Welcome to Diane's Website!
Find information on this site about:
* My own experience with Urban Bantam Chicken Raising
* My dog and my recommedation of Pet Haven of Minneapolis, MN
* My recommendation of the Crisis Nursery of Minneapolis, MN
A CELEBRATION OF CHICKENS LIVIN' LARGE IN DAH' HOOD!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE:
If you live in the city and are thinking about raising chickens right where you are (as opposed to giving up your house in the 'hood and moving to the country), it may have crossed your mind that you are the only person crazy enough to even contemplate this possibility. I'd like to start by reassuring you that you are not, and thankfully, it's not that crazy of an idea. As my experience and that of many others has proven, this is a completely viable option. Until the end of the depression, it was common for city dwellers to raise chickens in their own back yards. They did another crazy thing we're getting out of the habit of, too - it was called "growing a garden"...like, with food you could eat in it. We attended a free class in South Minneapolis called "Urban Chicken Raising", to our surprise the room was packed full of others thinking the same ideas. We soon learned that there are a LOT of other people in the middle of the city who are raising chickens for pets and eggs, and doing so successfully..
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
As a humane person concerned with animal welfare, you need to take a lot of variables into consideration. Do a lot of research so that you know what you're doing, make good decisions, fully enjoy your birds and can provide for your chickens needs well.
* Size of the chicken: I recommend bantam chickens (these are 1/4 to 1/5 the size of standard chickens). By getting smaller birds, you are better able to accomodate their space needs and can have more of them. The eggs are smaller, but this didn't bother us. We always had more than enough eggs and gave them away to our friends and family.
* Breed of chickens: Do your research on the net, at the library and with hatchery catalogs. We chose hardy, quiet breeds that are calm and lay fairly well. For enjoyment's sake, and because we knew we could only have five birds for our space, we got one to two hens of four different breeds, which gave us a beautiful assortment. Our choices were bantams: *White Brahma (white and black with feathered feet) *Buff Brahma (yellow and black with feathered feet) *Barred Cochin (black and white spotted with feathered feet) *Two Americaunas (different colors, lay greenish bluish eggs, a.k.a. "easter egg chickens").
* Space & Housing Needs: Exceed your girl's needs. Meet your needs. I designed and we built a 4' x 8' walk in "aviary" on our front porch. The porch was fully enclosed and had electricity, which meant that lighting and heat were taken care of. The aviary was built out of 2x2 stained and polyurethaned wood and hardware cloth, had a plywood floor covered with linoleum for easy cleaning, and had painted wainscotting on the bottom to keep woodshavings from being kicked out onto the porch floor as quickly. Inside we added a modified cabinet (we added perches and nests) on top of a low table with a roost. The birds had an electric water heater and troughs for their food, grit and calcium. We covered the bottom with wood shavings. The birds were safe from predators (neighbors loose dogs and cats), had tons of sunlight, the porch windows opened for fresh air, we had privacy from passer-bys, and taking care of the birds was very convenient. You will not "forget about your birds" and do a poor job feeding, watering, collecting eggs and cleaning when they live on your front porch. We had two chairs facing the aviary where one could spend hours watching them peck, scratch, and take dust baths.
* Noise: One of the nice things about living in the 'hood is all the noise from city buses, sirens, crows and traffic. We liked to believe that our neighboors couldn't hear our chickens over all the other racket. We also hoped they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the crows and pigeons and our birds. We'll never know if they knew, but we do know that our roofer (who had chickens of his own and worked at our place for a month or two) didn't know we had chickens until we told him. He said he never heard them, so we thought that was a good sign. I'm not sure I would recommend trying to keep it a secret in a quiet neighborhood - we were always glad we were located on a very busy street. I do know that you will NOT be able to keep a male chicken a secret under any circumstances. A crow can be heard for miles, and your neighbors WILL know if you have one. If our neighbors suspected, they were never sure enough to mention it. It probably helped that the chickens were on the porch, which people tend to consider "in your house and none of their business". The mailman, who had been raised on a farm and brought the mail to the front porch to put in our slot, did know. He brought the topic up one day so at least one person found us out withour our telling, I think he found it endearing.
* Legality: It is legal in Minneapolis, but requires a permit, which requires a petition signed by your neighbors, and money, and inspections of your property.
The Benefits of Having Your Own Chickens:
* Raising baby chicks is just rewarding. You just taught them to drink from a waterer and in a few months they're roosting on the perch you built, growing real feathers and laying eggs.
* Rewarding, intelligent pets (more intelligent than they're given credit for). Imagine having hand raised chickens perched on each shoulder, each knee and one on the top of your head - it's not just for SnowWhite anymore...
* Fresh eggs every day, and the joy of collecting them at morning and at night. You raised the birds, you feed and water them, and now they begin feeding you and your loved ones every day. Not many pets pay their owners back so tangibly. If you've experienced the pride and connectedness with the earth of having your own vegetable garden, this is a similar feeling. The store bought eggs really dont taste as good as fresh ones from birds who live well with room to roam.
OTHER RESOURCES:
The FeatherSite (A wonderful collection of links to the best information on chickens on the web)
MY DOG ABBY:
A sweet older dog adopted from Pet Haven, Minneapolis (a no kill animal shelter)
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a young woman who desparately needed to take her maternal instincts out on some unsuspecting animal. She wanted a dog who was quiet, calm and wouldn't mind a mushy, huggy human around. She had been dogsitting her friend's dog off and on for two years but really wanted a dog all of her own - to love her the best, to follow her around, to go on camping trips with and to hog the bed. In a not so distant area was an old, quiet, well behaved dog who was found on the streets and brought to Pet Haven. Noone knows for sure how this wonderful dog ended up on the streets, and I suppose noone ever will. What everyone does know is that this was a very special older dog, one who was abnormally well behaved, an unusually sweet, warm hearted soul. The woman called Pet Haven, told the volunteer all about herself and the kind of dog she wanted to share her life with. They talked about four different dogs, and finally began coming to the conclusion that the older collie was the best match. In a few weeks she went to meet the dog she had talked with the volunteer about and soon fell in love. Abby came to live with her that day, had a bath and a lot of grooming, and a microchip placed in her to prevent her from ever being lost again. Abby hardly ever barked, turned out to have an amazing amount of training, and soon won the hearts of everyone who met her. Diane and her new dog walked off into the sunset and lived happily ever after. - THE END
[Pet Haven, Inc. is a wonderful nonprofit, all volunteer organization I highly recommend for adoptig from and sending tax deductible donations to: (612) 831-3825 P.O. Box 19105, Minneapolis, MN 55419]
THE GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: Is a nonprofit organization which works in partnership with parents in crisis and the community to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. I highly recommend this organization to those wishing to support child welfare with tax deductible donations: (612) 591-0400 5400 Glenwood Ave. Golden Valley MN 55422
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