Any tips for city chicken owners?

[pipermark]

Nothing I can add, good advice all over this thread.

 

[Lunachick]

Bellydancer - I'm getting ready to post pics real soon! I will do this and put them in the Coop section, I suppose that's where they should be. Don't know exactly when tho.

 

[Big Chicken]

I'm not sure if I have any tips for a city chicken owner. I can tell you what my circumstance is and viewpoint. If it helps - great. I'm a relative newcomer and after asking the neighbors I was told by one that he fed 10 raccoons and he's lived there for 35 years. My neighbor on the other side of me has 3 large dogs that in the past have aquired a taste for fowl. I still wanted chickens and called my County Animal Control Officer and was pleasantly surprised that she kept chickens herself. Her encouragement and my determination had me order a dozen hens. That is my circumstance and now for my viewpoint. As much as I love them and make it my job to look after them I have to realize that my pets are on the bottom of the food chain as well as the "new kids in town." I was the one that wanted them and if I'm careless and lose one - it's my bad. Here are a couple of things I do that might help though. To keep from making my house smell like KFC I dispose of all chicken litter off of my property. Spot trouble before it spots you. If they stray far, tighten the flock up with your bucket of scratch, and stretch your walking stick out level with the ground like you are going to herd them. They'll soon learn that that means that there is trouble and that they need to head for the coop - on the double. As far as neighbors go, I don't mention them unless they "come up" in the conversation. I treat them with respect because they were here long before me. The respect I get in return is them telling me when they spot a stray dog or cat and keeping an eye on the place for me when I'm away. That's my circumstance and viewpoint. Be vigilant and civil at the same time. Good Luck. It's a tightrope.

 

[nccountrygirl]

Big Chicken that was a well put together post.

 

[gardener]

Great subject as I am just begining with this. I am just on the other side of the city limit sign but if i didnt know it I would think it the city. I have a 12,000 square foot lot and am raising chicks that are about 2 weeks old now and plan to keep about 6 for laying and sell off the rest, I already have homes for 6 of the extras. I do have neighbors on all three sides of the backyard so that would be five neighbors that are bordering my backyard. I mentioned to one neighbor the idea of getting chickens, not much was said maybe he thought I was joking? I am converting and old travel trailer into a coop.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I'm in the suburbs, my city definitely allows chickens and my HOA is ambiguous. I have 4 standard hens, a 4x4 coop used exclusively as a bedroom and egglaying site, a run of about 20 X 20 and a fenced backyard. I initially only intended to freerange the girls in the yard when I was home, but now they're out all the time. They consider their generous sized run to be chicken jail, and one will consistently fly out. She has never attempted even the three foot section of my backyard fence, but the run is pure evil and she gets out everytime.

I consulted my neighbors before getting the chickens, and addressed their concerns about noise and odor. I share eggs to keep the neighbors sweet. In my area we have racoons, possems, hawks and stray cats. There are coyotes nearby. My biggest fear is stray dogs. Overall, so far I've found keeping four chickens is less work than having one large dog. I would like to enlarge my flock slightly, the city allows up to 10, but I don't want to tax my neighbors too much. If your neighbors work, they won't be home for most of the noisy hen time, and probably only those houses immediately next to you would hear them anyway.

I take lawn cliipings from one nieghbor and add them to my compost bin/chicken snack pile. This keeps the odor down. I use sand in the coop because it makes clean up easy, and I bury the poop in the compost. The girls mix the compost, grass and poo, yeilding crumbly brown odor free soil. I do have to keep scooping everything back into the bin, but that takes 5 minutes. I no longer put the lid on the compost bin because Shiner went in the side and couldn't get herself back out with the top on.

For me the biggest downside is poop on the patio.

Good luck with your urban chcikens.

 

[Markp1964]

I'm planning on getting birds in the spring and will be going "under the radar" for many reasons.

My neighbors dont need to know what pets I have, I put up with their dogs within reason, and they can do the same. Our street is like many suburban neighborhoods-about half the people have been there from the beginning and are chummy, and the rest are like us, recently arrived and keeping to ourselves.

I wanted to be a good citizen and asked the city zoning department. I am a big believer in "Better to ask forgivness than permission" and should have known better-all good intentions are punished. The zoning chief Nazi say schickens are agriculture-end of story. He could not explain why 3 chcikens is agriculture but 5 tomato plants are not. This is a man and a community that does not think outside the box. At any rate, when he expressed the thought that my neighbors could not appreciate the noise and smell, I told him that a smal flock of well cared for birds would be basically invisable, quieter and sweeter smelling than a large dog. He said they are a complaint based agency, so I indeed I have quiet birds that are well taken care of, no one needs to know.

The home owners association has similar rules. No agriculture, and no wild animals or livestock. It clearly states that dogs, cats and "household pets" are allowed. I think 3 colorful hens living in a coop that looks like a doll house sounds just like a pet.

So the bottom line as I see it for hens in the suburb is to practice excellant care and keep clean and neat.

 

[eggzettera]

Clean seems to be more important then noise, see Linda's post...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=19002

 

[mom'sfolly]

For under the radar chickening, my coop is also shorter than my 6 ft privacy fence, and no one can see into my backyard without some effort. The sand and compost keep the odor down. The wood chips were better for odor control, but harder for poop scooping than the sand. So overall, the sand worked better for me.

But I also have great neighbors. Most of us have been on the street for over 10 years and we're all friendly.

 

[kv]

I don't have chickens yet and I really like "under the radar" better than "breaking the law". I would never even consider it except that my 2 main neighbors are basically absentee.

What do you think about composting the poop with shredded leaves? I have tons. (also tons that are not shredded) I have been composting veggie scraps in wire bins lined with black plastic (on the sides) and never have any odor. I just dump a load of rotten scraps and cover it with a layer of leaves. It never smells. Would this work with, say, the poop out of an EGLU tray with 2 hens? I could empty it more often than once a week, too, couldn't I? That would be a smaller layer of poop between the leaves. I could also put some out with the trash. My trash collectors are private contractors and of all the players in my scenario, I know THEY can be bought off with eggs.

And, do any of you have the Eglu and if you do, how do you like it?

KV