Urban Homesteaders

[operationindigo]

I wish I could let them roam! We have a really bad stray dog problem in my neighborhood. My backyard is fenced in, but I have literally been in my backyard that is fenced in with chain link and privacy fence (pre-existing before my move in), and watched a stray dog scale the wooden privacy fence, get chased by my dog around the yard, then run for its life. I want to let them free range sometimes so bad, but I'm so afraid. I haven't seen a dog roaming for a few weeks now, but it is such a scary possibility. I've read some other people's posts about how they had shot dogs that came on to their property and attacked chickens, but in an urban setting, there's no way to justify any such thing and there's no protections for the owner of the chickens because its generally a bad idea to discharge a firearm in a city. Not like I would feel comfortable at all with the situation anyway, I'm just comparing it to a rural situation.

 

[Beckie G]

I know what you mean about the fences. My husband had to build a 5 ft fence around my garden to keep chickens inside and pests out. He even buried it in the ground to keep the burrowing critters out. We just double it as a run. And no i would never shoot anything that got in my yard. Chasing it out is a different story. I can understand your fear. We didn't even want them to stay outside in our greehouse overnight, so we built them a coop in my backroom ( that way the winter wouldnt effect them too much either) so far our own dogs have been more dangerous then any outside creatures. Fingers crossed.

 

[operationindigo]

My own dog's introduction to the chickies didn't go so well either. When the chickens were shut in the coop at night on their first day, my dog was out in the yard for a potty break for 10 minutes (it was dark), then came back to the gate with wood pieces all over her face. Turns out she tried to chew her way into the coop. I had to train her by spraying her with the hose if she ever locked eyes on a chicken in the run. She hates water, so it only took 2 sprays and now she completely ignores them.

 

[Beckie G]

We were not so lucky. Literally 10 seconds without watching and feathers were flying. The worst part is that he never even showed intrest in them until then. We lost one of our little ones. Now that the chicks are full grown he stays as far away from them as possible. Im fairly sure my jersey giant is bigger them him. Im so glad your dog learned without anyone getting hurt.

 

[brukkala]

The house I live in is in kind of a basin from the front yard. The street is on the same level as the second floor, and there are steps down to the front door. There is a gate and fence blocking entry from the street to all spots but the little walkway by the mailbox. Behind the house is a weird trough that separates my property from the neighbors' behind me. There are fences on the sides of the house too, yet the day after my chickens came to live here there was a hound dog from down the street in the backyard sniffing them out! I chased it out, wondering how the blankety-blank it got in. Boy was that a smart dog! He found the one entry to the yard and followed his exceptional nose through the mud in my side garden straight to the chicken coop! I watched him do the trail in reverse and down the street to the neighbor's hole in the fence. Lol. I also really wanted to at least let the chickens out while I was out there watching them. I might do it that way when I can keep an eye on them. They're not very used to me yet and it would be really hard to catch them if they jumped into the trough in the backyard. Plus there are so many spiders here! They may be great for eating bugs and all, but they are a bit too plentiful for my liking. Everywhere I go I get spider webs in my face. If there wasn't one ten minutes ago, you turn around and there one is! Okay, I'm exaggerating. Still, I'm kind of scared of the huge spiders here. Some are among the most poisonous in the world. I really hope I don't see any snakes. There are lots of super-poisonous snakes here. So when I drive out in the country and marvel at all the glorious acreage with the fruit trees and green expanses I just think of the snakes and spiders Then I don't feel so bad that we'll never afford the multi-million dollar price tags that go with the land here. Then I start pining for the American Midwest. Sigh...

 

[mlongworth]

I have 6 plymouth rocks, 2 dogs and 2 cats. We are on about 2/3 of an acre in town. We have a large garden every year. We have mulberry, peach, apple, and cherry trees. Black and red raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry. We added the peach tree, blueberry and an herb garden this year. Plan on some more trees and bushes/vines this year and either bees or goats. Built my compost pile a few weeks ago too. What do y'all have planned for 2014?

 

[farmerkevin]

For 2014?

Clearing out a giant yucca tree stump and puttin a row of blueberries, clearing out a honeysuckle and hibiscus and replacing with either a fig and mango, or papaya and star ruby grapefruit.

Then moving the garden area and planting 1 hass, 1 lamb hass, and a mexicola avocado. Then clearing out a brick patio and putting the garden there.

Hoping to build a proper chicken coop.

Also hoping to have a new motor in my truck. Have a better motor than I have now, waiting to go in, just need a flywheel which is $400. I'd love to have a truck I can just hop in and go. Now that I'm buying feed in bulk (dog, cat, chicken) And bales of straw for the chickens, I need the truck.

Also hoping that in 2014 my trees and garden is producing enough, that I ca sell some to make a little money to help pay bills.

2014. So much hope for 2014

 

[Plough]

2014-

Well its hard for me to plan a whole year out but as far as pending plans for me i have these on the book.

- Converting the back shed from storage to a coop. (it was one in the 30s and shouldn't be too bad in reconverting it)

- Build a raised potato patch. Im tired of searching like mad for where the potatos should be... should be an easy do.

- Build another small starter greenhouse. And maybe a few frosty weather individual plant pyramids with this last cold snap my poor peppers have been sad.

- After converting the coop/back shed, upping the flock from 3 to 10+.

- Build a fire pit.

- Move in to the house next door (Shared backyard) and start nesting for baby.

- Attempt to maintain sanity and sleep quota while overworking to make up for the ladies maternity leave.

 

[biga]

i'm in small town Alabama USA. i live on about 1/3 acre. i have been doing gardens for 5-6 years now. it's funny how the garden keeps expanding and my grass/yard keeps shrinking. i started with planting a few herbs and some peppers around my patio. then i built a 8'x8' raised bed. that went to 8'x16' the next year and it was up to 16'x16' this year. i plan on doing away with the raised bed and tilling all of that top soil down into the yard to make a 16'x32' garden this spring. i bought my first chickens about 5 months ago. GOT MY FIRST EGG THIS MORNING!!! my Barred rock had the honors of first egg. i have 1 barred rock, 1 white leghorn, 1 brown chicken of some sort. then i bought 4 silkie chicks about 3 weeks ago for the fun of it. the garden for spring will have a large amount of heirloom and roma tomatoes, squash, green beans, zucchini, zipper cream peas, english cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, and whatever else my wife wants to throw in there.

i've gotten a LOT of entertainment out fo the gardens and now even more with the chickens. i have 3 kids under 8 so they enjoy those birds. the wife HATES dogs and won't let me get one.... so one day i saw an article in the paper talking about how it was legal to have chickens in the city... jokingly i said "well if you won't let me have a dog, how about some chickens?" she jokingly replied "well chickens would be better than a DOG". too bad she went out of town for a week after that b/c she came home to 3 chickens and a coop. hahahhahahahaha.

 

[Plough]

jokingly i said "well if you won't let me have a dog, how about some chickens?" she jokingly replied "well chickens would be better than a DOG". too bad she went out of town for a week after that b/c she came home to 3 chickens and a coop. hahahhahahahaha.

I love it.