How to Raise Urban Chickens
July 25th, 2008 by Joseph
Ever consider collecting eggs for breakfast from your own chickens? I know I have! Many people don’t believe it’s possible to have this experience in the city, but chickens’ small space requirements and pleasant dispositions make them a wonderful addition to any backyard. And Seattle and Portland just happen to be part of a growing trend of cities that actively support chicken keepers!
Picture: Creative Commons | Pistil’s Chickens
The Cities of Seattle and Portland allow homeowners to have up to three chickens on their property and each City also holds an annual coop tour where you can go check out all of the urban chicks’ posh digs. The tours are also a great way to learn more about the different chicken breeds and to meet other learned or prospective chicken keepers.
Recent and Upcoming Coop Tours
The Seattle coop tour was actually hosted by the Seattle Tilth organization a few weeks ago, but luckily you haven’t missed Portland’s “Tour De Coop,” which will be hosted by Growing Gardens Organization this coming Saturday, July 26th from 1:00 to 3:00. If you’re interested in taking your bike for a spin on Saturday, be sure to check out Growing Garden’s website for more details.
Upcoming Chicken Care Classes
In addition to coop tours, you can also sign up for chicken care classes where you’ll learn the basics of chicken nutrition, breeds, behavior, health, housing and city regulations. In Seattle these classes are primarily hosted by Seattle Tilth organization. Here are two scheduled for this Fall:
Seattle Tilth City Chickens 101, Sep 13, 2008 10:00 AM
Seattle Tilth City Chickens 201: Advanced Poultry Keeping, Oct 11, 2008 10:00 AM
The Rose City also offers a number of chicken care classes taught by Growing Gardens Organization and Pistils Nursery (which is featured in this weekend’s coop tour and is an awesome, community based nursery located in the Mississippi District!). Definitely check out their respective websites and stay tuned because we’ll have their classes, as well as 1000’s of other great classes in Portland on TeachStreet in just a few weeks!
Picture: Creative Commons | cafemama
In the Meantime…
Here are just a few urban chick tips to pique your interest and remember chicken care is a fun and educational experience that will give you a connection to your food you’ll never forget!
- Roosters are the noisy ones and hens much less so. A hen will cackle off and on during the day, and will occasionally squawk if disturbed by an unfamiliar person or animal, but for the most part hens are pretty quiet.
- Be sure to get more than one hen since chickens are very social animals.
- Most of the standard breeds of chickens will lay between 180 – 320 eggs per year for their first year of laying. The rate of laying tapers in the second year and beyond, until it may only take place during the spring.