Backyard Chickens?
- Thread starter Dragonborn
- Start date
Yep, I'm well aware, I just didn't have much choice. My friend has had them since they were 4 days old. They have been healthy so far so I just have to hope for the best.
Regalis
Notable member
Bahahaha. This thread is full of funny bits.
Striped rats. That's a new one! But pretty darn accurate!
Octopi are the Houdini of the animal world.
Roosters are ass holes. That one I actually knew. Distant relative had one that attacked people. Apparently one time it made the mistake of going after his 10ish year old daughter. Cornered her in the barn and was spurring the crap out of her. Needless to say, Mr. Rooster met Mr. Baseball bat and the other kids still have no clue, they think he ran away.
My city just changed the ordinance to allow chickens, with a permit and city approval. I have to figure out what all is involved to see if it's even remotely feasible or not. You'd think living in a small farm town they'd be ok with it! The farm store in town sells chicks for crying out loud.
Striped rats. That's a new one! But pretty darn accurate!
Octopi are the Houdini of the animal world.
Roosters are ass holes. That one I actually knew. Distant relative had one that attacked people. Apparently one time it made the mistake of going after his 10ish year old daughter. Cornered her in the barn and was spurring the crap out of her. Needless to say, Mr. Rooster met Mr. Baseball bat and the other kids still have no clue, they think he ran away.
My city just changed the ordinance to allow chickens, with a permit and city approval. I have to figure out what all is involved to see if it's even remotely feasible or not. You'd think living in a small farm town they'd be ok with it! The farm store in town sells chicks for crying out loud.
I have an abnormal rooster... He's so sweet! I mean hes not overly friendly, but hes certainly no asshole! Glad I kept the silkie rooster rather than rhode island. He probably would have been meaner, as silkies are naturally more docile.
Regalis
Notable member
On a somewhat related note - I once raised a pair of baby mallards. In the bathroom of my apartment. Don't ask me how I never got caught, cuz I've not a clue! They were supposed to be feeders for the snakes. But after I realized they were mallards I didn't have the heart to kill them. So in my bathroom they stayed. I was already bringing home boxes of crickets and various other feeder insects so they had a pretty varied diet. They'd get "duck weed" out of our aquarium and all sorts of scrap food. When they had all their feathers, we released them on a very small, secluded lake. I think the most interesting part was that they would go completely silent when I turned the light off at night. Then greet me with enthusiasm when I turned it on in the morning.
And this is why I'm not allowed near live animals for sale. Ever. Lol. We went for bunnies and came home with bunnies and ducks.
And this is why I'm not allowed near live animals for sale. Ever. Lol. We went for bunnies and came home with bunnies and ducks.
Regalis
Notable member
The only thing that's really stopped me recently is the ordinances where I live. And I live on main St with lots of neighbors so it's not like I can "hide" much of anything.
I'm really researching the ordinance change. It seems that since my yard is fenced, that I may be ok. There's one person on city council with a stick up her butt that seems to be against back yard chickens, but the others seem ok. From the minutes I've read they keep overruling her anyways
she's one of those "it drives down property value, it's an eyesore, blah blah blah" types. One member even pointed out that many of the communities in our area have opened up to chickens and just have semi-strict ordinances in places (no roosters, not allowed to run free all over the place, etc).
Hubs is totally on board. He's the one who initially wanted chickens and I kinda scoffed at it at first but with the way we go through eggs, having our own hens would be nice. Plus, fresh eggs just taste better. And chickens are the only birds that don't totally freak me out lol
So I think the plan is to get all our stuff in line to do it next year. We have to re-fence the back (rickety old picket fence). We already have the fencing, it was left by the old owners, just have to get it put in. The garage basically acts as a privacy fence from the one neighbor (the one I think would have an issue with chickens, grouchy old man). Both the other people I can find that were approved don't even have fenced yards.
My biggest concern is the dogs. Funny enough, I think Kaizer I could train to be ok with them. But the lab? No way. He has wayyyyy too much prey drive.
I'm really researching the ordinance change. It seems that since my yard is fenced, that I may be ok. There's one person on city council with a stick up her butt that seems to be against back yard chickens, but the others seem ok. From the minutes I've read they keep overruling her anyways
she's one of those "it drives down property value, it's an eyesore, blah blah blah" types. One member even pointed out that many of the communities in our area have opened up to chickens and just have semi-strict ordinances in places (no roosters, not allowed to run free all over the place, etc). Hubs is totally on board. He's the one who initially wanted chickens and I kinda scoffed at it at first but with the way we go through eggs, having our own hens would be nice. Plus, fresh eggs just taste better. And chickens are the only birds that don't totally freak me out lol
So I think the plan is to get all our stuff in line to do it next year. We have to re-fence the back (rickety old picket fence). We already have the fencing, it was left by the old owners, just have to get it put in. The garage basically acts as a privacy fence from the one neighbor (the one I think would have an issue with chickens, grouchy old man). Both the other people I can find that were approved don't even have fenced yards.
My biggest concern is the dogs. Funny enough, I think Kaizer I could train to be ok with them. But the lab? No way. He has wayyyyy too much prey drive.
I have a pair of mallards trying to make my pond their home. I don't know where they have spent time thus far, but definitely around dogs. They have no fear at all of the dogs. We saw signs of a nest under our weeping pussy willow....this could get real interesting if they lay here. I have been able to keep the dogs at bay so far, just worried the little bite sized snacks may be too irresistible.
Drake has a pretty high prey drive and Rumor is proving she does too. I have a schedule down pretty pat. I keep the girls in the coop and let them out at certain times. We put a sign on the door reminding people to not let the dogs out. The hens are pretty smart. They come when called. When the dogs need out, I call the hens back to the coop. It's funny to watch them run back. Also pretty entertaining to watch them jump up and down when I let them out.
As far as keeping the dogs away from the coop, I put a solar powered electric fence around the coop and it only took one time. The zap is really pretty harmless and just enough that the dogs don't come back. In fact, it's not even there anymore and Drake sits about 3 feet away when I go out to collect eggs.
Regalis
Notable member
My concern is mostly the kids letting the dogs out while I have the chickens out. While I don't think they would do it on purpose, the dogs tend to push past them or they forget to close the main door and the dogs just push the screen door open.
But we have about a year to work on it. Maybe by then the dogs will be better about pushing past the kids. The lab usually is pretty good about it, but Kaizer not so much lol he waits for them to open that door knowing full well the kids can't stop him.
When the chickens are locked up I think the dogs will be ok. It's just loose chickens I don't trust them with lol especially the lab, he's already tried to catch a cat, a raccoon and every squirrel he sees. Kaizer just looks at him like he's an idiot. I won't be the least bit surprised if we have a couple casualties until we get a system down.
But we have about a year to work on it. Maybe by then the dogs will be better about pushing past the kids. The lab usually is pretty good about it, but Kaizer not so much lol he waits for them to open that door knowing full well the kids can't stop him.
When the chickens are locked up I think the dogs will be ok. It's just loose chickens I don't trust them with lol especially the lab, he's already tried to catch a cat, a raccoon and every squirrel he sees. Kaizer just looks at him like he's an idiot. I won't be the least bit surprised if we have a couple casualties until we get a system down.
That would help around here to keep the fox away but unfortunately the weasels could still get through it.
I was told (and it worked well for me) to put them together at night and they aren't as aware that there are "new members". They kind of wake up with them and accept it more easily.So we added to our flock today. Not our intention, a friend dropped them off this afternoon.
She bought them before she checked the laws in her city.Why do people do that?
They are 10 week old Buff Orpinton's and should look like this when the are grown.
View attachment 71738
I have them in a dog crate inside the coop until we see if everybody is going to get along.
hope that helps.
Regalis
Notable member
Interesting! Wonder if the city would approve it lol they're all about things being visually appealing.
I was told (and it worked well for me) to put them together at night and they aren't as aware that there are "new members". They kind of wake up with them and accept it more easily.
That's pretty much what we did. They are getting along just fine.
Take a look at some of the chicken forums. They have some pretty fancy setups. You can think outside the box and come up with some appealing stuff pretty inexpensively.
Regalis
Notable member
Oh I know, but part of me says I shouldn't push it either. The fact that they're even allowing chickens at all is surprising. When I moved up here a couple years ago there was no way you could have chickens in town.
Soooo we may have some new members of our flock soon. Our asshole hen has been sitting on 2 eggs for about a week now. She's getting meaner and meaner! I marked the 2 she was sitting on last week so that I can gather any new eggs, and boy she does NOT like me coming in the coop!
Leather gloves. That will take care of the mean hen.
Just about all my hens are loud. I have one that lays really early and she is LOUD about it. Surprised no neighbors have complained. I'll just keep giving them eggs.
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