Chicken Tour in the City

[Bossroo]

Last Saterday, my wife and I took our 3 1/2 year old grandson on a Coup de Jour tour of keeping chickens in the City of Vancouver, Wa. Vacouver allows keeping hens only and as many as you wish so long as there is no complaints from the neighbors. There were 15 households represented in a walking tour to show how chickens are raised in the City to city folk. Well, I must say that ... this tour was a perfect example of how NOT to raise chickens. A couple examples... 1) a 3' x 5.' coop made out of scrap lumber with 4 nest boxes a good foot above the perches. The run was of 1" x 1" flimsy plastic netting for the top and 3 sides attached to the coop and the back wooden fence with staples specifically designed for stapling papers together. 2) a portable 3' x 8' long chicken coup with a run attached and 2 weels in the middle so it can be moved. When the whole thing was at rest , the run side has a 2" gap on the bottom. The solid wood coop had 2 nest boxes with a wooden ramp in front of them and an exterior lift door to collect eggs. NO fastener, just gravity holding the nest box door down. Another ramp leading to a roost above the nest boxes ( roosting board wood was a 1/2" x 2" corner to corner at an angle forming a triangle with the 1/2" side on top) The wire netting was 1" chicken wire. The walk in all wire mesh door had a piece of wood attached with a nail in the middle that when the wood's side is up it opened, and when the wood side was turned sideways, it acted as a closing devise. All this with a sign advertizing a carpenter who will build for you a coop just like this one. Wow, just WOW !!! 3) The most secure coop that I saw was a walk in coup built with scrap wood with an attached run, the wire being a chain link with coop and run covered with flimsy plastic roofing pannels. Problem was there was a good 6" gap between the top of the chain link and the plastic roof panels, and NO 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth at the bottom of the chain link. The others were various of wanna be's, but NO cigar types. There are many raccons, possoms, rats, hawks,dogs, cats and a coyote and fox or two known to live in the City. At one place the owner stated that a lady 2 doors away actually fed the raccons every night so she wasn't concered about them getting her chickens. Our grandson got to pet chickens at 4 places and collect the eggs at 2 places when he was allowed to go inside the coops/ runs. He had a jolly old time.

 

[Dorte]

Most backyard chickens seems to be held in conditions way below the "BYC standard". Some people never have predator problems despite the open coop door or the tree roosting chickens, others have their Fort Knox broken into. Perhaps it depends on luck, perhaps on how hungry the predators are. I mean, if the lady two houses down put food out for the raccoon, why would it bother breaking though chicken wire to get into the chickens? (That works at least until that lady goes on vacation or forgets to put food out

)

Our city had a tour the cluck a couple of months ago, but unfortunately I couldn't go. Hopefully next year (perhaps I'll even show off the girls).

 

[elmo]

It's sad. In another year, many of these people will have "lost a chicken!" stories to tell. At the first local poultry group meeting we went to, about half of the people there had such stories, and most of them had to do with the use of chicken wire. It's a reasonable mistake to make, I suppose. If it's called "chicken wire," you would naturally think it's meant to be used with chickens! They ought to rename that product "chicken death wire."

Did you make any comments as you visited these death traps, or did you hold your tongue?

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

My Dad and his brothers laugh at how "over protective" we are with our chickens. They raised them growing up on a true work or you wont eat all winter farm. My Dad is the oldest of 12 kids so it was a large family to tend to.

I dont have half as fancy of a set up as some I have seen on here, so there is no right or wrong way to keep chickens in my opinion, its all in how YOU want to keep YOUR chickens.

(says I that wants to skip vacation this year and use that money for a new coop) lol lol

 

[Keene's coop]

my coop is very secure at night, but during the day, my run door is held by 3 pieces of wire braided together wrapped around the door and the metal fence post. i have not really figured out how to make that more secure yet, but seems to be doing the job, so far. otherwise my coop and run is surrounded by hardware cloth with a 1 1/2 skirt and on top of the skirt are almost brand new railroad ties. so i don't think anything is digging under to get in. and we do have a fox nesting a block away from us, but it's taking care of all the loose cats in the area. at least that's what the neighbors see. so for now i'm safe.

 

[elmo]

MomtoSyd&Emma :

I dont have half as fancy of a set up as some I have seen on here, so there is no right or wrong way to keep chickens in my opinion, its all in how YOU want to keep YOUR chickens.

Well, that's certainly true, of course, but most of the people I'm referring to wanted to keep their chickens from being eaten by raccoons, etc., but just didn't realize that their housing arrangements left them so vulnerable to predation!​

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
I talked to 3 of these people, but only when I was specificaly asked if I raised chickens, and what I thaught of their setup. My answers really opened up their eyes when I explained to them about the demerits of their setups. One of them just happened to be the wife of the organizer of the event. She asked me what I thaught of her setup as well as what I thaught of the tour. I told her that in my opinion after raising chickens for 6 decades... a perfect example of how to not raise chickens as it was predicated on a hope and a prayer. She wasn't even aware of the problems and took careful detailed notes of our convesation, and she will have her husband fix their setup's weak points. She then said that she will bring up those points at their next group meeting.

 

[Dorte]

Quote:

Sounds like you may have saved quite a few chickens with that conversation!