Hello fellow Chicken Lovers from CA :)

[child_of_air]

Thought I would introduce myself. My husband and I just bought our first house in a more rural mountain area of Southern California. We're going from living in a two bedroom apartment (cramped with 3 cats and potted plants on the veranda) to a four bedroom house with some land! I'm so, so excited because it means I can finally garden again, and this time I get to keep chickens!

Based on the lot size of my house, I'm allowed to keep four hens, but no roosters. I've decided I want:
1 Ayum Cemani aka "Gothic Chicken" (there is a local breeder who is selling chicks for only $35 dollars, and this is a very striking breed).

2. Lavender Orphington. I'm having trouble finding anyone local to me that breeds this bird, but I'm determined to get one. They are so beautiful and apparently very sweet too. If anyone has any tips as to where I can find a female chick on the west coast, please let me know.

3. Salmon Faverolle- They are so cute! And apparently great egg layers!

4. Brahma- light or dark. I'm really interested in the eggs and apparently they are sweet.

We get a bit of snow in the winter, being at 4000 ft up, but nothing major. The weather is similar to that of Oregon (which is where I used to live).

We've decided to build our own coop using plans from The Garden Coop. Should be a fun project and I'm really looking forward to painting, hammering and drilling stuff! I want to be more handy in general and I think this is a great opportunity. If anyone has any breed specific advice or advice about my ideal flock, please let me know. I tried to do as much research as possible and want my flock to be friendly and sweet.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC

On this link you'll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping birds - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/

There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

This is a useful link of BYC guides to take a look at - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/website-announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/?prefix_id=3

You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[N F C]

Gardening and chickens...2 of my favorite things! Congratulations on your new home and being able to carry out some of your plans.

Pork Pie Ken has given you some great links (your state thread will be a terrific source of "local" information).

Best wishes and thanks for joining us!

 

[MatthewsHomestead]

Welcome! Sounds like your having fun already! Congratulations!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[Joeschooks]

Welcome to BYC! There’s so many helpful, knowledgeable folks here and I’m sure you’ll find this site a very useful resource. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all do.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[ronott1]

Thought I would introduce myself. My husband and I just bought our first house in a more rural mountain area of Southern California. We're going from living in a two bedroom apartment (cramped with 3 cats and potted plants on the veranda) to a four bedroom house with some land! I'm so, so excited because it means I can finally garden again, and this time I get to keep chickens!

Based on the lot size of my house, I'm allowed to keep four hens, but no roosters. I've decided I want:
1 Ayum Cemani aka "Gothic Chicken" (there is a local breeder who is selling chicks for only $35 dollars, and this is a very striking breed).

2. Lavender Orphington. I'm having trouble finding anyone local to me that breeds this bird, but I'm determined to get one. They are so beautiful and apparently very sweet too. If anyone has any tips as to where I can find a female chick on the west coast, please let me know.

3. Salmon Faverolle- They are so cute! And apparently great egg layers!

4. Brahma- light or dark. I'm really interested in the eggs and apparently they are sweet.

We get a bit of snow in the winter, being at 4000 ft up, but nothing major. The weather is similar to that of Oregon (which is where I used to live).

We've decided to build our own coop using plans from The Garden Coop. Should be a fun project and I'm really looking forward to painting, hammering and drilling stuff! I want to be more handy in general and I think this is a great opportunity. If anyone has any breed specific advice or advice about my ideal flock, please let me know. I tried to do as much research as possible and want my flock to be friendly and sweet.

From Woodland CA!

You must live in a City? Here lot size is not a factor in the City. We can keep 6 hens. In the county they do not have limits in the A1 zone

 

[child_of_air]

View attachment 1476060 From Woodland CA!

You must live in a City? Here lot size is not a factor in the City. We can keep 6 hens. In the county they do not have limits in the A1 zone

Hi there!
No, I don't live in a city, I live in a small town of about 8500. County rules about keeping chickens vary from county to county. My county, San Bernardino, is quite vast and encompasses the deserts and mountains both- including large cities and tiny desert towns. So it makes sense they would base it on land lot size. I will say thought that a lot of people keep roosters in tiny plot sizes.....but I don't want to piss anyone off.

 

[ronott1]

Hi there!
No, I don't live in a city, I live in a small town of about 8500. County rules about keeping chickens vary from county to county. My county, San Bernardino, is quite vast and encompasses the deserts and mountains both- including large cities and tiny desert towns. So it makes sense they would base it on land lot size. I will say thought that a lot of people keep roosters in tiny plot sizes.....but I don't want to piss anyone off.

Yep! Counties can have odd rules.

I have also read that some places in the county have Home Owners Association rules. Unless someone inspects you would likely be able to keep a bit more hens though. I want more than 4 because I need at least 6 to keep me in eggs