Chickens

[bankedout]

dg,

My cousin gave me eggs from her chickens that Mother Nature colored:



I wonder what color your girls will lay?

[dg]

Very interesting.

All of mine will lay large brown eggs. With the reds, the color of the egg shell matches the color of the ear. And barred rocks lay large brown eggs also.

[bankedout]

Today I gave away my chickens. They are now living in a better place where they can bask in the Sun, and eat plants and bugs out of the ground. Just like they used to in my yard.

I'll try to work with the Village to get chickens legalized on some level. Hopefully they will be open to the idea.

[dg]

I'm sad to hear that. I really have to wonder what your village thinks it is pretending to be while sitting right smack in the middle of farm country. IMHO you might as well go for goats too, while you're at it.

[bankedout]

I'm starting with a home made yard sign.

[dg]

When you make a sign, you make a sign! That ought to get some attention.

[bankedout]

I actually made the tin man for Halloween. He has been in storage since then. I'm wondering if someone on the Village board will see it and consider looking at the law. The sign faces a heavily used walking path and is visible from a fairly good traffic street.

[dg]

I wouldn't wait for that. Instead, I'd call the local newspaper and ask for an interview. That way, everyone in the community will get the message. I think they would take the interview just for the photo op.

[dg]

something to keep in mind ...

Plain egg cartons made from recycled paper cost $.33 each at my feed store; and from online distributors 10,000 will cost $2,500. So start saving your egg cartons now.

[bankedout]

Any photos of the adult hens? Are they laying yet?

My neighbor is going around getting signatures to legalize chickens. She already has 44 from a Village with a total population of 675.

[dg]

I'll have to take some. They are three months old now and still waiting for me to finish the house and coop. (I'm either lazy or too fancy with the design). Right now they occupy a large dog crate at night and play all day under the sun deck (which is fenced in). I have the dog crate situated just under a window facing that area so I can pass them in and out without lugging them around.

From what I am told, I don't expect eggs for another two months. Nevertheless I keep an eye out for any just in case. In about another week the hens will have a nice house with fancy nests and perches to keep them happy (complete with night light).

I figure my first dozen eggs will cost me well over $500. Today at the grocery I noticed that they raised the prices of eggs again. Cage free costs $3.99 per dozen and other special types go for nearly $5 per dozen. I couldn't help but smile at the prospect. HE HE HE

Good luck with the signatures. If I were you, I'd start getting things ready now. Chances are that even if your village does legalize hens, it will probably require some type of coop containment (top, bottom and sides). My design will make 4 x 4 x 5 ft modules (mesh and frame) that interface with the house and each other. This way I can move things around from place to place in the yard during the year. The house is a module of panels. The stand is a module. then there are two mesh modules. The hens will have a 2 ft high 4 x 4 footprint yard under the house and 2 5 ft high 4 x 4 footprint yards beside it. And during the cold winter months, I can easily move the 4 modules into my garage where temps will not go below 20 degrees fahrenheit. Unfortunately their lawn then will be cardboard and pine shavings.

[dg]

I assembled the chicken house outside today. I waterproofed all the panels and put it together. So nice getting all that stuff out of my family room. Now I have to tweek the house and build the two coop modules. Another week to go.

BTW, how goes the battle with your town government relative to keeping hens?

[bankedout]

My neighbor has enough signatures on her petition, and now she is waiting for the next village meeting. Who knows how they will react.

[dg]

well, if it doesn't work out ... you can always hire a hooker for a town board member, and have photos taken. HE HE HE

In other words ... Get to know who the town officers are and what they want in life. This is a world of tit for tat, doncha know!

[dg]

I finally got the house & half of the coop together and the chickens moved in.

Here is a view of the house & coop with everything closed up tight ...



And here is a view of the chickens about an hour after moving in ...



BTW, 8 eggs so far (just getting started).