Recent content by Silverlocks

I'm building an open air shelter for my first chickens. The weather where I am, in sight of the ocean (Malibu, CA) almost never falls below 40 and rarely tops 85. We get no more than about 15" of rain per year, so that's not much to worry about either. My biggest concern is wind. When the...

Quote: Considering I paid $23 for an organic-killed-yesterday-chicken at the farmer's market last week, $2.50 sounds like a bargain! Unfortunately no one in the family's going to help me with this, and I'm not sure I have what it takes to do it myself. I'm just afraid that Los Angeles...

Does anyone send their chickens out for processing? How do you find processing services?

I have not bought my chickens yet--I need advice. I want them to do as much foraging as possible, and I would also like to have eggs as soon as possible. (also, chickie season is winding down) So, I have been considering getting started pullets from MMH. But they are beak trimmed. Will...

But what's your specific zoning? There is that section b listing exceptions: (3) The prohibited animals consist only of livestock, ungulates and poultry, and are being kept on a farm located in an agriculturally zoned area of the city. (4) The prohibited animals are being kept in an area...

Malibu, CA-- lots over 15,000 sq ft may have up to 20 chickens per acre, housed 50 ft from all inhabited structures. No mention anywhere of roosters, so I'm going to assume that if you've got 20 chickens, you can be expected to have at least one rooster in the mix.

I'd like to order day old pullets from McMurray but I really don't want to end up having to find homes for roosters. I know about sex-links. I thought I read somewhere that there are other breeds you can sex early for other little characteristics, but I can't find anything about what these...

Wandering around the yard today I started rethinking the use of the old 10x20 raised bed. It really is out in the open, and somewhat visible from the street. Although I'm zoned for chickens, I do have a neighbor on one side who gets cranky. And I still have to find a way to enclose it. Now...

Quote: Ah, is that how the all-pullets order turns out? My Dh will not be pleased with a rooster. *I* like to hear them. We're zoned RR, rural residential. Municipally speaking, I'm allowed 20 chickens per acre, which technically allows me about 70 chickens. Surely a rooster would be...

Quote: I think they will be able to free range. How much depends on how well they can do it unsupervised and how far from the coop they want to go. I had originally planned to free range all day and just have them sleep in a secure coop (no run). But this idea was located closer to the...

Thank you Longranger. Good thought about the tarp. One more question--since this is fair weather open air kind of design, how would I calculate chickens per square feet? In other words, how many of my 25-chick McMurray order would I have to share with friends? 50 sq feet on one end is...

I am planning my first chicken coop/run. I am pretty sure that I want to build it on top of an abandoned 10' x 20' raised vegetable bed. It already has chicken wire buried underneath, and this means there will be a built in 12" redwood lip all the way around it. I live in Southern...