After our last introduction we decided to put our chicken dreams on hold. (DH) was not onboard in the least and our Guinea pig was still pretty active and needing lots of attention.
But after a hard winter and 8 years of love and fun, our gp passed away in December. Fast forward to April of this year and after Minneapolis updated their Urban ag laws, we decided to jump right into raising backyard chickens. We placed an order for 4 as this was the size we were most comfortable starting with and began the process of building a coop. The four breeds we have are: Silver Lace wynadotte, Buff Orp, Red Star, and Ameracauna which we picked up from a local EggPlant Farm Supply in St. Paul Minnesota. Each variety is a winter hardy bird that can survive the cold here in Minnesota. I find that now that they are here, I'm on this forum everyday looking for tips. I can't tell you how nervous I was about pasty butt and how to deal with it.... Hence why we have a bird named Diva! She loved a bath and blowout
The girls are just big enough to go into their coop and tonight will be their first night out there alone. (nervous chicken mamas and papas in this house). We've all learned so much about coop construction so I look forward to posting pictures of our coop build from start to finish. Not that we are finished.... Animal control says with 1.5 feet more of coop we can get the 6 birds we hoped to have when we put in our application.
For any Minneapolis folks out there interested in keeping chickens in the city, please note: You do not have to have a ton of signatures anymore. You just have to have a conversation with your most immediate neighbors and sign an affidavit stating you did so. Make sure to call 311 though to get the appropriate documents and additional information that you will need for your coop build. When we had our inspection recently, the officer called our coop a Chicken Palace
We'd previously checked on a pre-made coop for $299 from a local hardware store and it was fit for one tiny tiny bird. Especially if you go by the urban AG requirements. Additionally there were no double walls, nor were there insulation of any type. My advice, build your own or find a good builder. It is not as hard as I thought it would be, especially with some assistance with lifting, and carrying. If you are interested I do know a guy who was a great help to us, so pm me...
I appreciate all of the kind words and advice I've gotten so far, and look forward to posting pictures of our chicken keeping journey.
But after a hard winter and 8 years of love and fun, our gp passed away in December. Fast forward to April of this year and after Minneapolis updated their Urban ag laws, we decided to jump right into raising backyard chickens. We placed an order for 4 as this was the size we were most comfortable starting with and began the process of building a coop. The four breeds we have are: Silver Lace wynadotte, Buff Orp, Red Star, and Ameracauna which we picked up from a local EggPlant Farm Supply in St. Paul Minnesota. Each variety is a winter hardy bird that can survive the cold here in Minnesota. I find that now that they are here, I'm on this forum everyday looking for tips. I can't tell you how nervous I was about pasty butt and how to deal with it.... Hence why we have a bird named Diva! She loved a bath and blowout
The girls are just big enough to go into their coop and tonight will be their first night out there alone. (nervous chicken mamas and papas in this house). We've all learned so much about coop construction so I look forward to posting pictures of our coop build from start to finish. Not that we are finished.... Animal control says with 1.5 feet more of coop we can get the 6 birds we hoped to have when we put in our application.
For any Minneapolis folks out there interested in keeping chickens in the city, please note: You do not have to have a ton of signatures anymore. You just have to have a conversation with your most immediate neighbors and sign an affidavit stating you did so. Make sure to call 311 though to get the appropriate documents and additional information that you will need for your coop build. When we had our inspection recently, the officer called our coop a Chicken Palace
We'd previously checked on a pre-made coop for $299 from a local hardware store and it was fit for one tiny tiny bird. Especially if you go by the urban AG requirements. Additionally there were no double walls, nor were there insulation of any type. My advice, build your own or find a good builder. It is not as hard as I thought it would be, especially with some assistance with lifting, and carrying. If you are interested I do know a guy who was a great help to us, so pm me...
I appreciate all of the kind words and advice I've gotten so far, and look forward to posting pictures of our chicken keeping journey.