CHICKENS! So I finally got some chickens. I'd been thinking and talking 
about it for a long time- a possibly viable independent source of food, I figured. Oh BOY was I right & wrong about that.... First I talked about it a lot & listened to opinions from everybody who'd give me one. A LOT of people gave me their opinion; the responses I got, in order of frequency, boil down to four basic categories: 1. Uhhhh..... you want chickens? Why 
would you want chickens? 3. Just don't name em; you won't be able to eat em. 4. well, they won't last long, dogs/racoons/possum/rats'll eat em and 5. Chickens- what a great idea.....
Then I went to the City to find out about local urban chicken laws. I'm wary about this kind of stuff; I have a running movie clip in the back of my mind in which I am, for whatever reason, standing in front of a HUGE podium, peering up into the misty reaches of Law or Convention, wringing my shackled hands, pitifully croaking out " But your Honor....." or "but Officer....." or "but darling, we already talked about it, didn't we?!? " There's a similar little clip that plays sometimes involving the Neighbors..... Anyway, I went to the City to see what I might be in for. The man at the desk cheerfully told me that the City codes do NOT allow livestock in the City Limits. Chickens are, yes, considered livestock. But here's the real deal, he said- it's OK as long as the neighbors don't object.
I'd already talked to most of the neighbors about it by then; see opinions, above- I'd told em I didn't intend to keep a noisy rooster, and murmured .....surely they won't be noisier than the dogs....... I was amazed. I thought there'd be major opposition, a class thing maybe, like chickens'd be the stereotyped equivalent of cars on blocks in the front yard or something. BUT four families here have kept chickens in their lives and love emI checked out my housemates attitudes directly- they'd been mostly silent while I talked about it for months. QR said “ I don’t have nothin to do with no chickens unless they're fried”, and David was OK with it as long as he didn't have to be involved. OK. I can handle it. I WANT to handle it. I still didn't have any chickens.
We have three laying adults now- Sparkle, Stripes, and Bellina. Sparkle's colored deep oil-slick black; Stripes & Bellina are white with black in their neck ruffles and tails- Stripes has red in her back feathers, and Bellina has no middle toenails. They're so-called yardies; it means they don't have known bloodlines- just whatever the hen picked up from the rooster. Also two pullets (pre-laying hens), Black Tail and Henny Penny, who're identified Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire Red.
They earn their keep even without giving us delicious eggs;
they chomp up snails and assorted other garden pests, tractor the garden ( I put up short wire fencing to keep them away from growing beds after they’re planted, or to keep them IN growing beds that need cleaning out & leveling). They’re good company in the garden, too; they cluck & purckle around wherever we’re working. Now I see why so many people love them! Even QR puts them to bed at night with poetic petting and crooning.
I recommend a few to anybody with a little yard space- or, if you have no yard, chicken diapers are available for indoor birds- no kidding- check em out at http://www.avianfashions.com/index.html.
about it for a long time- a possibly viable independent source of food, I figured. Oh BOY was I right & wrong about that.... First I talked about it a lot & listened to opinions from everybody who'd give me one. A LOT of people gave me their opinion; the responses I got, in order of frequency, boil down to four basic categories: 1. Uhhhh..... you want chickens? Why 
would you want chickens? 3. Just don't name em; you won't be able to eat em. 4. well, they won't last long, dogs/racoons/possum/rats'll eat em and 5. Chickens- what a great idea..... Then I went to the City to find out about local urban chicken laws. I'm wary about this kind of stuff; I have a running movie clip in the back of my mind in which I am, for whatever reason, standing in front of a HUGE podium, peering up into the misty reaches of Law or Convention, wringing my shackled hands, pitifully croaking out " But your Honor....." or "but Officer....." or "but darling, we already talked about it, didn't we?!? " There's a similar little clip that plays sometimes involving the Neighbors..... Anyway, I went to the City to see what I might be in for. The man at the desk cheerfully told me that the City codes do NOT allow livestock in the City Limits. Chickens are, yes, considered livestock. But here's the real deal, he said- it's OK as long as the neighbors don't object.
I'd already talked to most of the neighbors about it by then; see opinions, above- I'd told em I didn't intend to keep a noisy rooster, and murmured .....surely they won't be noisier than the dogs....... I was amazed. I thought there'd be major opposition, a class thing maybe, like chickens'd be the stereotyped equivalent of cars on blocks in the front yard or something. BUT four families here have kept chickens in their lives and love emI checked out my housemates attitudes directly- they'd been mostly silent while I talked about it for months. QR said “ I don’t have nothin to do with no chickens unless they're fried”, and David was OK with it as long as he didn't have to be involved. OK. I can handle it. I WANT to handle it. I still didn't have any chickens.
We have three laying adults now- Sparkle, Stripes, and Bellina. Sparkle's colored deep oil-slick black; Stripes & Bellina are white with black in their neck ruffles and tails- Stripes has red in her back feathers, and Bellina has no middle toenails. They're so-called yardies; it means they don't have known bloodlines- just whatever the hen picked up from the rooster. Also two pullets (pre-laying hens), Black Tail and Henny Penny, who're identified Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire Red.
They earn their keep even without giving us delicious eggs;
they chomp up snails and assorted other garden pests, tractor the garden ( I put up short wire fencing to keep them away from growing beds after they’re planted, or to keep them IN growing beds that need cleaning out & leveling). They’re good company in the garden, too; they cluck & purckle around wherever we’re working. Now I see why so many people love them! Even QR puts them to bed at night with poetic petting and crooning.I recommend a few to anybody with a little yard space- or, if you have no yard, chicken diapers are available for indoor birds- no kidding- check em out at http://www.avianfashions.com/index.html.
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Question emailed to me: Where did you get chickens?!? Good question. I had no idea where to get chickens when I first started thinking about it- I was only familiar with the Safeway variety, ready to cook. BUT a friend has a friend who has chickens; he gave us the initial four (Lula's no longer with us- she jumped into the neighbor's yard one day and succumbed to the play of a friendly dog). He built the first coop by building a frame to hold up a row of cages for them to roost in. Later, I found out that the local Feed & Pet Supply will order chicks; that's where I got Henny Penny & Black Tail.
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