Archive for the ‘Chicken care’ Category
13
Feb
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Events, Urban agriculture. Tagged: backyard, Chicago, chickens, discussion, eggs, expo, family, farmed, panel. Leave a comment
March 17 – 19, 2011 UIC Forum — University of Illinois at Chicago
Good Food, Good Know-How, Good Fun: FamilyFarmed EXPO is a three-day conference, trade show, and food festival for farmers, businesses, the trade, individuals, and families.
Home to Roost will take part in a panel on Saturday, March 19, 2 PM – 3:15:
No Yolk! Chickens in Your Back Yard
Enjoy fresh eggs everyday by raising chickens in your own backyard. Sarah Elizabeth Ippel from the Academy for Global Citizenship will be the moderator of the panel:
- Martha Boyd, Program Director, Urban Initiative, Angelic Organics Learning Center
- John Emrich, Backyard Chicken Run
- Jennifer Murtoff, Urban Chicken Consultant
For other events, see the Family Farmed Expo website.
2
Feb
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Events, Urban agriculture. Tagged: backyard, basics, chicken, class, hen, learn, raise. Leave a comment
It’s that time again!
Come join Angelic Organics and Home to Roost for a class on raising chickens!
Basic Backyard Chicken Care
March 12, 2011 10:00am – 1:00pm
Farm fresh eggs from your own back yard?
YES!
Please join us for a workshop on best practices for Basic Backyard Chicken Care in Chicago and surrounding communities.
Raising chickens as pets and for eggs is LEGAL in Chicago – and part of our growing local food and urban agriculture scene.
Keep yourself, your chickens, AND your neighbors happy – from daily needs and year-round care to relevant city regulations.
Our instructor is the informative and engaging Jen Murtoff of Home to Roost Urban Chicken Consulting.
You will leave the workshop with the knowledge, recommendations, and resources you need for your own home flock – and you’ll make connections with other chicken enthusiasts in Chicago.
For more info, visit our Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts Google site, moderated by Learning Center staff.
For more information about the Learning Center’s registration & refund policies – click here. If the workshop fee presents a barrier to your participation, please inquire about limited work-exchange scholarships. For Chicago workshops, contact chicago@learngrowconnect.org.
Actual costs of workshops are close to double our workshop fees. If you are able, please consider making an additional donation to help cover the full cost of your workshop.
Price: $35.00
Location:
Angelic Organics Learning Center
6400 S Kimbark Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637 US
First Presbyterian Church of Chicago
Go to the Angelic Organics site page to register.
2
Feb
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Chicken stuff to buy, Urban agriculture. Tagged: ark, catawba, chicken, coop. 4 comments
If you’re getting backyard birds this year, consider the Catawba Coop Chicken Ark. Several of my clients have these, and they are a nice set up for your backyard hens!
This coop features a roomy bottom for free-ranging fun and a secure upper section with pull-up ramp for nighttime safety. Roosts are included in the top section, and there are nest boxes on either end. Suitable for 2 to 3 hens. The coop can be picked up and moved around the yard.
Consider running hardware cloth (a heavy gauge wire mesh) down from the sides and under the ground, across the bottom, to keep rodents from digging up into the coop. (However, if you do this, you will lose the mobility.)
NOTE: ALWAYS let the ramp down in the morning during the summer. Otherwise you will roast your hens – literally – and heatstroke is not a pretty death.
Assembly required! For those of you who are not handy with lumber, hammer, and nails, you’ll need a hand (and a few extra thumbs!)!
- Wilkes’ Chicken Ark in Oak Park
- Caughan’s Chicken Ark in Oak Park
What kind of coop do you have or recommend? Please post below!
28
Jan
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, poultry welfare, Urban agriculture. 4 comments
So, you want eggs. You have hens. Do you need a rooster to have eggs? The answer is no.
In fact, the animal control and bird rescue folks would prefer you didn’t keep roosters.
Why? Well, we’ve been seeing a lot of homeless roosters lately, and they are very hard to place. Most people who find roosters want them to go to no-kill homes, and honestly, it’s hard to fit that bill.
If you’re an urban chicken owner, think ahead to the question of “What if I get a rooster?” Help us keep down the rooster population in urban areas:
- Purchase sex-linked chicks. These breeds result in chicks whose coloration is slightly different, depending on gender. Only certain breed are sex-linked.
- Purchase sexed chicks. For those non-sex-linked breeds, it is possible to sex chicks after hatching. Not all hatcheries sex chicks, so be careful.
- Do not purchase straight-run chicks – unless you know what you are going to do with the boys. Half of them will most likely be roosters.
- DO NOT HATCH CHICKS – unless you know what you are going to do with the boys. Fifty percent of the hatch will be male.
- Turn them into dinner. You can take roosters to a licensed slaughtering facility. If you are amenable to this option, you can go from live bird to dressed bird for about $4.
- If you do have a rooster, please do not release him! Find a more humane alternative. Contact local farms and rescue agencies. Check with other chicken owners to see if they would like a rooster.
- Keep him. Roosters make a lovely, protective addition to a flock. If you can get past the crowing, the rooster will keep a protective eye on your girls. And there is no harm in eating fertilized (unincubated) eggs!
Remember, these are live creatures and should be treated as such.
8
Jan
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Events, Urban agriculture. Tagged: backyard, chicken, Garfield Park, keeping, learn, talk. Leave a comment
Home to Roost will be attending this event at the Garfield Park Conservatory!
Come out to learn more about chickens!
Keeping Chickens in Chicago, Wednesday, January 26
Hours: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Jensen Room, Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago, IL 60624-1996
Cost: $5 suggested donation
January is a great time to plan inspirational projects for the year – there’s no better way to turn over a new leaf than to explore the age old question of chickens, eggs, and Chicago. Curious about Chicago’s chicken codes? Wondering what kinds of chickens are the best to keep in a coop? Want to know how chickens keep warm in the winter? These questions and more will be answered at this “chicken chat,” presented by chicken keeper Jim Lichon. Please register by emailing Robin Cline at rcline@garfieldpark.org.
The hens tooling around the yard
2
Dec
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care. Tagged: care, chickens, cold, freeze, hens, winter. 2 comments
If you got chicks this spring, you probably asked the question, “How do I take care of the hens over the winter?” Bringing them into the house is not a great idea, and unlike dogs, chickens generally aren’t given to wearing sweaters and booties. Nor are they given to fluid replacement.
Here are some tips for helping your chickens ride out the winter!
- Move your coop to an area out of the wind.
- Provide lots of bedding or straw. Bedding should be dry and fluffy so that it traps the heat.
- A heat lamp is optional. Beware of fire hazards, especially with the dry bedding, and use a red, rather than white, bulb. White light can throw off the laying cycle.
- Make sure they have fresh, unfrozen water and give them more food – their bodies need it to stay warm.
- Use Vaseline on combs and wattles to keep them from freezing.
- Provide wide roosts that allow the down feathers on their bellies to cover their feet.
- If your hens run in the snow, watch feet for signs of frostbite – they will look swollen and puffy. They might become infected, and the chicken could lose toes or the whole foot.
- Provide extra protein for the birds during the winter months. A handful of dry cat (not dog) food will give an extra protein boost.
Contact Home to Roost if you’d like an in-home winterizing consultation!
1
Nov
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Media coverage, Urban agriculture. Tagged: article, backyard, chicken, hen, home to roost, mindful metropolis, movement, urban. 2 comments
Mindful Metropolis wrote a great article on the Chicago urban chicken movement. Check out the thoughtful coverage here or here, page 24 (for pictures!).
28
Oct
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Events. Tagged: Chicago, chickens, Halloweem, home to roost, Jen, Mensa, Murtoff. Leave a comment
I’ll be at the Chicagoland Mensa group’s HalloweeM event on 10/30 at 12:30. For more information, see the Mensa site.
I’ll cover the basics of backyard hens and will bring along 2 feathered friends!
28
Oct
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Media coverage, Urban agriculture. Tagged: backyard, change, chickens, city council, hens, law, legal, legislation, Lombard, raise, reasons. Leave a comment
I answered my phone yesterday and found myself speaking to a reporter from the Lombard Daily Herald. It seems Lombard residents have caught the chicken bug (not to be confused with avian flu) and are working to get their city council to consider allowing backyard fowl! Let’s hope that Lombard’s efforts have the same effect as Evanston’s! Check out the Daily Herald article here.
Read more about Evanston’s successful efforts: Evanston Debates Chicken Ordinance, Chickens now allowed to roost in Evanston!
More on backyard chickens in urban areas: Chicagoland’s Chicken Population: For the ‘Burbs? Are Hens Right for Your City? 5 Reasons for Urban Chickens, Reasons to Raise Chickens
The bottom line, in the opinion of the urban chicken consultant, is education. A well-informed chicken-keeping populace makes decisions that are better for the neighbors, the hens, and the city. Education goes a long way in convincing city council that this is a valid and worthwhile prospect.
Thinking about chickens? Join me for the Backyard Chicken Basics class on 11/6!
16
Oct
Posted by chickenwoman in Chicken care, Events, Media coverage, Urban agriculture. Tagged: backyard, Chicago, chicken, coop, hen, henapalooza, neighborhoods, tour. Leave a comment
Backyard hens had a chance to meet a number of two-legged mammal critters on October 3, during the Hen-apalooza Coop Tour in Chicago on October 3, 2010.
Encompassing several neighborhoods that have been overtaken by barnyard fowl, the tour, organized by the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts and Martha Boyd of Angelic Organics Learning Center, offered chicken owners, would-be owners, and the curious public the opportunity to take a peek inside the city’s backyard poultry fad.
Chicago’s chicken keepers and folks as far away as northern Indiana had a chance to swap tips, see new ideas in action, and connect with other chicken keepers. Home to Roost Urban Chicken Consulting presented a short six-point inspection–a quick chicken check-up to assess a bird’s health.
The Chicago Sun-Times deemed the event worthy of coverage, and their scoop on the coop tour is here.
Despite it being a crisp, fall day, the turn-out at the 15 featured coop locations was impressive considering the short time frame from inception to event. The Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts are working on a bigger and better Hen-apalooza for the future! Stay tuned!
Home to Roost 