Illicit urban chicken movement growing in US
Posted October 9th, 2008 by xntryk1
output
10.08.08
Report: Illicit urban chicken movement growing in US
By Eoin O'Carroll
The Worldwatch Institute reports that a growing number of US city-dwellers are raising their own chickens, often in defiance of local ordinances.
Citing unsanctioned henhouses in Denver, Boston, and other cities, Worldwatch’s Ben Block notes that an “underground ‘urban chicken’ movement has swept across the United States in recent years,” flouting authorities’ concerns about noise, odors, and public health.
But in some cities, such as Ann Arbor, Mich., Ft. Collins, Colo., South Portland, Maine, and Madison, Wisc., owners of these clandestine coops have successfully changed the laws to allow them to keep a limited number of hens. (Roosters, whose characteristic crowing can disturb neighbors, are usually more restricted, but they’re not needed for hens to lay unfertilized eggs.)
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I used to listen...
to those guys in the 60s.
I loved their chart topper "the city gone a foul"
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." … Mark Twain
This would the coolest name for a metal band .
Ladies and gentlemen raise your hands for "The Illicit Urban Chicken movement" ............Yeah !
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
~Mikael / Peace, love, Light and unity ~
I agree! I just think is has a very cool ring to it...
...kinda like Sly and the Family Stone. Or Strawberry Alarm Clock, or... :-)
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Guilty!
We have 6 beautiful hens laying 5-10 large eggs a day in our suburban Sacramento neighborhood. Our neighbors don't complain because we like to share:)
How much feed to they need?
Just curious.
I Buy
A 50-lb sack of feed every 6 weeks or so to feed my 6 hens. The do a lot of foraging and eat scraps as well, I also have to purchase bedding for them. We are raising them solely for eggs, so they don't need to be "fattened up". There have been some great links posted in the comments of this thread.
Where
do they lay their eggs? In a coop?
You make nest boxes in a coop.
If you don't keep them somewhat contained, they will hide out their nests in the barn, under a bush, etc. So usually, if you let them out to roam free, you wait until late morning so they lay in the coop.
If you have room to let them
"roam free" or "free roam", they make more organic eggs. At least these eggs are not irradiated like our lettuce and spinach are right now.
What that means is they shoot them with radiation to kill bacteria (so they say) but it takes ALL the nutrients out of the product.
Most people have no idea - you eat that egg, have the calories, but NO nutrition! I can see why this fad is growing.
Recently they added lettuce and spinach to that list. What this also means is they can grow it in feces infested land w/o any concern.
That's the reason for the "pepper" and "tomato" alarm this summer. It destroyed the market for the fresh product and farmers lost big money. Another hype to scare people and excuse to irradiate.
ONE MORE WORD OF ADVICE: Buy you meat at a local butcher, after asking where he gets his meat. Buy you produce at a local farm market - even if you have to drive a distance.
JUST BUY LOCAL. (most) Grocery stores are no longer allowed to accept local produce to sell. Would be too healthy and cut down on the profits of the corporatists.
Very good information
and to add to that, as of September 30, 2008 it is the law that fresh meat, vegetables, fruits and peanuts are to be labeled as to country of origin. I have refused to buy produce from Mexico for a few years. If you can't drink the water or eat fresh vegetables when you visit Mexico, why would you risk eating the vegetables that are shipped here?
Way to go!
I am all for this....I would love to do this too.
Shout-out to Sacramento!
CSUS girl here.
___________
Lisa C.
Boston Tea Party
"Time to Party Like It's 1773!"
Charles Jay 2008.
hey! I'm from Fort
hey! I'm from Fort Collins....
people had some weird animals there.... there's roughly 200,000 people, but that didn't keep people from having horses, peacocks, chickens, and zebras in the middle of the city.... and yes, I said zebras.... I know, it's weird....
The "chikin action"
Just north of my house about 15 or so miles on every Friday night except Christmas and New Years weeks is the "chikin action". You turn off the county rd at the "chikin action every Friday" sign, then you drive through the middle of a small trailer park on a dirt road about a 1/8 mile till you come to a clearing in the woods, and there it is. It is an old pole barn built on a slight slope, inside are old school bus seats and couches that are sitting on carpet remnants on the dirt. There are gallon metal coffee cans to spit in, and a concession stand in the back where you can buy a hot dog or a coke. There is no A/C just old box fans, there is heat but it is from a kerosene heater, there are old KFC signs and others over the holes in the wall. Up front is a row of tables where folks bring in their birds, and other items. There have been 3 foot pieces of chain, guineas, raccoons, rabbits, pigs, goats, cages, 1/2 empty sacks of feed, geese, stoves, most anything auctioned off. There are people there that have never been to school to folks with doctorates, white, black, asian, hispanic, men, women, boys, and girls. And they all get along. There are people that never would have a chicken there just for the entertainment, and there are old folks that supplement their income by selling hens, and in that place you really can lose yourself and see what we as a country and a people have let slip away from us.
Thank you Dr. Paul for making my act on what I already knew was right.
What a great thread!
You all are friends in deed, while we're all in need. Further down, someone included http://www.backyardchicke... cool. A friend of ours raises some, and said the chicks are cheap ($1.00), and he loves knowing what HE feeds them. We live on an acre....will have to check this out!
Cool site... I love the "Playhouse Chicken Coop" design
http://www.backyardchicke...
And the idea of putting the things on wheels & making "tractor" versions is cool too! (Though I'd personally put bigger diameter wheels on -- placed at a fulcrum-point, and then add on wheelbarrow-style handles on the end, that way you could probable maneuver it around by hand easily.)
Yeah, I think this just
Yeah, I think this just happened in my town too. I hope.
being facetious of course...
"Urban chicken" sounds like an "urban legend" to me. Bunch of "conspiracy theorists" and chicken-hawks.
----
Support H.R. 6594 to give 9/11 First Responders (heroes) the help that they need and deserve. Watch "Dust to Dust" and "Dust to Deceit" to learn about the ongoing 9/11 Holocaust.
LOL!
Believe it, my neighbors across the street acquired some chickens. I can hear them at night when I get home.
They had a rooster too, that rooster has been removed because it couldn't tell when it was day or night, stupid thing.
I think it is ok, but people need to understand is that chicken poop is not cool at all, there is so much bacteria and parasite in it!
I have a friend who worked at a place where they raised and process chickens (It rhymes with "Roster") LOL! and he said they have to where masks because this type of bacteria effects the lungs.
So,.......know about the dangers of raising "yard birds"
__________________________________________________________
"The real terrorist's are in this country and they are not planning to blow us up, but rather, take our money, our freedom, and our country."
For that very reason...
Corporate farm-raised chickens, being packed like sardines into multi-level-stacked cages, will have a much higher rate of disease, which is why they are so heavily treated with antibiotics (which we then ingest). My chickens run around our backyard and eat bugs and weeds and veggie scraps along with their organic feed and their coop is cleaned weekly with the droppings composted for the garden. It's a much healthier alternative to (F)oster Farms.
How big a fence do you need...
to keep the yardbirds from becoming free?
The Retrocon
Hope for America, Ron Paul for President in 2008!
I'm gonna git me a chicken today... ( Foghorn Leghorn ~funny! )
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
********
"Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave fast enough to be a new source of energy independence."~ samthurston
http://www.campaignforlib...
Liberty_Belle
Thanks for bring some humor to the site :)
If you don't have somewhere
If you don't have somewhere for them forage for their own food, then before you get any check out the cost of feed in your area. All fertilizers and animal feeds have gone through the roof around here. A 50lb bag of Sam's Choice Wal-mart dog food is right at 17 dollars now, so while chickens are a very good investment if you don't have a good source of feed the expense can out weigh the benefit quickly. The last 50 lb sack of chicken feed I priced was about $13.00, last year it was about $7.50.
Thank you Dr. Paul for making my act on what I already knew was right.
Don't forget - you can also sell some of the eggs...
...to help pay for the feed.
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Thanks ODell
that's really good advice.
If feed WAS cheap enough there should be no reason why people don't
produce their own food.
the stuff in stores, made in those factory farms, are pretty scary.
"Illicit urban chicken- its whats for dinner"
as long as they dont make 'em fight- im sooo onboard.
Live Free or Diebold
Survival chicken ( pic )
http://www.wayodd.com/fun...
! Quick and easy~ no frying ( but still has that satisfying crunchiness)
********
"Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave fast enough to be a new source of energy independence."~ samthurston
http://www.campaignforlib...
liberty_bell
have you ever had drunk chicken? it's moist,and delis, and you catch a buzz!! :o) .. No!! You just open a can of beer stick it up a roasting hens rump and put it on the grill cook about 45 min's
Beer in the Butt Chicken!
Hey Henri! Yes! It is the best and a summer favorite! Check out this 4 chicken holder and recipes further down!
http://www.drunkchicken.c...
PS Glad you enjoyed foghorn leghorn!! First thing came to my mind when I saw this post! Ha! I actually spent an hour watching all the old cartoons that day!
********
"Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave fast enough to be a new source of energy independence."~ samthurston
http://www.campaignforlib...
ha!
priceless. : )
Live Free or Diebold
"Grass roots chicken push"
Incidentally, Cary is where BJ Lawson lives:
"...Cary refuses to allow backyard chicken coops. Too noisy. Too smelly. Too ... well, un-Cary. But the town's defiance has stirred a grass-roots chicken push; its supporters hope to bust Cary's reputation as a snooty killjoy..."
http://www.newsobserver.c...
YEAH, BABY!!!!
One of my Missions
is to get a few chickens in my backyard this week while i'm on my 'staycation'.
I believe the state wants a $25 fee to register a chicken, and I'm pretty sure I can buy a hen for less than that.
Let Freedom Ring!!
Not a bad idea
If you have the space, go for it. They're not particularly high maintenance. Do little homework first to make sure you want to get into it.
A good place to order them is:
http://www.mcmurrayhatche...
I haven't owned chickens, but I've had friends who have and I've taken care of them a bit. Rhode Island Reds & Barred Rocks seem rugged.
that's too funny
I was thinking of doing just that! Ha, my husband, who can be a real downer at the time, talked me out of it. He said the HOA would be on me like right away, I said to hell with them, most of the homes are empty anyway! But then he told me how messy they are and I have a messy dog and cat to handle, so I figured I'd wait until I retired before I took on more work. Illicit urban chicken, a poet could have fun with that! I'll have to send this story to my son Reese, he's always good for a rhyme.
Excellent!!
or should I say "eggscellent"? Hehehe. I want to have a few hens so badly...I could get a small outdoor coop for them, use the straw they soil in the compost, and enjoy fresh eggs. Our county ordinance states that you have to have an acre of land though. Hmmm. Maybe I will see what my neighbors think, and if they won't rat me out, I am going to do it.
The Retrocon
Hope for America, Ron Paul for President in 2008!
Possibility....
I don't have an acre of land though..my backyard is like 100 x 50 feet, with 64 sq ft of garden, deck, and 18' round pool thrown in.
The Retrocon
Hope for America, Ron Paul for President in 2008!
Share the fresh eggs
with your neighbors!
I love it
In Christ,
Dave
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Power to the Poultry!!
....dedicated to Reynaldo David, DC's original (modern) chicken man.
Would love to get some chickens
and am trying to convince my husband. We already have a large barn and could easily fence in an area for them. I'd love to have a rooster also, but I'm sure my nasty neighbors would complain.
Chickens are great
But the hens will be happier with one rooster. Plus, that way, you can get more chickens eventually.
If only there
were mute roosters for the "city folk"..I know here in my small town that is the only issue, the noise
I suppose you can keep roosters quiet in your city apartment
Like our visiting friends from south of the border do.
I think a veterinarian can "mute" a rooster--
I don't know anyone that has had it done, but then, I don't live where a rooster crowing matters.
We have an absolute symphony around us!
Anyone here have chickens and could recommend a breed for eggs that is fairly cold hardy? Calling all chicken experts, we want to join the movement....lots of room, even a rudimentary coop which we can improve.
Thanks...
IT'S DOABLE
Paulette
I have black leggings, and road Island red's they are a healthy breed, large eggs and they do just fine with out a rooster, Buy a dog fenced kennel 5X10 for $100.00 place chicken wire over top to keep other varment's out like cats, possiums,etc you can easly keep 5 or 6 full size chickens in that small area.I all so have banny hens and one rooster they are a small breed, they don't eat as much but produce a smaller egg Two banny eggs will equil one large egg, and the rooster's crow is not very loud. The one chicken breed I would not recommend is a guinny! unless you need a good substitute for a gard dog and live in the country, they are loud, and will go after anything that doesn't belong there, they will kill snakes eat ticks and roost in trees at night, there eggs are medium size. hope this helps :)
We have Gold Laced Wyandotts
We have Gold Laced Wyandotts and some very beautiful Blue Laced Wyandotts. A dozen hens supply us with enough eggs to use and we still sell enough at $2 a dozen to pay for their feed. They are cold hardy but lay a lot better in the winter with a heat lamp. The Wyandotts are a big chicken and lay large eggs. They also have gentle dispositions. Some breeds are rather ornery. The Buff Orphington is also a big, gentle chicken that lays large eggs.
Pat
BOHICA!!
Buff Orpingtons
food freedom,one seed at a time.
I have 18 Buff Orpington chickens.My experience shows the hens lay an egg a day. The eggs are large with brown shells.I started out with 7 hens and 2 roosters,now I have 9 chicks that were hatched in August.The chicks are about ready to butcher,probly on the1st of November.These chickens lay no matter the weather.I live in Minnesota and they never stopped laying during the winter.I give away the extra eggs to friends,but with the feed costs oing up I may start selling them for $1.00 a dozen if the buyer picks them up or$1.50 delivered.I live less than 2 miles from town.I love my chickens and they are beautiful golden color.