Bay Area BYCers!

[cherylcohen]

Kim how is the hatching going?

 

[wolftracks]

This chick is huge. I finally got to bed after 6am. I still have 5 eggs in there, but nothing happening. I do't have much hope when I get chicks and then nothing happens for hours.

The EE and Olive Egger chicks from the weekend are fat! I got 2 more yesterday and they looked big until I put them in with the other 2. WOW! I knew I was feeding them a lot, but geez.

Have quail due today. A handful and more on the 29th. Have lots of other hatches coming up although small numbers.

I candle last night to see if I would have room for more eggs and there were broken eggs. I had to pull 6 quail. Then I also have one that didn't explode, but oozed and stuck to the turner. I can't pull it out without a mess, so I wrapped a wet paper towel around the top and stuck a wet sponge under it to see if it would loosen. If that doesn't work I have to deal with finding another one in the garage. ugh

 

[mustangsaguaro]

Quote:
Jeremy, I noticed you are located in the Bay Area. Where exactly are you located? Santa Clara Co? You mentioned you hope to have the rooster ordinance overturned. If in Santa Clara Co, I know there is a law if you have over 5 roosters you have to have a stupid permit. What kind of ordinance are you referring to? I'd like to know if it's for Santa Clara Co and I live down in the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area. And think have a permit is just ridiculous. I'm sure it's because of the people who have had fighting birds in the past and that's why it's in place. Please let me know.

Thanks
Kim

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
Jeremy, I noticed you are located in the Bay Area. Where exactly are you located? Santa Clara Co? You mentioned you hope to have the rooster ordinance overturned. If in Santa Clara Co, I know there is a law if you have over 5 roosters you have to have a stupid permit. What kind of ordinance are you referring to? I'd like to know if it's for Santa Clara Co and I live down in the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area. And think have a permit is just ridiculous. I'm sure it's because of the people who have had fighting birds in the past and that's why it's in place. Please let me know.

Thanks
Kim

Hi Kim

I'm Kim too.

Maybe Jeremy has been busy. He lives in Oakland. Maybe he can help you figure out what to do in your area. I love my roosters. I think everyone should own one.

 

[annaraven]

Quote:
Jeremy, I noticed you are located in the Bay Area. Where exactly are you located? Santa Clara Co? You mentioned you hope to have the rooster ordinance overturned. If in Santa Clara Co, I know there is a law if you have over 5 roosters you have to have a stupid permit. What kind of ordinance are you referring to? I'd like to know if it's for Santa Clara Co and I live down in the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area. And think have a permit is just ridiculous. I'm sure it's because of the people who have had fighting birds in the past and that's why it's in place. Please let me know.

Thanks
Kim

Hi Kim,
Each town has their own rules. Palo Alto requires a license and has a limited number of hens, Sunnyvale has no limit and doesn't require a license. The county itself outside of city limits is another legal issue again. So you have to figure out what legal jurisdiction you actually live in and then call animal control there.

 

[mustangsaguaro]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I live in Santa Clara Co. and live out in the country so I am allowed roosters but anything 5 and over according to the county you have to have a permit for. And god knows how much that costs. I plan on breeding Ameraucana's and Silkies next year and will need a minimum of 4-6 roosters, depending on how many hens I have. Like to have a back up male in case something happens to one of them. Of course I could probably get away w/ one over the limit w/o to many complaints. The nice thing is we really don't have any neighbors close by.

Kim

 

[sewandgrow]

I picked up my 15 2 week old Exchequer chicks at the post office yesterday afternoon. I gave up winning hatching eggs & made arrangements to have chicks sent instead. My hatching success during our heat was not good with shipped eggs. The chicks arrived healthy & happy & hungry. They were sent on 2 day delivery with grow gel from Georgia & did fine.
All 130 something A & M Texas White Quail have all been rehomed & mostly doing okay. What a fun hatch that was. Maybe I will try some Jumbo Browns.....LOL
My new pens are in & all the chickens moved to their new homes. Now I need to get serious about decisions on making cuts.
Claude, Sophie & Rose are all settled in their new home & it turns out that Claude is quite the scrapper. I will have to put a solid panel between him & the next pen on each side. He keeps charging the roosters in the next pens. Yesterday he got out into the alley & gave a loose Light Sussex the "what for".....who would of thought he would be the dominant one up againt the Sussex??
Life is good!!!!!!!!!!
Karen in Turlock

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Kim, I'm in Oakland.

We're having to change the entire city ordinance in order to get our birds back. There was a noise ordinance put into effect in 2006 banning roosters to help combat cockfighting within the city of Oakland. Now that there has been such a shift in mind set and more folks are wanting to live sustainably in the city more and more Oaklanders are joining the urban farm movement, one part of that movement is raising chickens. Part of raising chickens is keeping a rooster, allowing you to hatch and rear chicks, process birds, etc.

We started raising birds in 2008 and had our first rooster, a Cuckoo Marans, in 2009. We kept Frank without an issue for 3 years, we bought a home last year and when we moved Frank went to live at a new home. I hatched and reared chicks of breeds that I wanted to raise with keeping a rooster in mind. My plan was to help others in the city build their own flocks and raise their own backyard chickens.

Well that changed when a city official in our neighborhood, NOT a neighbor, decided to call animal control. We were given 2 options- rehome the roosters within 24 hours, if we didn't we could face fines up to $1000 per day that the roosters were still on our property OR pay the city $2500 to have our property rezoned for agricultural use. I unfortunately didn't have that kind of money to pay immediately for either situation so I had to find new homes or temporary homes for my roos. So... the boys went to new homes pretty quickly.

We're now working with others to change the ordinance, most likely a new proposed ordinance or amendment to the one in place now will go to the city council for review in November. We hope to have something changed by the first of the year. The agricultural laws haven't been changed in Oakland since 1936... obviously the city has changed drastically since that time so it's about time that some of the outdated things be updated as well.

As far as how to fix the rooster problem, we're actually hoping to create some sort of "permit" that allows folks to keep 3-5 birds, depending on the size of your property. I personally would LOVE if I were able to just pay a permit, that would have solved the problem entirely. Of course said permit will be set at an attainable and affordable rate so that everyone will be able to keep birds. I understand your headache, it sounds like you're out where most folks wouldn't complain about a rooster's crow anyways so a permit system might not necessarily be the best thing for you but we believe here in Oakland it really could work. Not only does it create revenue for the city but it still could help to prevent fighting of birds. All a concerned neighbor would have to do is call animal control and then all the hypothetical owner would have to do is provide documentation that his birds were kept legally. Easy enough.

Anyways, that's my project for this winter. I've got to be able to have boys at my place again before next spring or I'll miss out on a whole hatching season!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Karen, Claude definitely thinks he has some big britches! He ALWAYS had to be the top roo. He even would try to pick fights with my big English boy Neville. Neville wouldn't give him the time of day, he's a big baby who doesn't have a mean bone in his body, but that wouldn't keep Claude from trying to get at him through the fence. I put lattice along the bottom of the fence between their pens and it was enough to deter Claude.

Have you hatched any babies from the trio yet?

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Karen, Claude definitely thinks he has some big britches! He ALWAYS had to be the top roo. He even would try to pick fights with my big English boy Neville. Neville wouldn't give him the time of day, he's a big baby who doesn't have a mean bone in his body, but that wouldn't keep Claude from trying to get at him through the fence. I put lattice along the bottom of the fence between their pens and it was enough to deter Claude.

Have you hatched any babies from the trio yet?

I have lattice around here I am sure. I haven't got the hatching diwn pat yet but am getting alot of experience & have learned so new techniques. I hatched 2 but one was crippled & died. The other is doing fine & I continue to put Sophies's eggs in. Today they ate her's & I was upset but if has been pretty tramatic for everyone I am sure the past few days during the move so I will just watch & see now that they are in place & have their next box fastened down. I am happy to have them.
Karen in Turlock