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Is it legal to have chickens in the Philadelphia city limits? What are the rules on how many chickens you can have, what size of property do you need to have?
 
Hensel said:
Is it legal to have chickens in the Philadelphia city limits? What are the rules on how many chickens you can have, what size of property do you need to have?
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No it isn't technically legal but a lot of people do it. You should join the Philly chicken facebook group as they are very organized in petitioning to legalize backyard chickens. Some city council members are on board and some are not.
 
Hensel said:
Is it legal to have chickens in the Philadelphia city limits? What are the rules on how many chickens you can have, what size of property do you need to have?
Click to expand...
If you want birds without worrying about legal issues, start looking into quail. There aren’t rules against them, and they (Coturnix) are tamer than you expect. They lay as early as 6-8 weeks, and the eggs taste like chicken eggs.
 
BullChick said:
If you want birds without worrying about legal issues, start looking into quail. There aren’t rules against them, and they (Coturnix) are tamer than you expect. They lay as early as 6-8 weeks, and the eggs taste like chicken eggs.
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And I have them available most of the time, just outside of Philly. Mine lay pretty blue eggs and the birds are multi-colored. They are easier to manage than chickens and far quieter. A few negatives to be aware of:
1) shorter life span than chickens, a 2 year old quail is geriatric. But they start laying at about 6 weeks instead of 6 months. I raise new ones often, as least yearly.
2) they must have 14 hours of light (or more) per day to lay. Cheap LED lighting is effective.
3) they drink a lot of water for their size - don't let them run out for long
4) their poop is less than a chicken, but they seem to pack the same amount of smell into a smaller package. Keeping them on wire and cleaning the pan every week (or more often) takes care of that.
5) you need a special scissors to open the eggs effectively (cheap on Amazon or eBay).
 
I've been working out pens for all my breeders for next year. I needed to make a rough census to allocate space for the different flocks. I thought some of you might be interested in numbers. These are only what is in pens right now, I don't count the ones running loose on the farm.
Large Fowl Chickens
98 Legbars
78 Welbars
72 Ameraucanas
49 Marans
30 Genetic Hackle
23 Ayam ketawa
23 Spitzhauben
12 Leige Fighters
9 Ayam cemani
7 Denizli long crowers
5 Polish

Bantam Chickens
22 Ameraucana bantams
21 Cochin bantams
8 Orpington bantams

Ducks
62 bantam ducks
7 Muscovy ducks
2 Shetland ducks

Other
100+ coturnix quail
10 Guineas
9 Turkeys
9 Peafowl
 
dheltzel said:
I've been working out pens for all my breeders for next year. I needed to make a rough census to allocate space for the different flocks. I thought some of you might be interested in numbers. These are only what is in pens right now, I don't count the ones running loose on the farm.
Large Fowl Chickens
98 Legbars
78 Welbars
72 Ameraucanas
49 Marans
30 Genetic Hackle
23 Ayam ketawa
23 Spitzhauben
12 Leige Fighters
9 Ayam cemani
7 Denizli long crowers
5 Polish

Bantam Chickens
22 Ameraucana bantams
21 Cochin bantams
8 Orpington bantams

Ducks
62 bantam ducks
7 Muscovy ducks
2 Shetland ducks

Other
100+ coturnix quail
10 Guineas
9 Turkeys
9 Peafowl
Click to expand...
But no partridge in a pear tree? :lau

And I thought our feed bill was bad!:th
 
I remember being in the seventies back in 2013 & 14, but that included a never ending (for the spring/summer) stream of chicks. I sold them as fast as I or a broody hatched them, so the steady number was in the fifties. I had eight coops/brooders, and I had to work in the same order every day so I didn’t forget anyone. I also had a pen of turkeys in 2014.
 

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