- Feb 25, 2012
- 28
- 0
- 22
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself finally. I've been lurking for about 6 months learning a tremendous amount! So thank you everyone.
I live in what I guess I guess is NW Phx , near DV ( going to check out that feed store). I am a native and this place has grown way too fast for me. I am an urban gardener ( I like to think farmer) and thought chickens would enhance that. Their pooh does, but thought better of the unsupervised free range when they started to defoliate my blueberry bushes, lol! Lucky girls still get garden bugs tossed to them and quite a bit of veggies! My sweetheart constantly complains that I keep giving them his portion of our garden. And you should of seen the look on his face when I fed them his Greek yogurt ;-). Actually he is totally on board with my gang of thugs! I am the idea person and he runs around trying to build them, poor guy. We live in a neighborhood with no HOA and one of my back door neighbors already has chickens. The others said they don't mind which is good considering my Wyandotte ( Dot) cleared a 5 foot block fence into their yard when she stared to lay! The other home is a rental, with transient renters. I realize the best we can do is we are always be at the mercy of our neighbors goodwill. The reality is, at any time they can withdraw their verbal agreement. So we do our best at being clean. Unfortunately hens can be very noisy! I do hope that as they get into the laying groove, they will settle down a bit.
We got chicks in beginning and end of Jan. With one death and one roo we have ended up with 6 pullets. All are laying now. They started mid May and the last one started 2 weeks ago. I love it! We raised them in the house until they got their feathers ( actually longer because The Builder needed more time with the coop). I really enjoyed that, and was able to have more physical interaction. And then I had to clean the room after we put them in the coop. OMG! Horrible. I had to break down the room to remove all the dust! Everywhere!
We have already experienced problems with bullying and separating birds. Lived with that bird in the house ( in a dog kennel). It was a fairly successful venture. Still have the bird. Great layer, but not a favorite. They formed a gang and went after the poor cat, and pecked the h**l out of my dogs ( pitbull) nose through the fencing. Trying to get someone to care for them when you go on vacation is a challenge. We have wormed, and watched those beautiful eggs pile up Luckily no illnesses so far! I am knocking on wood right now!
This IS work, but it is enjoyable work! Chickens are dirty! But like any animal they are as dirty as you allow their surrounding to be. There is a slight odor, but nothing like cats or dogs ( or people, trust me I work in a " service" industry). Any living thing can be filthy and dirty, but it is our responsibility to keep them clean, which is work.
This forum has been a great place of information. Again, thanks to everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself finally. I've been lurking for about 6 months learning a tremendous amount! So thank you everyone.
I live in what I guess I guess is NW Phx , near DV ( going to check out that feed store). I am a native and this place has grown way too fast for me. I am an urban gardener ( I like to think farmer) and thought chickens would enhance that. Their pooh does, but thought better of the unsupervised free range when they started to defoliate my blueberry bushes, lol! Lucky girls still get garden bugs tossed to them and quite a bit of veggies! My sweetheart constantly complains that I keep giving them his portion of our garden. And you should of seen the look on his face when I fed them his Greek yogurt ;-). Actually he is totally on board with my gang of thugs! I am the idea person and he runs around trying to build them, poor guy. We live in a neighborhood with no HOA and one of my back door neighbors already has chickens. The others said they don't mind which is good considering my Wyandotte ( Dot) cleared a 5 foot block fence into their yard when she stared to lay! The other home is a rental, with transient renters. I realize the best we can do is we are always be at the mercy of our neighbors goodwill. The reality is, at any time they can withdraw their verbal agreement. So we do our best at being clean. Unfortunately hens can be very noisy! I do hope that as they get into the laying groove, they will settle down a bit.
We got chicks in beginning and end of Jan. With one death and one roo we have ended up with 6 pullets. All are laying now. They started mid May and the last one started 2 weeks ago. I love it! We raised them in the house until they got their feathers ( actually longer because The Builder needed more time with the coop). I really enjoyed that, and was able to have more physical interaction. And then I had to clean the room after we put them in the coop. OMG! Horrible. I had to break down the room to remove all the dust! Everywhere!
We have already experienced problems with bullying and separating birds. Lived with that bird in the house ( in a dog kennel). It was a fairly successful venture. Still have the bird. Great layer, but not a favorite. They formed a gang and went after the poor cat, and pecked the h**l out of my dogs ( pitbull) nose through the fencing. Trying to get someone to care for them when you go on vacation is a challenge. We have wormed, and watched those beautiful eggs pile up Luckily no illnesses so far! I am knocking on wood right now!
This IS work, but it is enjoyable work! Chickens are dirty! But like any animal they are as dirty as you allow their surrounding to be. There is a slight odor, but nothing like cats or dogs ( or people, trust me I work in a " service" industry). Any living thing can be filthy and dirty, but it is our responsibility to keep them clean, which is work.
This forum has been a great place of information. Again, thanks to everyone!
