Well it has been four months and my neighbors seem happy with my chickens and ducks again. I cut back on roosters and we are no longer composting our wood shavings from the coop so that solved the issues they were having. The coops get cleaned right into the yard waste container which gets picked up every other week and I am done putting down compost for the garden areas. I prefer the rabbit fertilizer over chicken fertilizer anyway because it does not have to age and there are no wood shavings mixed in.
Everyone in our neighborhood who has chickens and ducks has more than three so it was the rooster noise that was the issue. I just need to be more willing to send them to their death rather than to try to find homes for them. I have alot of neighbors stopping by to see the ducks and chickens, bringing children with them, so perhaps more people in my area will decide to keep backyard chickens and ducks.
The code enforcement officer has said that the city is calling chickens "small animals" because there is no mention of poultry or waterfowl anywhere in the code but they allow chickens with no rooster restrictions so I think they are going for a 3 rooster limit. I had way more roosters than I wanted because I did not want them to be eaten but my days of saving roosters are over! I am going to reduce my flock for the winter anyway so I will keep what I can manage and move them "indoors" if necessary since there are no restrictions on indoor animals. My flock is actually growing right now because it is spring and I am hatching babies but I will be selling babies and adults so I can get down to keeping my best birds and letting the rest go. I have sold adult birds and I will sell more as I decide what I want to keep and what I don't want to keep.
We are going to enclose the Silkie pen so they will not get wet during the winter and I will not have to worry about predators. They have alot of cover from the trees but not enough to keep out the rain. I currently have too many roosters again since I have been keeping my splash chicks to raise and selling the blue chicks so if they don't have homes after the holiday weekend they will be going to the auction. They are not crowing yet but they will have to go before they start making noise this time. I have had a Silkie meat buyer contact me directly but at the auction they might at least have a chance to live. I am going to have to choose my favorite one and the rest will go.
I am down to a black rooster and a blue rooster for my Orpingtons but once my blue rooster is mature and proven I will probably sell my black rooster with some hens since I will be growing out black pullets in order to decide which ones to keep. He is such a beautiful boy and so good with the ladies that I will hate to see him go but I will be sure he is not eaten. The blue rooster gets run off when he tries to get too friendly with the hens but he manages to catch one every now and then. He is so huge that I kept him so he will get his turn soon enough.
I have way more drakes than I need but they are not noise makers so they will get to live and not get eaten. I am going to do a flock reduction by selling most of my greenhead ducks with their ducklings and unrelated drakes as breeding groups but I am not in a hurry to find them homes during breeding season because this time of year makes feeding them the rest of the year worthwhile.
If the city were to harrass me about my birds, I am willing to go to the city council and point out that there are no ordinances for poultry and waterfowl in the code so they will need to get busy clarifying what is not allowed if they want to enforce a limit that is not dependent on space requirements. I really don't think I can be fined for doing something that is not restricted in the code but if necessary we will build "indoor" living quarters for them and increase the privacy of the yard so they can still go outside without being seen.
Everyone in our neighborhood who has chickens and ducks has more than three so it was the rooster noise that was the issue. I just need to be more willing to send them to their death rather than to try to find homes for them. I have alot of neighbors stopping by to see the ducks and chickens, bringing children with them, so perhaps more people in my area will decide to keep backyard chickens and ducks.
The code enforcement officer has said that the city is calling chickens "small animals" because there is no mention of poultry or waterfowl anywhere in the code but they allow chickens with no rooster restrictions so I think they are going for a 3 rooster limit. I had way more roosters than I wanted because I did not want them to be eaten but my days of saving roosters are over! I am going to reduce my flock for the winter anyway so I will keep what I can manage and move them "indoors" if necessary since there are no restrictions on indoor animals. My flock is actually growing right now because it is spring and I am hatching babies but I will be selling babies and adults so I can get down to keeping my best birds and letting the rest go. I have sold adult birds and I will sell more as I decide what I want to keep and what I don't want to keep.
We are going to enclose the Silkie pen so they will not get wet during the winter and I will not have to worry about predators. They have alot of cover from the trees but not enough to keep out the rain. I currently have too many roosters again since I have been keeping my splash chicks to raise and selling the blue chicks so if they don't have homes after the holiday weekend they will be going to the auction. They are not crowing yet but they will have to go before they start making noise this time. I have had a Silkie meat buyer contact me directly but at the auction they might at least have a chance to live. I am going to have to choose my favorite one and the rest will go.
I am down to a black rooster and a blue rooster for my Orpingtons but once my blue rooster is mature and proven I will probably sell my black rooster with some hens since I will be growing out black pullets in order to decide which ones to keep. He is such a beautiful boy and so good with the ladies that I will hate to see him go but I will be sure he is not eaten. The blue rooster gets run off when he tries to get too friendly with the hens but he manages to catch one every now and then. He is so huge that I kept him so he will get his turn soon enough.
I have way more drakes than I need but they are not noise makers so they will get to live and not get eaten. I am going to do a flock reduction by selling most of my greenhead ducks with their ducklings and unrelated drakes as breeding groups but I am not in a hurry to find them homes during breeding season because this time of year makes feeding them the rest of the year worthwhile.
If the city were to harrass me about my birds, I am willing to go to the city council and point out that there are no ordinances for poultry and waterfowl in the code so they will need to get busy clarifying what is not allowed if they want to enforce a limit that is not dependent on space requirements. I really don't think I can be fined for doing something that is not restricted in the code but if necessary we will build "indoor" living quarters for them and increase the privacy of the yard so they can still go outside without being seen.
