When we moved to Prescott, we intentionally bought a house in a neighborhood that was considered a little outside the mainstream -- people who like it joke about the "Ecohood," those who don't refer to it as The Barrio, but this town really doesn't have one that deserves the name.  One of the great things about this place is that a lot of folks in our neighborhood have hopped on one of the latest urban/suburban hipster trends -- backyard chickens.  We got our first chicks in April and it's been a whole lot of fun; if you've got a little corner of the garden, like fresh eggs & chat with your neighbors in advance (mentioning the fresh eggs, we found, doesn't hurt), I'd urge you give it a try this Spring!

Last April, AM & I lined up in front of the local Olsen's Grain an hour before they opened, as we'd heard rumors of a new shipment of day-old chicks; the previous month we'd sauntered in at 10:00 a.m. expecting to come home with a clutch of baby cluckers and were out of luck. The slightly shell-shocked salespeople told stories of a line 50 people long when the doors opened and the paid departure of the last little fuzzball just 20 minutes after the doors opened. A month later, there we were, feeling a bit like over-eager fans at a Grateful Dead show, swapping stories with our fellow line-sitters and hoping we might score some of the precious incoming chicks. We'd extensively researched breeds and settled on several that we wanted -- none of which, of course, were in that morning's shipment. We walked out with two ISA Browns and two Silver-Tipped Wyandottes, not entirely sure what any of those words actually meant.

A day old when we got them, they were just as IZ_ and goofy as anyone could have hoped, and pooped, ate and cheeped pretty much nonstop. They spent the first month or so in a high-topped cardboard box with a 100 watt bulb for warmth. Once they'd lost the fuzz & fledged, they moved out to the backyard chicken run (formerly chainlink dog run) and an A-Frame coop lovingly constructed for about $10 out of scrap lumber and cast-off roofing from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (that's the ST2 in the background for Ducati content; the coop is lying on its side while I install the hinges so that one wall folds up for egg retrieval.)



After a suitably awkward adolescence with half fuzz and half feathers, they started to look positively matronly and in mid-summer gave us our first egg. The Browns -- which turn out to be a cross between Rhode Island Reds & Rhode Island Whites -- were a good month earlier with the egg production than the Wyandottes, but as of September, we're seeing a consistent three eggs a day, and four a day more often than not. They've backed off to two or so a day during the winter, but we still haven't had to buy eggs since the Fall.



They devour bugs in the garden, give us plenty of pooped-on straw for the compost pile, and are generally entertaining. While they're laying hens rather than meat birds, we've acquiesced to the 14 year old's demands that they not end up in a stock pot. I enjoy their antics & personalities a lot, but I'll admit mixed feelings on that deal. They're not pets.

But the most surprising part is just how relaxing it is to just watch them be chickens. Our neighbor, who daily brings them greens and melon rinds that they devour, has become a big fan. We were standing out by the coop one afternoon talking about the chickens and general events around the neighborhood, when we simultaneously realized we'd both been silent for a good five minutes. Just standing there, watching the chickens scratch and peck. Just being, in the spirit of a good zen master. Think about it -- Chicken, egg? Cross the road? Why do you think of our best western zen koans seem to come from chickens? For a few bucks worth of feed, it seems we're getting more out of this than just eggs.

If you bought more and scratched little trenches in the dirt and put the feed in there, you could make a living, clucking, pecking, gigantic smiley face.

Yay livestock!!  I've wanted chickens for a while, I've got to get outside the city limits though. Bravo to you

Great story!!

I thought all of Prescott could be constidered an Ecohood.  

I glad to hear your story!  I have plans for chickens come next spring.


The only concern is how to keep the chickens in the very cold days.  I've been told a 100w bulb will do the trick in their coop.

you're my hero

good early warning for various disease as well (west nile, maybe the avion flue?)

Quote from: The Architect on January 05, 2010, 02:50:03 PM
I glad to hear your story!  I have plans for chickens come next spring.


The only concern is how to keep the chickens in the very cold days.  I've been told a 100w bulb will do the trick in their coup.

Where are you located?  They actually seem happier on the cold days than in the heat of summer. (edit: I just remembered from the DIMBY thread -- you're in New England, so your cold is a bit colder than ours.)

Ours aren't very smart (even measured against the low bar set by average chickens) and prefer to roost at night on TOP of the coop I built for them instead of inside it. They've been fine there down into the high single digits with no sign of frostbite or other real problems. The one time I was really worried about them was after a day-long, 35 degree rain when they insisted in hanging out in the front, unsheltered part of the run. They were completely soaked to the skin with a big storm moving in that night, so we went out and bodily stuffed them inside the coop and boarded up the door. Good thing, because the storm packed sustained 60 mph winds & higher gusts with lots of snow & frigid temps. Probably would have woken to frozen fryers if we hadn't intervened. The bigger problem is making sure they've got water available on days when it doesn't get above freezing. Other than that, I just remind myself that people keep chickens in New England & upper Minnesota just fine, so ours should be OK.

My brother has many "yard birds" on his property - chickens, pheasants, and wild turkeys. They are confined to some degree (the local wildlife would decimate them otherwise) but thrive just fine in southern MN.

Quote from: The Architect on January 05, 2010, 02:50:03 PM
I glad to hear your story!  I have plans for chickens come next spring.


The only concern is how to keep the chickens in the very cold days.  I've been told a 100w bulb will do the trick in their coup.

you're my hero

I just came back from spending a few days on a friends farm (hippie commune really) in VT.  They have two dozen chickens in a coop made of an old farm trailer.  They built a cover for the trailer using hardware cloth covered in tyvek - not pretty, but what do you expect on a hippie commune. No electricity or external heat source of any kind.  They actually used to have a nice 2 story coop, but that has been converted into living space and that is where we stayed (no shit - also no plumbing or electricity).   Actually, chicken litter (shit and straw or woodshavings) stays freakin' warm due to composting.  It will keep most coops quite warm.  It got down below zero the days we were there and the chickens did just fine.  There is also a gander living in a dog crate that guards the chickens, but that is another story. 

We are going to get some in Silver Spring this spring.  The city allows up to a dozen chickens but no roosters.  Hard to believe that we would be allowed to have them in such a densely settled urban area, but it is true.

That is so cool

Angler, where in VT were you?

Quote from: DesmoDiva on January 06, 2010, 07:28:05 AM
Angler, where in VT were you?

Southern. Guilford area, just over the MA line.

As a weird coincidence, the Washington Post had an article today about urban chickens being confiscated in DC.  Here is a link to a larger story on the laws in metro DC http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051301051.html?sid=ST2010010601470

It says that in Montgomery County the coop needs to be at least 100 feet from any structure used as living space.  That might be a little tough for me......

Very cool.  My neighbors across the street have a few chickens.  Not sure if they are egg-layers though.

Stella and I get our eggs from friends of ours that have a small ranch outside of Denver.  They have somewhere around 70 free-range hens.  Really tasty eggs.  Bick and Fresh Pants can attest.

They also have goats that they milk and make really yummy cheese with.

Good with  and the aforementioned eggs. 

Quote from: Randimus Maximus on January 06, 2010, 04:04:59 PM
Very cool.  My neighbors across the street have a few chickens.  Not sure if they are egg-layers though.

Stella and I get our eggs from friends of ours that have a small ranch outside of Denver.  They have somewhere around 70 free-range hens.  Really tasty eggs.  Bick and Fresh Pants can attest.

They also have goats that they milk and make really yummy cheese with.

Good with  and the aforementioned eggs. 

Why you selfish bastard! I sent you those great steaks and you fed me greenery with them instead of getting up with the sun and making me steak and fresh eggs??!! Stella, kick him in the shins and have Bryan bite him for me! 

Clemson, SC (Clemson University) is changing its' ordinance to allow chickens to be kept within the city limits.

The ordinance spells out requirements for how chickens are housed, can't roam around, can't slaughter them outside and NO roosters and only eight hens per household. It even spells out chicken feed storage and twice weekly cleaning of cages and specifications for cages.

You also have to register with the city and pay a one time fee of $15.

If you already had illegal alien chickens before the ordinance, they are grandfathered in, but you've got 90 days to register them or I guess they are subject to deportation.  

My wife and I used to travel as consultants to the Nuclear industry and would always go to the county fairs.  It is make the beast with two backsing amazing how many types of chicken and how VERY strange some of them are.  There are indeed some very cool chickens out there.

LA