Hi! I do not have any chickens... YET. I am still in the process of convincing the husband that it would be a good idea. He's not too happy with the idea of (in his words) "miniature t-rex's invading our back yard" I told him that they were more like velociraptors in size anyways. HA HA ! (I have a thing for dinosaurs, mind) I live in a suburb of Chicago. (Aurora to be exact) and am having a HECK of a time seeing if its legal or not. Nothing on the town website, and google brought up this board! I may say screw the legality of it, because I want FRESH EGGS DAILY darn it!!! I joined this board to do some research on how I want to go about caring for my future chickens. Because eventually I will wear him down. I always win. because if mama ain't happy, nobody's happy! Chicken tractor VS stationary coop? How will they get along with my (herding breed ) dogs, do I have to keep them in the basement during winter so the poor things don't freeze. I'm a civil war reenactor so I'm torn too, do I want heirloom breeds? or the fun fancy kind with the feather poofs! oh so much to learn!!! My husband's aunt has chickens and I LOVE seeing her pictures. I've wanted chickens for YEARS. I've already come up with smart aleck names for them. Unfortunately, subscribing to Mother Earth News just fuels my desire for some feathered friends....
and from FL I think it will depend on your individual dog's personality as to how it will react to your birds. There is no reason why you can't get several breeds. There is a good chance your hubby will end up building his own coop for his own favorite breeds before you know it.
Tee hee, I came to this forum to introduce myself; but have gotten caught up in others' introductions. I think that if you look into heritage breeds, you won't be able to help yourself. My very first flock is just 11 weeks old. I wanted an entire flock of Dorkings, for meat and eggs. Unfortunately, the hatchery could not supply as many of the female chicks that I wanted so I rounded out with some green and brown egg-layers. (Dorkings lay white eggs). This flock of 3 different breeds has allowed me to compare them. The heritage breeds seem to be real professionals at foraging - and I'll vouch for the Dorkings, they're amazing! I assume that they will live up to their billing regarding raising their own young, temp tolerance, meat flavor, etc... I hope your husband comes around soon. Does he know that the average free range egg has approximately twice as much Omega 3's and half as much cholesterol as factory-farm eggs? That doesn't even bring FLAVOR into the equation!
