New to chickening in central Florida!

[orchid lady]

Hi, I live in the country in Sebring, FL, always been a city girl but I want to try some chickens for eggs since we have a large yard and only 1 neighbor. (my husband eats 2 eggs every morning) I work full time and have a black lab that I am hoping will be nice to the chickens since she is gentle with everything else. My husband is going to build me a mobile chicken coop, however, I have a couple questions. I want to have 3 chickens and was wondering if a mobile coop will be big enough if I move it around everyday and let the chickens out to run around when I get home . I don't want to buy chicks at the local store because they look like too much work. Yet, when I checked into ordering on-line, the shipping for a 4 week old chicken was over $50, not counting the cost of the bird! I have seen some adult chickens being sold at flea markets but they don't look too friendly. Any suggestions for this city girl?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

howdy neighbor!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Hi, I live in the country in Sebring, FL, always been a city girl but I want to try some chickens for eggs since we have a large yard and only 1 neighbor. (my husband eats 2 eggs every morning) I work full time and have a black lab that I am hoping will be nice to the chickens since she is gentle with everything else. My husband is going to build me a mobile chicken coop, however, I have a couple questions. I want to have 3 chickens and was wondering if a mobile coop will be big enough if I move it around everyday and let the chickens out to run around when I get home . I don't want to buy chicks at the local store because they look like too much work. Yet, when I checked into ordering on-line, the shipping for a 4 week old chicken was over $50, not counting the cost of the bird! I have seen some adult chickens being sold at flea markets but they don't look too friendly. Any suggestions for this city girl?

have you tried your local craigslist?

 

[N F C]

If you haven't already, I'd check with other members on the FL state thread...you may have members that live close to you that can help you out. Here's a link to get to that thread:Florida

Best of luck to you!

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to Backyardchickens.com aka BYC!
We are glad you joined our flock.

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

Please check out and enter these two current contest:

Official BYC Coop Article Contest - 2017 - Win a Auto Coop Door Kit

Official BYC Caption Contest - 10/09/2017 - Pic by Faraday40

 

[Rick&chickTampa]

Hi and welcome to BYC. We are in Tampa. Read the thread on coop building you can find everything you need there. We have been doing chickens for about 3 weeks. We bought hens from Craigslist. I don't really know exactly how old they are but we got our first egg this morning. After you buy hens they will not lay for a while due to the stress of moving to a new location.The rule of thumb is 4 sq. ft per chicken in the coop and 10 sq. ft. in the run (I believe) And don't be like me and think it will be great to have free eggs. I think if my math is right from what I have spent so far I will be getting free eggs in about 14 years. They are a pleasure though. Enjoy.

 

[orchid lady]

have you tried your local craigslist?

I am so disappointed now........just called zoning and found out that if you live in city limits you can have chickens but if you live in the county, you cannot! Doesn't make sense! Apparently the city has different rules.

 

[N F C]

I am so disappointed now........just called zoning and found out that if you live in city limits you can have chickens but if you live in the county, you cannot! Doesn't make sense! Apparently the city has different rules.

That does seem strange, I would have guessed it was the other way around. How much land do you have?

 

[Rick&chickTampa]

we have a large yard and only 1 neighbor.

(Same law here) Talk to the neighbor and see what they think. If you don't get too big I don't think anyone will complain.

 

[Dayrel]

Welcome to BYC! I was all set to write a long response since you want to head down almost the exact same path I took six months ago, but this news is very disappointing. I'd recommend joining the Florida thread and see what help they might offer.

I also wouldn't trust a government flunky accurately quoting the law. Insist on getting and reading the specific zoning regulation that is blocking you owning chickens. If you find that the restrictions are legitimate, then it is possible to fight it and we have a number of examples on BYC of people that have gotten their local regulations changed.

If you find that you can actually get chickens, then please ping me as your plan sounds almost exactly like what I did and I'd be happy to share my thoughts.