The City Chicken

* * * Look at this space first for news and current events! Updated February 2010 * * * What to do for your chickens in February: There are a lot of people keeping chickens where it gets below freezing for many days during January and February. What do these people do? Well, no matter where you live, you should have a “house” part of your coop where the chickens can go to escape the weather. The house part (as opposed to the run part) should be wind-proof and rain-proof. If your winter climate is often significantly below freezing, you might want to make some additional accommodations for your chickens, such as an insulated house part. You can also pile a lot of straw in the house part, as it acts in a minor way as an insulator. There is a lot to be read about the incidence of frostbite on a chicken’s comb at this helpful chicken diseases/conditions forum. Just type ‘frostbite’ into their search form. Another contentious topic is whether or not coating a chicken’s comb with Vaseline or diaper ointment will insulate it to some degree against the cold and protect the comb from frostbite. Since it can’t really do any harm to put Vaseline on a chicken’s comb, I say why not give it a try? Personally, for temps much below freezing, I like to hang a drop light / heat lamp (the kind you might still have around from when you were brooding your chicks) in the house part, and run an extension cord out to the coop. Make sure the heat lamp is well above the straw. I also like to throw a tarp over the whole house part, just to keep out any wind or moisture, and to hopefully keep a little of that heat in. If your chickens don’t want to go into the house part and perch under the lamp, you can place them into the house part yourself if you’d like. Just block them in for the night, and let them out into the run part in the morning. When the temps get down below 32, your bucket or container of your chickens’ water will freeze. If you have a lot of frozen days during your winters, you can get a water heater, of which you can find a number of designs for via Google. In the winter months the days get shorter. Oftentimes a hen’s egg laying will slow down or cease altogether until the days get longer again. But you can “trick” them into continuing laying to some degree by hanging a low watt fluorescent bulb in where they lay eggs. One year when my chickens stopped laying altogether in the winter, I used an extension cord and ran a light out to their house. I hung a 6 watt fluorescent bulb in there and plugged it in only at night. Within 48 hours I got an egg. Some people claim this is hard on a hen, by “forcing” it to lay when it is not supposed to. All I can give you is my opinion, which is that it’s not. Chicken Coop Tour 2009: Chicken lovers of Oregon and SW Washington! The yearly 'Tour De Coops' is coming up. See here for details: http://www.growing-gardens.org/portland-gardening-resources/chickens.php . . . . . . The date of the 2009 'Tour De Coops' in Portland, Oregon is Saturday, July 25, 2009. The Mad City Chickens documentary is coming to Portland, Oregon on July 25th, 2009. The public screening will follow the annual ‘Tour de Coops’ presented by Growing Gardens. Show starts at 8:00pm at a venue called “:vendetta” . . . 4306 N. Williams St., Portland Oregon. . . . for more info contact: Judy Collinstef, Publicist, Tarazod Films . . . . www.tarazod.com TheCityChicken.com now has a related Yahoo Group. Find it here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecitychicken/ Join up! Guess what else is new? Are you on FaceBook? If so, join the group: "Fans Of TheCityChicken.com!" Some of the publications TheCityChicken.com has been mentioned in: USA Today June 21, 2007 http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-21-chicken-coops_N.htm Newsweek Nov 17, 2008 http://www.newsweek.com/id/168740 The New York Times April 29, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/nyregion/30towns.html?_r=3 The New York Times September 19, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/19yard.html?_r=5&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Slate.com June 4, 2008 http://www.slate.com/id/2192934/?GT1=38001 The Toronto Star newspaper Toronto, Canada May 4, 2008 http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/421205


We recently moved to a small (pop. 1500) town in Washington. The chicken rules are more strict here than they were in Portland, Oregon! I had to submit a proposal to the Town Council and request that I might keep some hens. They don't really approve of chicken tractors, because they can be moved around, and one has to keep ones chickens 50 feet away from all neighbors at all times. So, even though chicken tractors are so practical, they are met with resistance in some towns, even rural ones like mine! I'm certain people don't have to submit proposals when they want to keep cats or dogs. That's nearly considered a right in America. Dogs are allowed to go right up to their fence line and bark at any time they want. Dogs and cats don't have to be kept 50 feet from all neighbors at all times; why chickens? Dogs are much noisier. Dogs bark at night way after dark at times, yet hens don't make a peep after the sun goes down. And don't get me started on how many pet cats poop in your and my yards. It's thinking like this that many people right now are trying to overcome. You might start by getting one of these bumper stickers.


Is keeping chickens in your city or suburban backyard legal? The odds are on your side. TheCityChicken.com has a new page in progress: ChickenLaws.html. Check it out! Every city is different. Try looking up your city codes on-line. Most cities have their codes on-line these days. If you can't find a clear answer, try emailing various people at your cities' agency websites. The rules on keeping chickens might be handled by your cities' Animal Control, or maybe it is covered by your County. Don't take the first person's reply as gospel. Every city has different rules, and it might take some research to find out what those rules and laws are. For example, in Portland, Oregon, the rules can be found here: http://www.mchealth.org/vector/nuisance.htm#specanimals . In Portland you can keep up to three hens without a permit. Roosters are prohibited, and if you want to keep more than three hens, you need a permit.


Some videos I’ve taken of my chickens: hens scratching compost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFfUcRHhOhQ a broody hen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoLgpRnsO7Y chickens chase the food bucket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihh6jQFZDMk chickens in hot weather: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUaGx9_kD-M a white hen walking into the house: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjodPExokQs pullets pecking on a bucket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8aFVB_8VzY three week old chicks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3feGKYMOgk three hens being hand-fed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL4YJMPnf_I

And a shout-out to Geren's Farm Supply's "Critter Corner." (It's in Sandy, Oregon USA...where I grew up!) They buy unwanted chickens. They also sell them. They will give you $3 for an unwanted rooster, and I believe $4 for an unwanted hen. They then sell their inventory for a dollar mark-up. Geren's "Critter Corner" is a handy local resource I've used a number of times myself. It is rare to find stores that will buy your surplus or unwated chickens. Geren's Farm Supply, 33680 S.E. Kelso Rd., Boring, Oregon 97009, 503-668-9323. . . . . . . What should you do if you have an extra rooster you want to get rid of, or too many hens, or you want to sell your chickens before you move, or you're just plain tired of chickens for some reason? Don't feel bad about it; it happens all the time. I would use and have used CraigsList.com to post a free ad giving away or sometimes selling your chickens. It can't be guaranteed they won't become dinner for someone, but more often that not they won't be. However, I personally believe a chicken dinner is a noble end for a chicken! Also try giving away your extra chickens at FreeCycle.org.


Have you heard of “compost tea?” It’s adding water to compost and using the resulting water as liquid fertilizer for your garden. You can do it with chicken poop, too! One way is to put a shovel-full of your chicken’s manure into a burlap bag, essentially making a giant manure tea bag of sorts. Put that bag into a five gallon bucket. Let it steep for a week. (Keep any 5 gallon buckets with any kind of liquid in them away from children and pets.) Dilute the “tea” with one part tea to three parts water. Some people say it should be one part “tea” to nine parts water, to be on the safe side. Then water your plants with it. Don’t add raw or uncomposted chicken manure right on top of your garden or flower beds. I know; I’ve done it. It kills (“burns”) emerging plants. I’ve also killed a plant or two by using undiluted chicken manure “tea.” So learn from my mistakes!

Very nice comments from readers of TheCityChicken.com:

"Katy, Your website is wonderful. We are not 'house pet' people, but have been looking for some kind of pet or animal to keep as a family activity. After speaking with quite a few people, and getting the approval of my wife, it looks like a couple of hens may be just what we're looking for. Your pictures are very helpful; Thanks again for your great website." ---- P.W., Portland, Oregon

"Katy, Thanks for your chicken ark pictures. We didn't know there was such a thing. We think the whole thing is so fun! A mobile chicken house; who ever heard of such a thing? We are going to set ours by the fence and then plant tomatoes when we move it. Thanks again for the inspiration!" --R.H., Lakeland, Florida

“Hi there! Thank you so much for the work you have done to your website. I wanted to start keeping some banty hens and a book I bought and read almost had me give up the idea. That is, until I found your site! The book made it sound like a terribly difficult thing, to keep a chicken. I live in the city and my Home Owners Association doesn't allow anything other than dogs and cats, so I had to build the coop and run small and neat…Thanks again and keep up the good work!” ---M.O.

"Dear Katy...You BY FAR - have one of the VERY BEST sites I have found. The pictures are great and have given me all sorts of ideas for a chicken tractor and you have such wonderful information included in your site. Thank you so much!!! ---Cheryl O., Monroe, NC

"Dear Katy...I just wanted to write and say thank you for such a wonderful, informative, and inspiring website. I am a newbie at raising chickens, and I have to say that I love it. I really never expected that chickens have so much personality and that they could be so addicting to own!" - - - T.S., Sherwood, Oregon

"Dear Katy...Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoying coming back to your site and this time you've have added a lot of new stuff that you're up to. You were the website that gave me the courage to buy chickens and keep them in our dog kennel. We are still loving the chickens, getting 5 eggs a day (soon to be six), and proud to be chicken owners. I'm getting ready to email your site to a friend who's buying her first chickens this weekend. Thanks again." -----Beth, VA

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TheCityChicken.com stickers are $1. . . . . . . .The stickers are weather-proof, high quality, adhesive-backed vinyl so you can stick them on things like your car bumper, bike or even chicken coop. . . . . . . . . The sticker measures 5.5 inches by 1.42 inches. . . . . . . . . . The color is white with black printing . . . . . .Send a dollar bill to: Katy Skinner, 506 E. Twin Falls St., Yacolt WA 98675. . . . . . . . Canadian and other country customers, please affix .75 cents worth of USA postage stamps on your S.A.S.E. -or- add an extra $1 bill . . . . . . . .Please, send dollar bills only; no checks. . . . . . . . Please include a S.A.S.E. (self-addressed, stamped envelope.) . . . don't forget the stamp . . . . . . . Don't forget the S.A.S.E.! . . . . . . Thank you!


TheCityChicken.com table of contents: MAIN PAGE (chickens.html) CHICKEN TRACTOR GALLERY (tractors.html) PICTORIAL HISTORY (pictorialhistory.html) F.A.Q. (frequentlyasked.html) ARTICLES (articles.html) CHICKEN LAWS (chickenlaws.html) BROODING CHICKS (broodchicks.html) HEN HOUSE of the MONTH (hhotm.html)