Hi -- I just found out that you can have chickens in the city of Chicago as long as they are not a nuisance and you are not slaughtering them. I would love to have a couple chickens for fresh eggs and chicken poop. DH thinks I have lost my mind. Just wondering is there anyone out there in a big city with chickens.
City Chickens
Myrrh has some in the California Bay Area. And I have sold some to people in Berkeley and San Francisco. There is a growing movement. If you google "Urban Chicken" a lot of information comes up.
I am not in the city but I have seen coops and tractors built for urban chickens! They are so cute. I live in CNY.
It is indeed a growing trend.
Fresh eggs are great! Good luck to you!
Welcome aboard the chicken train! Or is it tractor!!
Your DH won't think you're crazy when you make him a wonderful omelet using your own eggs! There's nothing like it.
I actually had chickens in Los Angeles. There was some law about roosters because of the noise but my neighbors were use to my family and I never got ant complaints. I just remember the stupid things going off everytime head lights came in the driveway. When I was in college and the roosters would wake my parents up and get me in trouble.
LOL! That is a good idea...I do have one growing up fast.
Alarm chickens! hmmmm
We have some alarm chickens. Drive in the driveway and they start crowing. We have one roo that sleeps in a tree in our back yard.
I read a paper recently about how birds' brains are compartmentalized. Only one hemisphere falls asleep at a time--so they are very easily roused. In a sense they are never completely asleep the way mammals are. Which is why you have to cover pet bird cages at night--otherwise they would be constantly awakened by any external stimulus. Strange.
really? Interesting! That explains a lot.
No wonder they don't get upset for constantly waking up over and over and over.. it would drive me insane!
I'm not sure if I'm more fascinated or disturbed...
fascinated AND disturbed.
Here is a quote about it--apparently they can sleep with one or two hemispheres, depending on the situation. The link is the whole article and is really fascinating. Discusses how the bird brain has developed a high level of intelligence in ways quite dissimilar from mammals.
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdbrain.html
Half-asleep birds choose which half dozes - Birds that are literally half-asleep - with one brain hemisphere alert & the other snoozing - control which side of the brain remains awake. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere shuts, while the wakeful hemisphere's eye stays open and vigilant. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once. To check whether birds can control half-brain sleeping, Rattenborg et al. (1999) rows of Mallards napping. Decades of studies of bird flocks led researchers to predict extra vigilance in the more vulnerable, end-of-the-row sleepers. Sure enough, the end birds tended to keep peeled the eye on the side away from their buddies. Mallards snuggled into the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction. Also, birds dozing at the end of the line resorted to single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Rotating 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found outer birds half-asleep during some 32% of snoozing time versus about 12% for birds in internal spots. "We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously in different regions of the brain," the researchers said. The results provide the best evidence yet for a long-standing conjecture that single- hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures scanned for predators. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread. Useful as half-sleeping might be, it's only been found in birds and such aquatic mammals as dolphins, whales, seals, and manatees. Presumably, keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning, explains Rattenborg.
Sound like my exhusband except he was only half awake!
Portland, OR is probably not "big city" like you're thinking, but there are tons of us that have chickens in this area... as I was told the other day, "its the latest trend!"
*rolling eyes* sheesh!
seriously, its completely possible. you have a least a bit of yard, right? I have 3 hens (pullets to be exact) on a 9k sqfoot lot.
1lisac wrote: Sound like my exhusband except he was only half awake! LOL
How about when you try to take the remote because he is snoring...and they say...I was watching that! Chicken!
I have a silly question - do I have to install a tall fence to keep them in (will they fly away)? I have the standard fencing around the house. And do I need a rooster. I read somewhere that you don't need one. As long as I can keep them quiet the neighbors should be ok, especially if I share my eggs with them.
You do not need a rooster. They will fertilize the eggs if you plan on having eggs to hatch but other wise they are just pretty! I have a 6 ft fence and wire enclosing the top. Mine fly right out w/o the top! It depends. Some people clip the wings. I dont, I just enclose the run. Good luck!
Giving the niehgbor eggs helps as well!!!!! hehehe No complaints there!
I hope I can really do this. I'm researching coops now and where I can put this thing. I'm thinking under my backdoor stairs.
Have you checked with town code yet? Some places do not allow more than a certain number of chickens, some do not allow roosters at all. I would just check to be sure.
Are you letting them have the whole yard or are you giving them a run? I have a 20x10 run for my chcikens. I do not have a lot of them. I only have a dozen or so. How many do you want? what kind. Sorry, I am nosy!
Duh! I just read your top post again and yes you have checked with code. ;D
The heavier breeds are less likely to fly---Buff Orpingtons are lousy at it. But almost all the bantams are good flyers and a lot of the lighter breeds like Leghorns and even Delaware can get over my 7 foot fence--although sometimes they work their way up by flying onto lower objects first. I would think Cochins, Brahmas and Jersey Giants would be pretty much earthbound.
Ya, I have a Brahma roo who cant even get his but up on the roost. He sleeps on the floor of the coop. All the rest get up there fine to sleep. hehehe
Speaking of getting your butt off the floor, my Pekin has started climbing into the nests to lay her eggs! Don't know how she gets her clumsy derriere up there. lol! I'd love to see her do it but she lays very early(before 6!).
Good deal! Finally! Now she is a big girl.
No more dirty eggs!
Now I have one that has layed on the floor 2 times. :O
I don't know the size of my lot but it has a tiny side drive that I turned into a garden because the city closed off the driveway so what was the point of a side drive! I was going to let them have the run of the yard. I hope they're not too destructive. I have a lot of perennials.
Thinking of starting out small. Maybe 2. I will have to look for a lazy butt chicken who doesn't want to fly. I'm home so I can keep an eye on them for the most part and my neighbors I know would help me out if one of them got loose. They always return one of the dogs when they get out.
Ya, about the flower beds :O Mine dig in them and send the mulch out into the yard.
They love grubs and stuff.
My father lets his run but they surround all the flower beds with fences. Usually works.
My DH said no way, since landscaping is his life. He built the enclosed run.
They probably aren't too bad with the tougher perenials--but they do like to peck at plants. The ones with feathered feet--Cochins and Brahmas are supposed to scratch less. Chickens can pretty much destroy turf with scratching. But with only two you can probably control the damage. But make sure they have someplace to take a dust bath--they love to and will make their own dust baths if necessary. It is necessary for their health and keeps parasites at bay.
Yes, the half awake side of my exhusband's brain would get mad at me when I took the remote away while he was snoring! That info about the chickens not being able to get on to their roost sounded kinda familiar too. My chickens are free range during the day and it took me 2 years to figure out that they were eating all the flower seeds I put out. That is the main reason I started making seedballs.
My DH insists he can't fall asleep while the TV is on....so either half his brain is awake or he snores an awful lot for someone who isn't asleep. But he is going to watch the animals while I go visit my family. Gratitude! Yeah that is the word that keeps escaping me.....
It is the chic pet to have these days in the city. Folks in NY city have them on the roof tops.
I had 7 in my back yard when I lived in the city, no roo, and they had the best time scratching in the fenced in back yard.
I'm thinking it's a great idea! I've just about got a friend of mine convinced he needs a few hens.. I've gotta fix him breakfast with some of Catscan's eggs and then he will be putty. LOL
roserairie,
Sounds like you have plenty of space. My girls have taken over my backyard. I think next spring I'm going to try to reign them into just one side of my backyard. They do tear it up a bit, but the poop is my issue. I don't like that they poop EVERYWHERE! Mainly mine are in love with the bark chips that surround my kids' play structure. They are worse than the kids! I'm constantly picking chips out of the grass. ha!
Like cat said, they do love their dust bath.
I've noticed and read, that chickens are very much creatures of habit. If you can get them to do their dust bath in on particular area, you could probably minimize the destruction.
Also, be prepared to block off new plants. Mine find certain plants - like my poor mulberry sapling! - that they love and leave everything else alone.
About the flying... My girls *can* fly over my 6' fence, but they don't. Again with the habit, they are well established in my yard and they don't venture out unless provoked...i.e. chased. I have a pen with a top that I can close them in if I'm not around to supervise.
I just loved the day that Lacey decided to go for a visit with the neighbors shortly after we had brought her home. 2 hours later, when I returned home from my errands, I found her sitting under the neighbor's lawn chair while she was reading her book - ha!
I don't like the idea of clipping wings. You can, I hear its painless. I just don't. I had read that when they reach maturity, they will be too heavy to fly efficiently. That's what I'm holding out for. ;-)
My daughter, who is totally against this idea, suggested clipping the wings but I'm with you I would prefer not to do this. I'm thinking of fencing off the garden under the backporch stairs that has a small goldfish pond and some well established plants. Then the side drive can be the veggie/perennial garden. My neighbor has these tall hedgelike trees that we can't even see thru so I think they won't be able to fly over those. The trees are about 15' tall. Could I use a childs sandbox for the dust bowl?
Hi roserairie,
My chickens are in the dallas area which is a pretty big city. We live in the suburbs of north dallas about 15 min from downtown.
Ive had a few mishaps with chickens in the past where I learned some valuable lessons.
I would NOT get a rooster. You will not be able to keep it quite I can PROMISE you. There are surgeries you can do and certain methods people will recommend but trust me at the end of the day it will not be worth it if all you want is some eggs and some hobby chicks. Bad idea. Just dont do it. Your neighbors will hate you. I had a rooster for like 3 days and you could hear him crowing 3 streets over. Plus I think its nice just having the ladies. They will not miss him at all!
If you let your chickens freerange all day in your garden they will eat all your plants that they feel like. I would recommend first not letting them freerange when you are not there as they could fly over your fence, be attacked by a neighborhood cat, etc. Those things and many more have happened to me. Yes some can still get over a fence with their wings clipped if they have the motivation. Dont be like me and have to chase a chicken down your street. It is not fun (well maybe a little but also exasperating!) The 3 ladies I have now have not tried to fly over the big 6 ft fence or my little fence that seperates their area from mine - but others have in the past!
With my new 3 girls I have put their coop in the very back of the yard and fenced in that area. There they have about half grass and half dirt and none of the plants I dont want them to eat. They can eat a plant down to nothing and last summer after about 2 weeks every flower and leaf in my garden was gone. This way they still have their little freerange area and I have the rest of my garden to actually do some gardening. And if you let them out occassionally into the garden they will do a good job of finding your bugs! I like that they have dirt and grass in their are because they like having the dirt for their baths and the grass for their munching. I also put one of my compost piles in their yard and a woodpile. Both good places for them to find bugs and they like to scratch around in the compost pile.
Having chickens in the city is lots of fun but you have to take a few precautions that some other chicken raisers dont. But at the end of the day just hve fun with it. Try new stuff out and youll learn a great deal even after 6 momths of it! They are great pets. They arent loud like my dogs and their poop is now conveniently not in my garden...unlike my dogs' monster poops. ew...
Sorry I was replying while while you posted. I had a sandbox for a while but they didnt like bathing where I put the box so they made their own spot go figure! I think it is a very good idea thast you are blocking off your veggie garden too. Ours is not accessible to our chickens for good reason.
roserairie: Be careful about the pond. I lost two chickens in a pond that is so shallow the second one died just two days ago of hypothermia not drowning. The poor pullet's head was dry and it was just standing there. The first was my beloved Silkie, Riley. Silkies are very prone to drowning because they can't fly and their fluffy feathers become heavy and waterlogged very quickly. The pond is very small and very shallow--but it is still an attractive nuisance to my chickens. I am going out today to cover it with a heavy mesh.
Oh Cat! I'm so sorry that you lost another one!
Thank you all for the great advice. I realize now I will have to get a coop with an caged in area and keep them in. Found a couple great ideas on City Chickens website. There is so much to consider that I can't jump into this idea. On that website, lice is discussed as well as how to put one down -- which is something I never thought of. That would be really hard for me to do. It's hard when one of the fish die and I have to scoop it out and discard it, but if I had to kill off one my chickens; well I can't even go there and I don't even have a chicken yet!
Rose