Thinking of getting chickens? You're not alone then. We've hummed and hawed about it for years and are still humming and hawing. Part of me loves the idea, but most of me figures it will be as challenging as having any animal (which is why we don't have any pets) — what will we do when we want to zip away for a weekend, week or year?; other than the fun part of gathering the eggs who will maintain the flock? (oh wait, I already know the answer to that one); what about racoons and rats and bears?
Still, one can dream and I know there are some happy chickens and happy fresh egg consumers on the west coast. I had a bit of fun checking out some groovy coops, which I've posted here, but this site has about 14 designs to look over.
This one is called the Eglu and is made by a British company, Omlet. Cute, isn't it? (Cute, yup, but also expensive. For well-coddled chickens only.)
Or then there's this, the Corcorico, created by a design student from Ecole de Design Nantes. (As for its practicality, check out the comments on this post. The designer weighs in and there are some pretty amusing comments from chicken owners.)
There are lots of fairly simple designs out there, but keep in mind our special challenges here on the wet coast. Do you have a coop? If so, fire over a picture or two.
There are lots of places for practical advice, but here are a few links. This one is from a design site, but the advice is sound (and there are nice pics). My Pet Chicken is a great clearing house for information, including plans for coops such as this one with a green roof:
More designs and info over at Urban Chicken and here's another quick summary of things to consider, from This Magazine.
Love the Eglu! Rapini likes cool weather and it likes to be moist so might be ideal for Tofino. I like it because when I was little we had this dish --- I don't know how to spell it -- here's my phonetic spelling gavadeel and broccoli raab (rapini), you know a pasta dish with lots of garlic, oil, parmesan, etc. I'm sure it's some Italian spelling of a pasta with a vowel at the end that's always silent in the NY/NJ region. I can give you some of those seedlings when you're down next week!
ReplyDeleteThe TCFI has the movie "Mad City Chickens" on the list as a potential to show at Monday Night Movies in June, however, because of the high cost, we will need a full house to show it. Does anyone out there think they would be interested in seeing it? Here's the trailer...http://www.tarazod.com/filmsmadchicks.html
ReplyDeleteworried about a or have a smelly coop, try EM as a deodorizer it works on mine just fine. Available at OCN Garden Center
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