Garden 10 Mar 2008 09:45 pm
preparing for chickens
Josh has been working with Brad from the Seattle Urban Farm Company to build a chicken coop! They were out there leveling the ground today and will start the actual building tomorrow, if all goes well. It’s going to be a long few days of coop-building in the rain, looks like; too bad our spell of nice weather didn’t last.
I’d originally thought we’d start with pullets because raising chickens from chicks looked intimidating. But after a lot of reading, I changed my mind. Going to the City Chicks class at Seattle Tilth confirmed it: we can totally do this. When the weather warms up a little bit, we’ll be ordering day-old chicks in the mail.
Chicken catalogs are a lot like seed catalogs. I want 75% of what’s in them and have to talk myself down to something reasonable. (Or, in this case, something legal. Seattleites are generally limited to three hens.) If I were to decide today, I’d probably get a Delaware, a Buff Orpington, and a Welsummer. But I might yet change my mind. Those huge Jersey Giants are tempting, and so are the Wyandottes, and the Dominiques, and the Barred Rock, and gosh aren’t those Golden Campines pretty, and Ameraucana eggs are neat, and… Or maybe what I really want is an Australorp. And there’s always the possibility that we won’t order in time and will wind up getting random chickens from the feed store, which would probably be fine.
Whatever we get, we’ll probably order from My Pet Chicken, because those guys will send you as few as three chicks with a little heating element to keep them happy. Day-old chicks ship very well as long as they keep warm. Most hatcheries have a minimum order of 25 chicks, and they all cram together to keep cozy. Ideal Poultry will ship a small order too, but they pad out the box with male chicks for warmth. Baby chicks as packing material, jeez. I’m glad nothing else comes packed in chickens.
on 10 Mar 2008 at 10:01 pm 1.Ilmarien said …
I thought the limit was 4 domestic fowl total? (3 Hens and a Rooster?)
-B.
on 10 Mar 2008 at 10:07 pm 2.Ilmarien said …
Oops, my mistake. It’s 4 bee hives, but you are right, 3 domestic fowl (and now pygmy goats!–under separate allowance of 3 small animals).
-B
on 11 Mar 2008 at 1:06 am 3.Joy Ralph said …
Four beehives, three domestic fowl, and a…. wait, do partridges count as domestic, because then we’d be over limit, and we can’t have that.
I was guessing that chickens were in the offing when I saw your links list post. Keen!
on 11 Mar 2008 at 10:24 am 4.Ted said …
Wouldn’t it be funny if the Standardized Patient Program assigned you chicken pox?
on 11 Mar 2008 at 11:18 am 5.cissa said …
Ooo! Chickens!
I know I want an Ameraucana or similar for the pretty eggs. I am yet undecided on others, though. I’m tempted by a Silky because they are such silly things- animated feather boas! (And we don’t really need a lot of egg production.) The Welsummers look interesting, though…
And thanks for this link- I’d thought I pretty much had to give up chickens for now because ain’t no way I need 25! but if they can ship 3… hmm.
As far as sending the chick one wants packed with random male chicks… I’m both amused and a bit appalled, although I guess it makes total sense in a practical sense. And if one had the room one could maybe raise them for meat…
on 08 Apr 2008 at 2:36 pm 6.Mia said …
I kind of wish you were getting a salmon favril (sp?). They just seem like they’d be a very entertaining chicken.