But in my town they are not allowed..I have a neighbor who would squawk if he heard a chicken...so I have to live vicariously by reading about the chickens that all of you have...
I Want Some Chickens!
We aims to enable....
Do you have a basement?
No, no basement here...(but I like the way you think!)
Sunroom maybe?
Psst---Serama.
No sun room either...Seramas are the real little guys, right? Are there any that are real quiet? I am not kidding, the neighbor would turn me in, in a heart beat! and the best place for them is right by the neighbors yard. I have a privacy fence o he couldn't see them but he could hear them.
The little pullets are very quiet. The roosters are quiet for a rooster--but they aren't silent. The hens are so small, I am not sure they would even know that they are chickens.
Serama were developed as pets to keep in an apartment. I have some in the house right now and they are less messy and smelly than a parakeet. Just a little bigger than a robin--smaller than a pigeon. You can keep three in a 2 foot by 4 foot cage....you are suppose to take them outside for exercise where you can watch them so nothing carries them off. They are very sweet and tame.
Maybe you can get silkies and tell the neighbor that they are Shitzu puppies.
True! Silkies look nothing like chickens....
Caliche, That was a great idea that made me cackle. LOL
Melva, I have to agree with Catscan, you could have a couple serama hen's in the house in a nice bird cage and the neighbors would never know it. They are quiet, extremely friendly and easier to raise than any bird I know of. You deserve it, so geterdone. Hay.
I have a cat....for that reason, I think I need something bigger. I like the idea of puppies. are Silkies the one with turquoise ear lobes? Aren't they supposed to be real tame and docile?
Yes. Silkies are adorable and very tame. They come in standard and bantam--the standard sized ones are smaller than a regular standard-sized chicken...but probably what you want. So make sure you don't accidentally get a bantam one....:0)
Okay, that is what I want...what about Copper Marans? There are so many chickens that I love. I need to find plans for a coop and get that done, before I get chicks.
Copper Marans are very nice, but highly chickeny.
please explain 'highly chickeny'
Well, they are large, look, and what is worse, sound like chickens, and will be hard to pass off as shitzus.
....also, don't get a rooster, unless you can teach it to bark. Silkie hens are very quiet, and so sweet, but that squeaky little crowing at dawn will surely give your secret away.
I think I will look into getting some serama's for Knock. He moved to La with his Mom and he lives in an apartment but he really misses the animals. A few serama pullets in a nice cage indoors and a container garden on his balcony might be just what he needs. How hard are the seramas to hatch in a regular incubator?
They are very difficult to hatch in an incubator--It helps if they are not shipped and are incubated on their side. They also hatch a day or two earlier so you need to stop turning them on day 16.
But if you get enough eggs you can hatch some. They do best with a broody, but you can hatch them with an incubator.
Why don't you arm yourself with as much education as you can and go to one of your city's council meetings to petition them to change your ordinance laws? Such a thing has been done all over the country. Even in Ann Arbor, Michigan.........which is a la-ti-da high rent area people are allowed to keep chickens. There is a limit on how many and certain rules but it's now allowed.
Better to change the law than to break it. You might even get a petition going and get as many signautures as you can. Maybe run an ad in the local paper and see if you can get some help changing the law.
Backyard chickens approved for Ann Arbor
By Sara Lynne Thelen
Daily News Editor On June 8th, 2008
Ann Arbor resident Susan Blake stepped up to the podium at Tuesday's City Council meeting and made her presence known. "I'm a chicken," she said.
Blake began clucking like an agitated hen to demonstrate the potential noise level of backyard chickens in Ann Arbor. Her squawks bounced off the council chamber walls, reiterating her point as she finished her speech: "I'm against chickens for several reasons, but that's one of them," she said.
Despite some residents' fears of noise, smelly manure, unsightly coops and the avian flu, Ann Arbor City Council voted 7-4 Tuesday to amend an ordinance that previously banned backyard chickens. When the amendment becomes effective in 60 days, Ann Arbor residents will be able to keep up to four hens in coops in their backyards with their neighbors' consent. Chickens could be kept as pets or for eggs.
"All the jokes are done with, and all the real sustainable living is now underway," said city Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward 3), who owns a chicken and first sponsored the ordinance change last December. "It shows that community activism is still alive and well in Ann Arbor."
About 15 residents spoke, joked and broke chicken wishbones in front of the City Council on Tuesday to show their support for the chicken ordinance. Many felt that backyard chickens would provide a healthy and cheap alternative to store-bought eggs and a learning experience for first-time hen owners.
"I want my kids to understand where their food comes from," said Ann Arbor resident Jennifer Hall.
Molly Notarianni, the manager of Ann Arbor's Farmers Market, recently moved to Ann Arbor from Portland, Ore., where backyard chickens are also legal. She said she was not concerned about urban chickens detracting from business at the Farmers Market. She enjoyed keeping chickens when she lived in Oregon because their eggs are delicious and they make affectionate pets, she said.
"I found that they were very quiet. Rather than being divisive, I met a lot of people I wouldn't have otherwise," she said in an interview. "It's a good way to build community. I'm very fortunate and grateful that the city of Ann Arbor has decided that they are important."
Residents who kept backyard chickens before the law was amended would have been fined up to $500.
Councilmember Leigh Greden (D-Ward 3), who voted against the ordinance change, said he believes legalizing backyard chickens is unnecessary because fresh eggs can be bought at the Farmers Market.
"I believe the potential problems outweigh the very few potential benefits," he said, adding that most of his constituents were against the proposal. "I don't know how anyone can say that this should be something we're spending time on."
Councilmembers Joan Lowenstein (D-Ward 2), Stephen Rapundalo (D-Ward 2) and Chris Easthope (D-Ward 5) also voted against the amendment.
Richard Fulton, an associate professor at Michigan State University specializing in avian diseases, said that many studies on migratory waterfowl throughout the United States have concluded that Michigan's risk for avian flu is low, especially for chickens in small numbers.
"If this disease does come to Michigan, common sense will protect people and their chickens," he said in an e-mail interview. "The chickens at that time should be kept indoors, and they should be kept isolated from other people and animals."
Fulton added that children should not cuddle chickens like they would a dog or a cat.
Kunselman's pet chicken, Bercilia, has been in "political exile" because of the law, he said. But he won't be able to build a coop at his home in Ann Arbor anytime soon.
"The irony is that being a city councilmember is a lot of work," he said. "Maybe we'll bring her home for a weekend or something."
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:27:07 -0500
How about renting or buying a lot outside of town? Mine is a horse lot I bought very cheap. I can keep chickens in town, but the roosters have to go out to the horse lot. So far it's working out.
As far as keeping a chicken in the house, well I would have to say, maybe one or two chickens. I have silkies and believe me, the hens can make some really loud noises at times. It's kind of embarrassing. Sounds just like a barnyard.
Another thing you might not realize is the SMELL. Chickens definitely have a strong odor. I raised baby chicks in the house, and they are fine up to a point, and then the stench is so bad, you have to find a place outside for them. You know when it's time.
Have you seen the video of the chicken wearing a diaper living in a house? It goes up and down the stairs. Now, that's an idea. It's a silkie too.
I know in one area of Richardson, Texas they can now have chickens. The people wanted chickens and the city finally said yes. Backyard chickens are becoming quite a fad.
We have some land Northwest of the town where we live..but since no one lives there, it is chock full of wild animals, deer, raccoons, coyotes...even wolves. I hope we will live there in a few years and I will have chickens and pea fowl and ducks then...but now...
I had thought about housing a few hens in a room in the garage, but we would need to go though the wall of the garage to make them a run...and people have told me that the dust produced by the chickens would mess up the cars and whatever else that is in the garage.
Glad I live in Portland, Oregon. We can have up to 3 chickens, 3 ducks, 3 pygmy goats, 3 pot-bellied pigs (each 75lbs or less), 3 rabbits without permits. You need a permit if you want more than 3. Now I don't know if this means you can have ALL these at one time or just one of the species. It doesn't really matter to me though I only want ducks.
Melvatoo, how big is your property? I'm nosy, so I read your ordinances. If you can situate where the chickens live so that it is not within 150 ft of someone elses building(s), looks as if you can have "fowl". It also says you can keep "pet" birds inside residential or commercial structures. Of course, it all depends on your situation.
I sure would like to help you acomplish your dream :)
P.S., yeah, the dust can be a problem. It gets in everywhere if uncontained, but plastic sheeting works pretty well....
I don't think there is anywhere where the chickens would be 150 feet from the neighbors unless I had the chicken coop in the front yard.
Now THERE'S a plan!! lol....Go for it!!
My DH says even a coop in the front, would still be too close.
change their yardstick...11.5 inches to the foot and you could swing it...
Off topic--in my illness I mistyped the web address for DG--and look what I found! A great investment opportunity.
http://dvesgarden.com/