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mellowtiggerKeeping with the animal theme, I met chickens (Gallus gallus) today.
This morning was overcast, so I took the opportunity to spend a few hours touching up the deck. I got some decent work done, but I've already spotted yet another section that I've failed to coat at all. I guess I'll be touching up again sometime. It was nearly 1pm before I finally got on the road in my car to do some nearby traveling.
I had seen the Chicken Coop Tour invitation, so I visited a few locations in Minneapolis nearest my house. The lady at the end of my block has several chickens in her back yard. She wasn't part of this tour event, but I've already talked with her. She also has several dogs that obviously get along well with the birds. I wanted to compare how other people were raising chickens in the city.
This event seems to be well organized. At least the places I visited had prominent signs in the front yard to welcome visitors and direct them to the back yard. There seems to be a lot of interest, too, because there were several visitors at each place during the short time that I was there.
One owner mentioned that Minneapolis city code says he can't build a permanent structure within 4 foot of the property line, so his chicken coop is that distance from the fence. With that 4-foot tract sitting behind it unused, he decided to just fence it in too and use it as part of the chicken run. It looked very efficient. He didn't even have electricity at the coop, but he had a solar air heater and he said that filling up their fresh water bucket each morning would keep them in water throughout the day without freezing. During subzero days, he could just run an extension cord to the coop and drop an aquarium heater into their water bucket.
Another house had been participating in this tour for many years. They even had food and drinks and takeaway gifts for people to share. She said that for years, a pair of old women would show up promptly at 10am, and they'd all share a glass of champagne together. It was maybe too extravagant for a chicken tour, but it certainly leaves a good impression. I got the refrigerator magnet seen here, and I signed the guest book.
Raising chickens does increase the daily chore routine, though, which I prefer to avoid adding to the load. And chickens do require resources of food, water, shelter, and heat. It was good to see actual costs calculated and displayed by the chicken coop.
So, I don't know if it's for me. I think I'd like to try it sometime. I seldom bring meat to the house unless it's prepackaged and/or precooked stuff, so eggs would be a good source of vitamin B12 for me. Plus, I'd know that the chickens were treated well and fed healthy meals without being dosed with antibiotics.
I'll keep the idea as a definite "maybe".
This morning was overcast, so I took the opportunity to spend a few hours touching up the deck. I got some decent work done, but I've already spotted yet another section that I've failed to coat at all. I guess I'll be touching up again sometime. It was nearly 1pm before I finally got on the road in my car to do some nearby traveling.
I had seen the Chicken Coop Tour invitation, so I visited a few locations in Minneapolis nearest my house. The lady at the end of my block has several chickens in her back yard. She wasn't part of this tour event, but I've already talked with her. She also has several dogs that obviously get along well with the birds. I wanted to compare how other people were raising chickens in the city.This event seems to be well organized. At least the places I visited had prominent signs in the front yard to welcome visitors and direct them to the back yard. There seems to be a lot of interest, too, because there were several visitors at each place during the short time that I was there.
One owner mentioned that Minneapolis city code says he can't build a permanent structure within 4 foot of the property line, so his chicken coop is that distance from the fence. With that 4-foot tract sitting behind it unused, he decided to just fence it in too and use it as part of the chicken run. It looked very efficient. He didn't even have electricity at the coop, but he had a solar air heater and he said that filling up their fresh water bucket each morning would keep them in water throughout the day without freezing. During subzero days, he could just run an extension cord to the coop and drop an aquarium heater into their water bucket.
Another house had been participating in this tour for many years. They even had food and drinks and takeaway gifts for people to share. She said that for years, a pair of old women would show up promptly at 10am, and they'd all share a glass of champagne together. It was maybe too extravagant for a chicken tour, but it certainly leaves a good impression. I got the refrigerator magnet seen here, and I signed the guest book.
Raising chickens does increase the daily chore routine, though, which I prefer to avoid adding to the load. And chickens do require resources of food, water, shelter, and heat. It was good to see actual costs calculated and displayed by the chicken coop.
So, I don't know if it's for me. I think I'd like to try it sometime. I seldom bring meat to the house unless it's prepackaged and/or precooked stuff, so eggs would be a good source of vitamin B12 for me. Plus, I'd know that the chickens were treated well and fed healthy meals without being dosed with antibiotics.
I'll keep the idea as a definite "maybe".