Hey there! new to the site, any Urban backyard farmers too?

Leahlene040

In the Brooder
Dec 9, 2019
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I am an avid gardener that lives in a downtown area, in a suburb south of Dayton, Ohio. Recently found out that homeowners can have up to four chickens on their property. So this girl is going to research research research on the best egg layers, when and how to buy them, and all things chickens! I would love to hear from any other people living in a downtown community that owns chickens and also gardens. My lot is a double lot, about less than half an acre.
 
Welcome to the site. There are a lot of people on here that raise chickens on small lots so you should get lots of input. There are even a few that use the loophole that a chicken is not a hen or rooster until 6 months old to be able to raise meat birds (who never get older than about 3 months) in urban areas. Obviously you have to consider the neighbors when living that close together and keep noise and smell down as much as possible.
 
Welcome to the website. Lots of people here -I would even hazard the majority- do homesteading or hobby/intensive level farming on small lots like yours. Mine is about a quarter acre, personally.

There's a lot of varying opinions so remember to take things with a grain of salt and always do your own research. Have a plan for accidental roosters and learn about bio security. And good luck!
 
I live in small town rural iowa. The laws on poultry in town are very vauge here, so as long as you don't piss off your neighbors you can keep birds. I am lucky that my yard is blocked from the road on three sides by houses and the fourth by a creek. I started with four pullets last spring. We lost one to predation ( fox couldn't get in but she stuck her head out of the cage to see what the fox was doing and lost it in the process) so we ended up getting three cornish cross to replace her. Of those three, two were roosters who died of apparent heart attacks around 4 months old. The hen lived until she was 7 months old. She was starting to get arthritis in her legs and was being picked on by the other hens. It got to the point where she list her quality of life so we butchered her. It was hard, but it felt great to know she lived way longer than she should have and had a good life. This spring, I got alot more birds and added ducks to my flock. Mu current total is 7 ducks ( 2 drakes 5 hens) and 19 chickens ( 3 roosters 16 hens). Depending on how the flock dynamic is we might cull one or two of our roosters when the come of age. Our current top rooster only crows occasionally and has not upset anyone in our neighborhood. I have mulitple breeds, but my Buff Orphington named Buffy is my top layer. She had the shortest break for moult and lays 5-7 eggs/week. My weakest layer is an Easter Egger who lays 3-6 eggs/week but those eggs are bluish-green and she is beautiful so I let her freeloading slide.
 
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