 
Welcome to TheCityChicken.com. It's a web site to encourage city folks to take the plunge into poultry! You can have chickens...It's easy! I created this website to inspire people who have been wanting to keep some chickens in their backyard. I hope the pictures and info will motivate you to try what you've been wanting to for a long time: Bring a little country into your city life. You are looking at this web site because you've been bit by the chicken bug and need to know how to get started with your chicken-keeping endeavors. Well, you could start here! - - - - - Katy Skinner, the Pacific Northwest, USA. - thecitychicken@yahoo.com |
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* Look at this space first for news and current events! Updated January 2012 *
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Are you on FaceBook? If so, join the group "Fans Of TheCityChicken.com!" Over 800 members and counting! Super helpful folks to chat with there, with the convenience of FaceBook! New article I wrote about...chicken poop! http://thecitychicken.com/chickenpooparticle.html (April 2011). Portland, Oregon area: Growing Gardens' 2011 Tour de Coops! Growing-Gardens.org is seeking a wide range of coops to feature on this year's tour. Do you have a coop that you would like to show off to the community? This year’s tour will be on Saturday, July 16, 2011. Time: 10am-3pm. To receive an interest form, email rodney@growing-gardens.org or visit http://www.growing-gardens.org. Do you live in the Pacific Northwest? Do you want to go to a poultry show? You get to just wander around and view breed after breed of crazy and cool chickens! Find an event near you at this site, and write it on your calendar! http://washingtonfeatherfanciers.webs.com/localshows.htm Here is a great site that lists upcoming poultry shows and events (public welcome, always free!) in OR, WA, CA, MT ? ID. http://washingtonfeatherfanciers.webs.com/localshows.htm Portland, Oregon area: Introduction to Urban Chicken Keeping workshop. . . . . . Tuesday, March 15, 2011. . . . . 6:00pm - 8:00pm . . . . . Learn the basics of raising happy, healthy chickens for fresh eggs. . . . . For more information or to sign up contact Rodney at rodney@growing-gardens.org . . . . Tell 'em Katy sent you. :) Burns Feed Store, Gresham, Oregon (http://www.burnsfeed.hdweb.com/ ) is having a Poultry Seminar on February 22nd, 2011 at 7:00pm with Dr. James Hermes, OSU Associate Professor and Extension Poultry Specialist. Location: Guide Dogs For The Blind, 32901 S.E. Kelso Rd., Boring, OR 97009. Find out more here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Burns-Feed-Store/224076588622 – and/or - here: http://tinyurl.com/49zdcrt .
Have you guys seen any eps of "Portlandia?" Here's a really funny clip from it, re: the "organic" chicken-meat trend: http://www.hulu.com/watch/208808/portlandia-ordering-the-chicken-part-1 . . . . . .The second part, called "The Farm," is super funny, too, but I can't find the clip! Let me know if you can. :) It really satirizes trendy organic chicken farms, so I hope it doesn't offend the eco-minded, but I really laughed. Some of the publications TheCityChicken.com has been mentioned in: The New York Times:
USA Today:
Newsweek:
The New York Times:
Slate.com:
CNN Money.com:
Apartment Therapy Media - "25 Websites Backyard Farmers Should Be Reading." |
 
You can pick any kinds of chickens you want! But it's fun to window shop for chickens on the internet! Here are some handy breed selection website pages: Link #1 . . . . . Link #2 . . . . . . Link #3 . . . . . . Link #4 . . . . . . Link #5 And what do all these terms about eggs
mean?
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Is keeping chickens in your city or suburban backyard legal? The odds are on your side. TheCityChicken.com has a new page: 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. . . . . . . . .In some
large cities, it's no problem to keep a few hens in your back yard.
Yet in some rural towns, you have to submit a proposal to the Town Council
and request to keep some hens. Some towns don't approve of chicken
tractors, because they can be moved around, and that particular town
might require that 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. 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 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 people's yards. You might start changing people's
thinking by getting one of these
bumper stickers. |
 
Some videos I’ve taken of my chickens: |
 
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 that other people should not question because they have not walked a mile in your moccasins? Don't feel bad about it. 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. Ooh, controversial! Also try giving away your extra chickens at FreeCycle.org. We've moved a few times, and one time I gave my homemade coop and hens to a friend, one time I sold the whole lot on CraigsList, and another time I took the coop but sold the chickens to a feed store. When we were setttled in our new house, I raised up another batch of chicks from the feed store. People might think I'm being a little cold in just giving away my pets. But chickens aren't horses or dogs. They bridge the gap between pets and livestock. So don't feel bad about your changing life circumstances. |
 
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.) 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! Before you try any of the above, read this short article on making and using chicken manure "tea." You don't need a fancy composter to take care of the dirty chicken bedding / litter that your chicken coop produces. Just put it in a pile in a corner of your yard. Wait a year, and then put some pumpkin seeds on the top of the pile, and then enjoy getting an award for your neighborhood's largest pumpkin. :) (Knowing me, I probably wouldn't have the patience to wait a year. I'd probably try putting seeds in the pile right away. Pumpkins are crazy; they might just take off!) |
| Very nice comments from readers
of TheCityChicken.com:
"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, 11510 NE 112th DR #167, Vancouver WA 98662. . . . . . . . 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! - - - - Katy Skinner - - - thecitychicken@yahoo.com |
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What
to do for your chickens in January: Yay, happy new year!
It’s January. We’re in the middle of winter. The winter
solstice was Dec. 22nd, which means the days are slowly getting longer
already! Full of so much promise for gardeners like me. It’s cold
at night in January, and that’s true for most parts of the good ol’ USA.
What do you do for your chickens when it gets cold? Well, basically,
you should have a “house part” of your coop where your chickens can
go to escape the weather. Wind and rain, versus just the plain
old cold temps, are what you need to shelter your chickens from the most.
My hens won’t sleep on the perch that is provided for them in the enclosed
house part. They insist on perching on another perch in the “run”
part, where they are exposed more to wind and rain. So I met them
half-way; I attached some wood paneling on the outside of the coop next
to where they perch at night, essentially making a wind-break for them. 
A
lot of chicken articles that you read on the ‘net will say just that; cold
temps don’t really harm chickens as long as they are dry and out of the
wind. However, I want my chickens to be comfy, not just survive.
So I have a hook right above their perch. When it gets much below
freezing outside, I hang my chicken heat lamp (a fixture with a 250
watt bulb) right over their perch where they sleep. Well, not too
close; we don’t want to 
This
was all it took; within 48 hours I got an egg. Another wintertime chicken
topic is frostbite of the comb and wattles of a chicken. Some say
to rub Vaseline or zinc diaper ointment on combs to shield from frostbite.
Others say this is useless against cold but harmless either way.
Another cold-weather consideration is frozen water. Here's a link
to a common 
Enjoy January! ---Katy Skinner / 
TheCityChicken.com
now has a related Yahoo Group. Find it here: 
