Cathy2 wrote:Another farm friend ran into another issue: teens who dabbled in satanic cult who decided to do a ritual slaughter with her laying hens. She would probably welcome the 'coon who only bit off the head, because the alternative she had was far more messy.

How very 80s!

stevez wrote:We have feral chickens in our neighborhood. They surface every once in a while, but mostly stay out of sight in the woods.

We have feral parakeets in our neighborhood, I'm just not sure how good their eggs are.

I spotted one of our feral chickens yesterday. Sorry for the blurriness of the pictures, but Gladys is a quick mover.

stevez wrote:I spotted one of our feral chickens yesterday. Sorry for the blurriness of the pictures, but Gladys is a quick mover.

She also looks quite plump (not judging, just sayin').

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

stevez wrote:I spotted one of our feral chickens yesterday. Sorry for the blurriness of the pictures, but Gladys is a quick mover.

She also looks quite plump (not judging, just sayin').

=R=

That's 'cause she's as cagy as a roadrunner. Even the coyotes haven't been able to get her.

I'm actually amazed to find out this is even legal.

Speaking of chickens, I asked my mom who is 85 to ask one of her friends with acreage in Indiana if he was planning to get some chickens. She laughed and said she did not think so. She reminded me of when my grandparents had a backyard chicken coop in suburbia. I could not remember it much as if it existed when I was alive I was very small. She said she and my grandma were afraid of the chickens as they would fly at you so my grandfather had to take care of them. Of course they ate the chickens and the eggs. They produced mountains of chicken sh@@ and you had to have a rooster which would crow at the crack of dawn and wake you up. Even I remember this back in the fifties as the neighbors still kept chickens a few houses away. I actually like the sound and usually could smell coffee brewing and bacon frying so it is a good memory. I think these were holdovers from the war years and the depression where people did things like that to make ends meet. She said its not worth it-- go to the store and buy eggs or find a farmers to get them from.

Chickens didn't work in my Downstate grandparents' backyard, so they switched to mammalian 'chickens'--a hutch full o' rabbits. I remember throughout my kidhood having those rabbits there, calmly chewing vegetation, only later to grace the Sunday table, prepared in some version à la Polanaise by my grandmother.

Ummmm. Still happy memories.

Geo

Really interesting thread as I have been considering a coop. Really appreciated the post by dk...gave me something to think about...now not so eager to go down this path.

A good friend of mine has a coop but he is very rural...so probably a bit easier than a city coop. All I know is I LOVE the fresh eggs and that is the incentive...basically a different egg and taste than commercial eggs. A little venison backstrap with a fresh egg on top = yum.

...now not so eager to go down this path.

It's not that bad, but forewarned is forearmed, eh?

toria wrote: They produced mountains of chicken sh@@ and you had to have a rooster which would crow at the crack of dawn and wake you up.

Someone's probably said this farther up-thread...and I'm sure you all know this...but you only need roosters if you want baby chickens. There's a movement in my town to allow chickens and a lot of people think it means the town has to allow roosters. I am stunned by how many people don't know some basic birds-n-bees stuff. Eggs just require girl birds.

Are there any noticable differences between unfertilized eggs when a rooster is present and when there is not?

Over Christmas, I was discussing the subject of backyard chickens with my parents, who were both raised on farms in rural Michigan. They were both absolutely mystified as to why anyone would want anything to do with chickens. Neither has fond memories of the birds. Dirty and mean seem to be their lingering impressions.

Thats exactly my mom's feelings. Eventually when times got better after the war my grandmother insisted my grandfather get rid of the dang chickens. Nobody really missed them. To be honest my grandparents had friends that had a farm in Bensenville (yes there were farms there when I was a child) and we went there to get fresh eggs. I never liked to go because of the stink.

Hey guys!

It's been awhile since I've frequented LTH, but I just saw this thread while searching google to find Backyard Chicken Groups in Chicago.

I finally bought a house a year and a half ago in Jefferson Park, and one of the first things I did was get a few chickens. I really enjoy the process (hobby) of keeping my hens, and they're so incredibly personable. The make me laugh at their goofy antics like chasing butterflies through the yard or dive bombing off my deck. They are remarkably affectionate, and love to make themselves at home on my lap when I'm sitting in the yard. They also provide us with rich, nutritious, organic eggs with deep orange yolks and creamy whites.

I do not recommend chicken keeping for someone who doesn't have the time or patience to deal with cleaning a coop weekly, a vast variety of ailments, or takes issue considering an end of life plan (soup?). I do recommend backyard poultry for those who like to be close to their food, have the time and patience to spare, and enjoy being rewarded daily with edible treats.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer. Here are a couple pics of my chickens and their home.

Very kühl, Bella!

One question: what do you do with them in Winter?

Geo

Hi Geo-

Good question! Chickens are fine in the winter. Think about all of the birds you see in your backyard in the wintertime, and they're perfectly fine.

There are a few extra things I do to prepare for the winter though:

First, I put extra hay and pine shavings in their little house (coop) and some leaves I collect from the lawn in their outdoor area (run) for extra coziness. I also use a heavy duty clear drop cloth and cut it into sections, then staple it to the outside of the run where they would otherwise be exposed. I leave each end of the run open for ventilation, as well as the door (I just can't be bothered with fiddling with it every time I let them out. You can see that the plastic is already up in the last picture of the coop.

The biggest hurdle is getting their water not to freeze, and for this, I place a 250W submergible bucket de-icer into the bottom of a 5 Gallon bucket that I've hung from the top of the run. The bucket has 2 poultry drinking nipples drilled into the bottom of it. The de-icer only comes on when the water reaches a certain temp, and keeps it from freezing.

It is my understanding that chickens (depending on the breed) are more susceptible to be overcome with heat exhaustion in the summer than to freeze. I have 4 chickens that are all different cold hardy breeds, so they're fine.

I don't have chickens, but I enjoyed this blog post from another Jeff Parker on what she does with her chix in the winter:
http://wildgingerchicago.wordpress.com/ ... he-winter/

Has Jefferson Park become a hotspot for urban chickens?

Jen

my birds have been in soft molt for weeks, and it's seriously pissing me off cause there are zilch eggs right now. stupid animals.

My poor Rose was losing her feathers at the beginning of the season as well, so I made her a sweater!

That's adorable

how did all the birds survive the polar vortex?!?!

Mine did fine, I just packed the henhouse part of the coop with lots of extra straw and made sure they had heated water.
The "door' to get up there is underneath to help keep the wind out.
I saw them out in the snow this morning.

Michigan Loses ‘Right To Farm’ This Week: A Farewell To Backyard Chickens and Beekeepers

Michigan residents lost their “right to farm” this week thanks to a new ruling by the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development. Gail Philburn of the Michigan Sierra Club told Michigan Live, the new changes “effectively remove Right to Farm Act protection for many urban and suburban backyard farmers raising small numbers of animals.” Backyard and urban farming were previously protected by Michigan’s Right to Farm Act. The Commission ruled that the Right to Farm Act protections no longer apply to many homeowners who keep small numbers of livestock.
...

There's a tour for that.