China

[Chambertin]

Yup,
I'm here in China living and working. Sorry I didn’t take your job. Someone wanted to take mine and I decided to chase it!
Turns out it was a crappy job and I found a new way to make a living over here.
Joking aside, I've set up a nice little life and I'm experimenting with poultry over here.

I live just outside Hong Kong in Shenzhen. It’s quite a place as 30 years ago there was nothing and now there's a new skyscraper every month. It’s astounding how fast (and how well) buildings go up here.

To keep forum space low here's a link to my introduction page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/685620/hello-from-china

There's a couple pictures of my open space and my Turks & Chirps.
Looking forward to trading experiences with many people, and who knows maybe even finding someone in China who has, or had chickens.

 

[HEChicken]

That's so funny - this is the second post tonight I've seen from someone in China. The other one had bought a couple of chicks from a street vendor in Beijing and was looking for clues as to their breed and gender.

I read your introduction and saw your photos and one thing I can say is that your birds don't appear to be much at risk from predators. Having been visited by a fox this week, I'm acutely aware of the dangers that surround me so I am certainly envious of that, even as I enjoy having land around me that you don't have

 

[gummunq]

Are yall talking about me?!?!

Shenzhen, eh? You are up high off the ground so I agree you won't have as much of a predator problem. Lovely terrace! I am keeping the chicks inside because we are on the ground, with roaming cat packs and a resident Siberian Weasel. We do hear some hawk-like sounds outside occasionally... so maybe you should be wary of that if you have them in Shenzhen. There could be more flying hungry wildlife in your area which is far more lush and tropical than our desert.

 

[Chambertin]

I think my birds are about the safest I have ever heard of. I haven’t seen a bird of prey, or even a scavenger in the city. Crazy to me as Michigan has more seagulls than I have seen in Florida.
Anything than a French flying rat seems to be gone and moved on. My only real worry about a "predator" would be the rats. They are trying to prove that NYC aint got nothing on size or ferocity. Think Triads of the animal kingdom.

gummunq, do you live in Beijing?

It would be really cool to see something in the air other than the occasional dragonfly and airplane.
I'm guessing you're out of the city some, but as I've never been up north (all my time is spent between Hainan and Guangdong) there could be anything waiting for me up there.

 

[gummunq]

I live right smack in the middle of Beijing, where there are less giant highrises and more old old traditional courtyard houses. We are in a courtyard house but the courtyard is full of kitties and weasels that would nom up our birds in an instant.... though they're getting big now and our rooster is getting very manly/protective. We don't have rats (i hear the weasels eat them up too), but we have cute tiny mice that steal the chickens' foods. Hopefully they are not brewing up diseases to wipe out the chickens, but if they are, I have no idea how to stop the mice from coming. We're in an old old house with lots of little holes, sharing many walls with neighbors.

My sister is moving to Guangzhou tomorrow.... if I ever make it down to Shenzhen/HK (which I would like to) maybe a visit to your rooftop jungle is in order. Likewise, if you come to Beijing, let me know!

 

[Chambertin]

Absolutely!
If you ever make it to the area you are more than welcome in the rooftop and the rest of our house
Sounds like a very interesting neighborhood. Everything in this city is so new so it’s just highrises. They even "reconstructed" some cheesy period housing just to try and give the city some character, but this land has been pretty vacant for the last thousand years or so before the government created this place.

If we ever make it up to Beijing we'll be sure to let you know too.

Out of curiosity what brought you to China?
We came for work and family.

Also if you ever need any help buying things for the chicks let us know. TaoBao can be quite a monster to navigate at times.

 

[Chambertin]

Thought I'd give a bump to the thread.
Still doing well out here in Shenzhen. Enjoying the rooftop farm lifestyle. We finished turning a part of our balcony into a garden, the coop needs a new roof as the cheap way went as expected: poorly. Still it wont be long and well have a proper home for all the girls
I'm hoping to get my first egg in October.

So lets hear from anyone else in China, or maybe East Asia in general.

 

[Chambertin]

One more bump,

I had a chance to meet gummunq and it was a good time.
Maybe there are some others out there in China and we could try a larger get together next time.

The breeds here in China are quite different than the western variety,
might be a lot of fun to try a swap.
I've got a ton of viable eggs waiting for a new home
Also a couple roosters who are getting on neighbors nerves who come with laying hens