NY chicken lover!!!!

[Lapeerian]

Ithaca recently allowed backyard chickens on an experimental basis, permitting a few properties to keep 3 hens. The Tompkins CCE will be hosting a mandatory chicken keeping class for those interested in order to get a certificate. The instructor is from Cortland CCE and has very little chicken knowledge so offered my assistance.
For those of you that do keep chickens in town, is there anything that you wish you knew or learned along the way that would be helpful to newbies? I have had chickens 4 years now and can spread my knowledge thanks to the BYC family, but I have 30 chickens in the country, no experience in the 3 chicken town.

 

[akaruby]

I'm glad Ithaca is doing this on a trial basis. People need to know what adequate space is for their chickens and that many of the prefab coops exaggerate how many hens you can have. Also using hardware cloth versus chicken wire if you are in an environment with predators. Chicken wire keeps chickens in, not many predators out. I lived in Ithaca for 3 years and I think they need to know what breeds are good in confinement and not flighty, I'm assuming many people having smaller lot sizes.

Just a few of my initial ideas, I've only had a small flock for a little over a year. If you need more people let me know! I'm only 45 min away.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote: Welcome back ..Great pictures ..
I guess that baby was in a hurry to be born

Everyone :
Heres a tree my hubby and I disagreed about
Hubby : it blocks my view
Me : chickens hide under it for protection from hawks , eagles ,
solution : a compromise : Dont know if it will live?



My milk jug green house worked ...seeds grew ..chickens were kept out while they were in the garden

 

[Gramma Chick]

My wry neck chick didn't make it. I euthanized her after she twisted herself into the corner of the fence, got her wing caught, and flailed so much that she had an open wound at her breast plate. It must have happened late at night. She was tucked in a safe spot away from her rommates when I closed up. The next morning she was in the corner while the others were still not near her. I was pretty sad about it but realized she was in pain and I don't know if I could have helped her wound on top of her wry neck.

You did what you thought was best ...Sorry ..it turned out that way ..

 

[Gramma Chick]

WELL ...SKUNKS do attack Chickens...
AND Im a Crazy Chicken LADY...
my 2 little spitzs where out in the fenced in garden by themselves around 8 o clock ..Flock was all in the coop
I went in for supper ..they didnt want to be caught ...so I let them stay out ..WHAT A MISTAKE !
I heard one of them screaming and running around the yard ..I went out and caught it ...
went into the garden looking for the other one ..couldnt see it
Saw the Skunk at the back of the yard eating something ...
wondered was it a chicken ?
I Picked up the garden cultivator..and went over the fence to the skunk ..
It was eating my baby Spitz ! I totally Lost it !
I yelled & Screamed at the skunk ...and attacked it with the cultivator ...and drove it out of our yard and into the woods .
Baby chicken was dead and its breast 1/2 eaten ...then I started crying ...
I guess I did not hurt it very much as it came back in a few minutes ..
I had already picked up the chicken carcass ..and put it in the trash ...No way I was going to bury it and let the skunk dig it up .

Well it is dead ...we shot it ..it learned there was food here ...and it would be back ..
In a week or two I will have some chicks hatching ..I cant have it going through my yard again .
Cutie is alive and lonesome ..I put her in my butt pack ...so she felt safe
She has a mirror in her bin ..it seems to soothe her some ..but if I wander too far away she screams .
Had a heck of a time getting her to sleep .Ticking Clock did not Work ..darkness , my hand and a stuffed animal finally worked
.I may put another one of my broodys chicks with her tomorrow ....or she will terrorize my hubby
Ive got a DR Appt today ...Should I take her with me in the butt pack ? LOL ..

 

[cutipatooti]

WELL ...SKUNKS do attack Chickens...
AND Im a Crazy Chicken LADY...
my 2 little spitzs where out in the fenced in garden by themselves around 8 o clock ..Flock was all in the coop
I went in for supper ..they didnt want to be caught ...so I let them stay out ..WHAT A MISTAKE !
I heard one of them screaming and running around the yard ..I went out and caught it ...
went into the garden looking for the other one ..couldnt see it
Saw the Skunk at the back of the yard eating something ...
wondered was it a chicken ?
I Picked up the garden cultivator..and went over the fence to the skunk ..
It was eating my baby Spitz ! I totally Lost it !
I yelled & Screamed at the skunk ...and attacked it with the cultivator ...and drove it out of our yard and into the woods .
Baby chicken was dead and its breast 1/2 eaten ...then I started crying ...
I guess I did not hurt it very much as it came back in a few minutes ..
I had already picked up the chicken carcass ..and put it in the trash ...No way I was going to bury it and let the skunk dig it up .

Well it is dead ...we shot it ..it learned there was food here ...and it would be back ..
In a week or two I will have some chicks hatching ..I cant have it going through my yard again .
Cutie is alive and lonesome ..I put her in my butt pack ...so she felt safe
She has a mirror in her bin ..it seems to soothe her some ..but if I wander too far away she screams .
Had a heck of a time getting her to sleep .Ticking Clock did not Work ..darkness , my hand and a stuffed animal finally worked
.I may put another one of my broodys chicks with her tomorrow ....or she will terrorize my hubby
Ive got a DR Appt today ...Should I take her with me in the butt pack ? LOL ..

So very sorry to hear this. I know how much you were enjoying them. I'm glad it did not get both.

 

[shodack]

Ithaca recently allowed backyard chickens on an experimental basis, permitting a few properties to keep 3 hens. The Tompkins CCE will be hosting a mandatory chicken keeping class for those interested in order to get a certificate. The instructor is from Cortland CCE and has very little chicken knowledge so offered my assistance.
For those of you that do keep chickens in town, is there anything that you wish you knew or learned along the way that would be helpful to newbies? I have had chickens 4 years now and can spread my knowledge thanks to the BYC family, but I have 30 chickens in the country, no experience in the 3 chicken town.

Lapeerian, I started my flock in town just over a year ago. It's been going great, and people know I'm the "lady with chickens" in town. Haha
A couple things that I did ahead of time that made things MUCH easier: I use the deep litter method instead of hay, and I use fermented feed. I think with those two things alone I have almost NO smell. I'm so glad I found BYC and read like crazy before I got them and while they were in the brooder.
I do wish I'd planned the coop better and set aside some money to make sure everything was done right the first time.
I'll keep thinking, I'm sure there are more things, but this is my first time on BYC in a week!
PS- the pullets are doing great and getting very pretty!

 

[Metella]

Gramma - so very sorry.

For classes - what chicken wire is really good for. Quiet, medium breed that doesn't eat a lot. How easy it really is once you have done it a few weeks.

 

[shodack]

Gramma, and others, so sorry for loses and predators. I feel so lucky I haven't dealt with this issue yet.

I have given up on my garden for the year, sadly. I have a few fat rabbits who have eaten everything except tomatoes and squash, INCLUDING a row of DILL and ONIONS, which I am just flabbergasted by. I was feeling really stressed and upset about it, but I am so busy, and have a husband who doesn't get why it's such a big deal to me, so hasn't done anything I've asked of him to help. I got back from 4 days away yesterday to find that they had eaten down the pepper plants too, which they'd left alone until now. Instead of crying about it again I just stopped, took a breath, and let it go. I will get a few tomatoes and squash, and for this year that will be it. And in the meantime, I will be saving for fencing material and probably hiring a kid I know to put it up for me.

On a happy note, the three chicks I got from Lapeerian are doing beautifully. They are going to be so pretty!

 

[tao chick]

Shodack, I chased a pair of rabbits around my house today. The garden is just starting to get going so they aren't interested yet but I expect I'll have to reinforce the bottom of the fence around the garden to prevent their intrusion. I have chain link but bunnies dig.

Gramma, I'm sorry about the skunk, but I'm glad you eliminated it. I hope the little one does well with the chick friend.

Lapeerian, I agree with everything everyone else said. Maybe encourage them to learn the basics by researching online. All roosters crow. All hens lay eggs. The degree of each of those things is variable. Encourage them to consider buying younger 6-packs by teaming up with neighbors. If they want to start from younger age to ensure friendly birds, they could really benefit from working with neighbors on brooding and caring for a larger group of chicks. Caring for chickens is pretty easy but if you want vacations for weeks at a time, you'll need a partner in chickens. I have my sister-in-law. And a house-sitter. Two separate people to rely on if needed. Maybe you could ask the veterinarian school at Cornell to send someone to talk about common chicken issues?