Raising chickens in a city

[raw-al]

Has anybody tried it?

For eggs or meat?

Any good/bad/indifferent results?

Recommendations?

Seems like the amount of noise they make would be an issue.

We raised two, years ago in a very small town, in my garage. They were white, not sure of the breed. Lots of odor! We used sawdust from sawmills for lining the cages. It was fun as my daughters were small. They used to put a small leash on them and take them for walks.    Taking them on vacations was a big laugh. People would walk by and try to be cool as they took a peek to see if they really were chickens. Not everyone was amused as they had a penchant for rooting up flower gardens. 

A neighbour is thinking about trying it.

[CitrusHigh]

Do you have any yard at all or is it all pavement/concrete?

If you have some yard, even just a few dozen square feet, then a tiny chicken tractor is what you're looking for. One can be made from wood and screen or chicken wire for only a couple dollars, less than 20$ CND I'd say.

Plans for these mobile coops should be abundant on the web, just keyword "urban chicken tractors"

They should be lightweight, keep predators out (coons will  likely be the worst) and give a little shelter from the elements. Design is only limited by your creativity as long as it provides shelter, and keeps the chickens in. With our free range chickens, when there is green grass they only spend night time in the coop, and to lay eggs, otherwise they are outside the whole day foraging. In your sitch, you could simply move the tractor daily around the yard and supplement with table scraps. If you leave it in one spot too long, the chickens will clean the ground bare of vegetation.

But I absolutely encourage you to do this. Noise shouldn't be much of an issue, the only time hens are boisterous is when they lay an egg and that only lasts a minute or two. No longer than an airplane roaring overhead! Chickens are the easiest animals in the world to raise!

[raw-al]

Thanks for the tractor idea. We had something like that in mind. Joe Salatin uses them on his farm.

BTW there is a yard. Not sure of the dimensions.

[CitrusHigh]

For meat won't be very efficient unless you're loading them up on grains, and continually raising chicks to replace the chickens you're butchering. Plus chickens  produce a fair amount of waste, and while 3 chickens will fertilize a yard, much more in a small space like that and it will kill everything, stink, and get the neighbors on your case.

I'd stick with layers and leave the meat birds to country folk, of course if you can dream it though, you can do it.

My Grams has been illegally raising layers, between 3-6 of them in her suburban property, she chicken wired off a corner of her garden and did not range them but brought them a good variety of table scraps and yard veggies. They were very healthy when they arrived here on our farm full grown.

As for neighbors, I would visit with each of your neighbors and ask them if they would have any concerns about your raising a few HENS. It's good to have a relationship with your neighbors anyway, especially if you're going to have some 'odd' (not really) practices that they will be witnessing. Grass yards are a waste of productive earth, get some chickens on them and start doing your part in sustainable permaculture, good for your body, spirit, and earth. They lay about every 26 hrs during full production and you can keep them near full production year round with a good diet and just as important at least 16 hrs of light. Egg laying is totally based on light. A minimum amount of light has to pass through the chickens eye to activate egg production. Or you can eat your chickens in fall and raise new ones for spring, just don't forget to say thanks for all the marvelous eggs they produce.

[raw-al]

Can you get them to lay in the coop where they are at night?

[TylerDurden]

I was under the impression , from various farmers, that egg-laying was more active when the chickens were fed  lots of grains, rather than any issue of extra light.

[CitrusHigh]

raw-al - They will lay in the coop if your provide a nest for them, if you don't then they will lay in the most nest like area they can find. But typically our chickens lay in 3-4 places around the farm, and only when they don't have access to those 3 or 4 places do they start to whip up an easter egg hunt for me. All of those places are inside buildings, one is the main barn, one the goat barn, the other is the coop. Bottom line, provide them with a nice soft nesting area with lots of grass clippings or straw and that's where they will drop their eggs.

Ty - You can feed them their weight in grain, but if they're not getting enough light, they won't lay more than every couple of days/weeks. It is first and foremost photoregulated, and then the next most critical I'd say would be diet. Of course grain fed eggs are not going to be as healthy or nutritious as eggs fed from a variety of foods, that is why it is important to learn a livestock's natural diet and do your best to emulate it.

[raw-al]

What grains do you suggest for supplementing?

[CitrusHigh]

Our free rangers are given a mix of organic whole (uncracked) corn, rye, oats, barley, wheat, or any combo thereof. Each grain has a different nutrient profile, some higher in protein, some in starch, but the rule with chickens isn't how much, it's variety. Some days they can have a little more of this, some days a little more of that. They will grab what they want most using their very special eyes. Also, since you're in the city, wouldn't hurt to offer a mineral, could be oyster shell or something else. They also need grit, so if your yard doesn't have much for pebbles, then grab some sand/gravel from anywhere clean nearby and put a small pile in the yard, they don't need much, just enough to keep their gizzard stocked.

[raw-al]

Good advice thanks!