Chickens

[Pajarita]

There is this fad now and everbody and his grandmother want to have chickens... And it's not that I don't understand the desire because Lord knows I have it too! But I think that most people are doing it for the wrong reasons and/or are not really prepared for it. I took one of my dogs to the vet for blood work prior dental and, as he knows that I love birds, he mentioned that he had incubated chickens in his home for the children to 'play' with - ay ay ay!

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05- ... osure.html

https://www.freep.com/story/life/food/2 ... 698038002/

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national ... li=BBqdk7Q

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/loc ... d33a9.html

https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... a4ea3.html

[Navre]

We have a couple of chickens at the rescue. They came from a classroom that had incubated eggs to hatch. I don’t know what they planned on doing with the chicks, but we have them. They eat the chop we throw into compost, they fertilize the grass, and they give the manager two eggs a day to eat.

Lately a hawk has been around, so I don’t know how much longer we will have them. They seem to get back into their sheltered areas in time, but they only have to be too slow once.

[liz]

I would love to have chickens again. But we have too many hawks and eagles.

I had a pet chicken. She identified with a dog who would visit her when she was a baby. Her greeting was to peck the nose the dog would push in her cage.
She came when called like a dog.
When I asked her if she wanted her waddle tickled, she would stretch her neck for a tickle.

There came a time when I could barely take care of myself and had to rehome her. I went through my church. A woman with 4 city hens stepped forward. Her hens were like pets on a schedule. She actually had her city chickens on a schedule. Coop at sundown and let out at sunrise. She talked to them like I did with Chick Chick. I could not find such a better place.

[Pajarita]

I've always been puzzled about American chicken coops because they have no roof. Back home, chicken coops have the same wire mesh they use for the 'walls' put as a roof, that way, no predator can come in. And something like a large chicken coop (like a room only the walls and ceiling are all wire mesh) is what I am planning on making for my cats once I move back home - not to live in there, of course, but so they can go out and enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine without the danger of them roaming too far or getting hurt.

[Navre]

Our chicken coop had a roof, all the ones that were in my childhood town had a roof, too, and my uncle in Maine who had lots and lots of chickens had rooves on the coops. They’d also shoot any menacing hawks, but I don’t think that’s allowed any more.
On a side note, autocorrect doesn’t know the plural of roof.

[Pajarita]

Ahhhh, yes, that makes more sense! But maybe they don't do them like that anymore because all the ones I've seen don't -at least the ones that one sees on magazines and articles about urban chicken raising.