am totally satisfied.

[ranchchic]

Originally Posted by sasshell

I hope these girls aren't too loud when they start laying. I've had them for 5 months and so far no one knows...but they have a lot of room to run around and I move the coop around so the poop is spread out and there is very little smell.

Good luck with that! Ours squawk quite a bit when they are laying.

[JElaineB]

Originally Posted by ranchchic

Good luck with that! Ours squawk quite a bit when they are laying.

Yup, sometimes they are pretty loud. Last week our neighbor stopped us as we were going out the door to tell us something was wrong with one of our chickens because it was making such an awful noise. Nothing wrong, she was just laying!

[abclan]

One of our Spring chicks just started laying! Yippeee!

I just love how easy chickens are. I am tell all my friends this and no one seems to buy it. I am amazed sometimes at how my friends think I have some mircalous chicken whisperer power. Having chickens and growing a garden is not so strange. My friends just can't believe I know "how to do all that". In fact, I think if I can do it, anyone can (provided you've got a bit of space, of course).

[karne]

We would love to, but I need more info on how to protect from predators. We have all the usual, coyote, fishers, skunks, etc, so any ideas would be welcome! We definitely have the space, and I would love my own eggs. Do you get eggs over the winter too?

[moonlightinvt]

...subbing...

Timely! This past week I made the verbal commitment to my family that we will get chicks next year . Now I just have to figure out what to do :

I'm happy to hear from several of you that they are so easy. I've been hesitant but I feel the family dynamics will be perfect for new egg-laying additions.

So, what time of the year should I order chicks? I know I have a lot of research to do but any nuggets of wisdom would be appreciated.

I still have to build a "house"--I'm thinking mobile, like a wheelbarrow. Anyone doing this? Then maybe some mobile electric fencing to keep out our multitude of predators (I have a friend that has been succesful with this kind of fence but I have no idea how much that would cost).

Hope to hear more stories...

[caedmyn]

We might be getting chickens...we're buying a house where they're allowed, but I'm not sure if they're practical or not as we only have a large (almost double) lot, no acreage. I have some questions for you knowledgeable chicken mamas

Is it worth doing non-pastured chickens? We don't currently buy pastured eggs or chickens anyway because I can't find them around here. Basically the chickens would have a run and would have to eat feed, scraps, and any bugs that happened to wander into their run.

We're going to have a big garden--would letting the chickens run around the garden some of the time help make them more "pastured"? Would we have to wait until the plants are bigger so they don't eat the plants.

Are chickens noisy? Do they smell? And how many chickens would be good to start with? We only go through about a dozen eggs a week right now as only DH eats them (DD is intolerant so I can't eat them either), but once she weans (planning on weaning in 4.5 months when she hits 2) I'll probably go through a couple of dozen a week myself.

Oh, and do chickens lay much in the winter? We live in Montana so the winters are pretty cold. Could we get the chicks in October after we move, or would it be better to wait until spring?

TIA to anyone who takes the time to wade through all my questions!