[4my5kds]

I have been seriously thinking about getting a few chickens. We live in a township so we do not have the regulations that some cities do. Although I do live in a neighborhood, but I have a fully fenced in backyard. Considering maybe four to six hens (chicks/pullets) purchased from a breeder-$6 each. Maybe buff orphingtons since they are known to be sweet, stay on the ground, cold weather hardy, good layers? Thought the kiddos could get involved with 4-H as well-showing at Fair.
Anyone got any experience with urban chickens or this breed ?
Any suggestions?

[snmhxf]

My mom has 12 chickens in her backyard, I can't remember the breeds but they are red, blue and black with white speckles. The only real problem is one turned out to be a rooster that crows like a dog barks and the neighbors can hear it.,. No worse then dogs barking though. They built the coop from pallets (free) and plywood and aluminum roofing ( free from my brother). She gets 11 eggs a day and has since they were like 9 months old. She did say they are more expensive to feed then buying eggs from the store but the are healthier and taste sooo good!

[snmhxf]

Also they require a good amount of work, you have to let them out each morning around 6 and put them up around dark or predators will get them. Makes it hard to go out of town.

[polydoly13]

A friend of mine has hers in a chain link dog pen with some nests built into the corner. You don't really have to let them out and if you do, you don't have to do it daily. You can get feeders/waterers that have multiple days worth so if you go out of town, they will take care of themselves. Other than the fact that your eggs will accumulate unless someone picks those up. If you are doing this to save money, I've never actually known anyone that saved money raising their own eggs. Once you build the housing facility, buy feed and the chickens, you may not even break even. Some ppl sell their eggs, that might help. Also make sure you get proper feed, you can give them table scraps but if you don't properly feed them (include enough calcium) in their diet they will either have poor quality shells or either their eggs.

[themamadoo]

ooo...I dream of having chickens too...someday. I need a house with a yard first

Are you considering the bantam orpingtons, or the full size?

This blog has a family that raises quite a few animals, including chickens.
One of the daughters started a forum site here Maybe some good advice can be found there?

[typingmom]

I have chickens but I'm located more in the country though I do have close neighbors. If your yard is fenced and free of daytime predators, you could let them free range during the day and they will eat lots of bugs and grass. Mine are penned up as my yard isn't fenced and I don't want them in the neighbors garden. We have had issues with raccoons, so you do need to make sure you can lock them up securely at night. You may even want to check on Craigslist as sometimes people need to thin down their flock and will get rid of their older hens who are still laying at a reasonable price. If you get chicks, you have to wait 6-9 months for eggs. We feed ours laying mash from the local mill and also bread that we buy from a bread outlet for a huge discount. They also get table scraps.

[siriradha]

We live in "downtown" Colorado Springs and can have up to 10 chickens, but no roosters...which is fine with me. I have one Rhode Island Red, one Silver-laced Wyandotte, and an Austrolorp. They are as much pets as egg suppliers. We only have 3 because I bought an Eglu for them to live in Eglu | Shop | Omlet US and it only had room for 3 fat hens. Wish I'd bought a larger one!

We paid a lot of money for our little coop, but I have no regrets! It is extremely easy to clean and I feel confident that when I lock them into the "command module" (as DH calls their roosting area) predators can't get at them. The downside of the Eglu I bought is that the attached run is really small. Because of that, DH fenced in corner of the yard for them to run in.
In the morning, we turn them loose into that area so they can run around and scratch and play. In the three years we've had the girls, we've only lost one to a predator, a fox.

Predators are your big worry. Foxes, owls, raccoons, hawks, neighbors' sweet dogs who morph into killing machines at the sight of a fluffy hen...Our 6' privacy fence was no defense against a fox. If you can, you'll want to put fencing on top of the chickens' run.

Please be aware that chickens can easily destroy your yard. They live to scratch, excavating big holes in no time flat. I love to see them running around inspecting areas for worms and bugs, but don't let them out on the lawn except for short periods of time. They have killed every piece of grass in their run, and the holes are back as soon as we fill them in.

To keep your chickens from having problems with soft shelled eggs, cook some eggshells, crush them in bread, and toss it out as a treat. We value our eggs since they are probably the most expensive eggs in the world after food, bedding, and the initial investment in the Eglu and the fence DH put up around their area in the yard.

I bought my chickens from friends in the neighborhood and from a 4H kid at the county fair. I've been glad I did it that way because they were grown up enough to be able to tell they were pullets and not roosters that I'd have to rehome.

Sorry to go on and on, but these are things I wanted to know before I got my chickens.

[CMmem]

I don't have experience;

Here is a great website; again just something I came across one day and saved the link.

Chicken Tractor Gallery compiled by Katy

[newbie2Q]

I have a bunch of chickens in my yard. Silkies, Polish, Easter Eggers, Game hens. They are lovely things!

[orionsgirl33]

WE live in the city, and just got 6 Buff Orphington babies about 2 weeks ago. Its a fist time for us having chickens so we are definately noobies

We have a large fenced in yard that backs into a foresty area. So were going to build a fully enclosed coop, and let the girls out on occasion in the yard with us. I plan on having an area to compost the shavings/bedding into. Which will also help with our raised beds that I need to make too. We got lots to do but excited to get it all going!

[LizzyBizzy]

Great thread! We had lots of chickens last year and 3 ducks. Sold all the chickens but kept the ducks to winter over.

They laid an average of 10 eggs collectively per week during winter but now are back up to 3 per day (1 each).

To me, ducks are much easier to keep than chickens because they are better suited to living in the elements (they rarely went into their hutch even in the coldest weather). No need to let them in/out twice a day.

Also, their eggs are much bigger and are especially well suited to use in baking (bread, cakes, cookies, etc., etc.). And! I can get anywhere from $.50 to $1 for EACH egg (found buyers on craigslist).

Might be worth considering if you have a smaller area or if clucking noise is a concern as ducks are quite.

Best,

LizzyBizzy

[motherofmolly]

Originally Posted by LizzyBizzy

Great thread! We had lots of chickens last year and 3 ducks. Sold all the chickens but kept the ducks to winter over.

They laid an average of 10 eggs collectively per week during winter but now are back up to 3 per day (1 each).

To me, ducks are much easier to keep than chickens because they are better suited to living in the elements (they rarely went into their hutch even in the coldest weather). No need to let them in/out twice a day.

Also, their eggs are much bigger and are especially well suited to use in baking (bread, cakes, cookies, etc., etc.). And! I can get anywhere from $.50 to $1 for EACH egg (found buyers on craigslist).

Might be worth considering if you have a smaller area or if clucking noise is a concern as ducks are quite.

Best,

LizzyBizzy

what type of ducks do you have? i have been thinking ducks and having ones that lay good eggs that i could sell a few to offset the cost of everything else would be nice.

just got chicken coup up. dh wanted a small barn from lowes so that is what we got. run was made from pallets and just a couple 2 x4 x8's. found some fencing clearanced at farm king and then dh got a heavy fence to go over the smaller square fence (this was at the bottom of the coop to keep the racoons or other smaller predators from snagging a chicken.

dh wanted the fence to go under the run too. so i have straw on top right now (we had straw bales around dog house for winter warmth). once i go thru that it will be leaves and garden leftovers until i can let them out and run free. we are getting a friends chickens (2 years old and one is a layer or i guess it is broading). cant wait! i have been collecting leftovers and natural foods to feed them.

[IndyJuJu]

I love having chickens! Right now we have 7 hens and 1 Rooster named Zeus. He's my picture here.

I built their coop, 8ft. by 4ft., out of 3 pallets for the floor & the rest was recycled western red cedar old privacy fence that was replaced in the back yard and other recycled pieces of wood that I picked up. I did interior and exterior walls. The inside literally reminds me of an old barn stall. If I remember correctly, I spent less than $50 on the whole thing, including the fencing for the run.

The roof of our coop is an Eco roof. It has lily of the valley, wild strawberries and sugar pumpkins planted on it. The strawberries & pumpkins are chicken food & the dirt roof helps insulate for warmth in the winter & keeps the coop cooler in the summer.

My chickens are different breeds than what you are looking at. I'm not even sure what breed my white ones are but they aren't Leghorns. But, I do know that most chickens will winter well in a well built coop with proper roosts where their feet are covered by their feathers when they roost.

We also raise Cornish crosses for meat. Those are some really nasty chickens!!

I let mine out at different times of the morning. If I'm too early, like before 8am, Zeus gives me dirty looks and the girls complain when I open the run door. No one goes out until THEY are ready to. But, when you hear the church bells toll at 9pm, they all get in the coop like the werewolves will get them if they don't. I have the laziest flock of chickens in the world!

I feed Purina Layena right now but am working on a self mix. It's around $16.50 after tax for 50 pounds. When I had the last batch of Cornish Crosses, we were going through 100 pounds of feed a month. Now it's around 1/2 that depending on what else I feed them. Combine that with the other initial possible costs and if you are looking at economics, it's expensive in the beginning. BUT, it's the best eggs you've ever eaten! And they are better for you to boot! Most of the cost is up front so once you buy it, it's done.

[yardsalequeen]

Originally Posted by snmhxf

My mom has 12 chickens in her backyard, I can't remember the breeds but they are red, blue and black with white speckles. The only real problem is one turned out to be a rooster that crows like a dog barks and the neighbors can hear it.,. No worse then dogs barking though. They built the coop from pallets (free) and plywood and aluminum roofing ( free from my brother). She gets 11 eggs a day and has since they were like 9 months old. She did say they are more expensive to feed then buying eggs from the store but the are healthier and taste sooo good!

I'll disagree - roosters crowing in a residential neighborhood is worse than a dog barking. Dogs will shut up after a while. Roosters don't.