Iowa City Mayor Bailey's Odd Anti-Chicken Concerns
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Bantam chickens
In today's USA Today paper, there's a half-page feature article about urban chickens . In the print version of the paper, the story takes up the whole above-the-fold section of page 6D and includes a list of communities that we know have changed local laws to allow for urban chicken farming: Durham, NC; Portland, ME; Camden, ME; Huntington, NY; Lawrence, KS; and Longmont, CO. Great to see all these smart cities doing the right thing! Unfortunately, in what I'm hoping was a quest for "a balanced look at the issue," the author provided even more airtime for Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey and her peculiar concerns about urban chickens: Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey opposes efforts to allow backyard chickens in her community. One concern: University students often leave pets behind, she says, and the city – home to the University of Iowa – would need to develop facilities to shelter abandoned chickens. Another problem: Small Midwestern farmers are increasingly trying to raise a diversity of organic produce beyond corn, oats and soybeans. But that movement faces an uphill battle, Bailey says, when locals who are passionate about high-quality eggs bypass their local farmers. "We have a lot of small farmers around here making chickens and eggs available for sale," Bailey says. "My fundamental question is: Why aren't we supporting the regional economy?" I'd love to see the data that Bailey's consulting in order to form her opinion that she needs to create abandoned chicken shelters. If I'm lucky, it'll be the same data set that's showing backyard chicken owners will be putting small Midwestern farmers out of the organic produce business. How about it Mayor Bailey? Care to share what's informing your concerns? Or is it just more smoke-and-mirrors in City Hall? Photo credit gingerjess on Flickr backyard chickens chicken coops chickens chicken coop designs
How Much Does a Chicken Coop Cost to Build?
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Chickens silkie
People often wonder how much it’s going to cost them to build their own chicken coop in their backyard. There are a plethora of both free and pay chicken coop plans available on the internet and a startling variance among projected material costs. With a bit of research you’ll find that it’s actually not as [...]No related posts. Tips for Chicken Coop Designs Raising chickens is a fun hobby and can lead to a nice, small income for those willing to put the effort into it. Like people, chickens have to have lodging and that lodging can come in all forms. You can buy chicken coop designs for as few or as many chickens as you plan to [...]No related posts. chicken coop designs backyard poultry chicken coops chicken coop
How Much Does a Chicken Coop Cost to Build?
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Show chickens
People often wonder how much it’s going to cost them to build their own chicken coop in their backyard. There are a plethora of both free and pay chicken coop plans available on the internet and a startling variance among projected material costs. With a bit of research you’ll find that it’s actually not as [...]No related posts. Tips for Chicken Coop Designs Raising chickens is a fun hobby and can lead to a nice, small income for those willing to put the effort into it. Like people, chickens have to have lodging and that lodging can come in all forms. You can buy chicken coop designs for as few or as many chickens as you plan to [...]No related posts. chicken coops chickens chicken coop backyard poultry
On Machines and Sustainable Technology
Posted on March 02, 2010 in City chickens
Machines are essentially complex tools that increase the efficiency of a given task, or permit the operator(s) to conduct missions that would otherwise be impossible or prohibitively dangerous due to limitations imposed by nature. Although many people lament that machines have facilitated many acts of evil in this world, especially through their use in war, [...] The Feast of the Frozen It is the middle of January. A deep blanket of snow is covering the gardens and draping the forest. It has been nearly two months since our final harvest, and three months before our first garden plantings (peas). Yet, this deep into the winter, and it appears that we grew more food than we can [...] backyard poultry backyard chickens chicken coops chickens
Chicken Coop Plans
Posted on March 02, 2010 in About chickens
If you are building your own chicken coop then it is best to work from a set of tried and tested chicken coop plans rather than making it up as you go. If you have a set of plans and checklist of required materials you are going to save a lot of time and money. [...] Catawba Chicken Coop Plans One of my site advertisers catawbacoops.com (thats right, this site does cost money to host) is having an anniversary sale on its chicken coop plans. They are selling their coop plans for half price.These plans look great. To be honest, I have not built from these plans but from what I understand they [...] chickens chicken coop chicken coops chicken coop designs
Iowa City Mayor Bailey's Odd Anti-Chicken Concerns
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Roosters chickens
In today's USA Today paper, there's a half-page feature article about urban chickens . In the print version of the paper, the story takes up the whole above-the-fold section of page 6D and includes a list of communities that we know have changed local laws to allow for urban chicken farming: Durham, NC; Portland, ME; Camden, ME; Huntington, NY; Lawrence, KS; and Longmont, CO. Great to see all these smart cities doing the right thing! Unfortunately, in what I'm hoping was a quest for "a balanced look at the issue," the author provided even more airtime for Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey and her peculiar concerns about urban chickens: Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey opposes efforts to allow backyard chickens in her community. One concern: University students often leave pets behind, she says, and the city – home to the University of Iowa – would need to develop facilities to shelter abandoned chickens. Another problem: Small Midwestern farmers are increasingly trying to raise a diversity of organic produce beyond corn, oats and soybeans. But that movement faces an uphill battle, Bailey says, when locals who are passionate about high-quality eggs bypass their local farmers. "We have a lot of small farmers around here making chickens and eggs available for sale," Bailey says. "My fundamental question is: Why aren't we supporting the regional economy?" I'd love to see the data that Bailey's consulting in order to form her opinion that she needs to create abandoned chicken shelters. If I'm lucky, it'll be the same data set that's showing backyard chicken owners will be putting small Midwestern farmers out of the organic produce business. How about it Mayor Bailey? Care to share what's informing your concerns? Or is it just more smoke-and-mirrors in City Hall? Photo credit gingerjess on Flickr chicken coops backyard poultry chickens chicken coop
Home Chicken Coop – House Designs
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Chickens keeping
Raising chickens and yielding maximum egg output is always easiest with a quality chicken coop. House-style designs are by far the best choice, as they provide both protected nesting space and a large running area. This will ensure your birds remain relaxed, healthy and safe enough to consistently provide good quality eggs. This article shows [...]Related posts: Chicken Coop Designs – Complete Chicken Coop Designs For All Skill Levels If you have ever looked into building your own chicken...
Chicken Coop Plans
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Pet chickens
If you are building your own chicken coop then it is best to work from a set of tried and tested chicken coop plans rather than making it up as you go. If you have a set of plans and checklist of required materials you are going to save a lot of time and money. [...] Catawba Chicken Coop Plans One of my site advertisers catawbacoops.com (thats right, this site does cost money to host) is having an anniversary sale on its chicken coop plans. They are selling their coop plans for half price.These plans look great. To be honest, I have not built from these plans but from what I understand they [...] backyard chickens chicken coop designs chicken coops chicken coop
Georgia to Legalize Urban Chickens at State Level?
Posted on March 02, 2010 in Chickens backyard
If you've taken a look at the nascent Urban Chickens Network Legal Resource Center , you know that trying to keep track of the seemingly endless variations of ordinances regarding keeping chickens in the backyard is a difficult task, at best. It seems every town and city has to have its own version of the law allowing urban chickens (if, indeed, they are allowed), and depending on just where you're geographically located, you may not enjoy the same chicken-owning rights as your next door neighbor. Thanks to frequent reader Linda S, I've been alerted to an interesting approach being proposed in the state of Georgia. The Georgia General Assembly is considering a statewide law governing the growing of crops and keeping of small animals in HB 842 - Agriculture; preempt certain local ordinances; protect right to grow food crops; provisions . The First Reader Summary says A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to agriculture, so as to preempt certain local ordinances relating to production of agricultural or farm products; to protect the right to grow food crops and raise small animals on private property so long as such crops and animals are used for human consumption by the occupants, gardeners, or raisers and their households and not for commercial purposes; to define a term; to provide for effect on certain private agreements and causes of action; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. Now, whether or not the bill passes, I like this approach: deal with matters on a state level so that the constituents don't have to scratch their heads wondering whether something legal or illegal based on the whims of the local government. It'd sure go a long way toward simplifying the process of knowing where your food comes from. Does anyone know of another state that is considering (or has even passed) such a law? Oh, and have you yet added your own town's urban chicken ordinance to the Urban Chickens Network Legal Resource Center ? We're at 36 cities and growing! Photo credit: atlexplorer on Flickr Urban Chickens on the Martha Stewart Show? Be There! Got an email this morning from Anne who works in the audience department at the Martha Stewart Show in NYC. They're taping a show on urban farming in March 2010 and are looking for urban chicken farmers (among others) to be in the audience. If you're interested in being there, you have to request tickets and help them understand why you should be in the audience. The details are in Anne's email: If you or someone you know have recently turned your backyard space into a chicken coop or turkey pen, we have a special show that's just for you! We're filling our studio audience with individuals who raise livestock in urban environments as we celebrate the backyard farming movement. If you're interested in attending this show, please be sure to tell us about yourself and your backyard farm, as well as why you'd like to be part of this special audience. Please feel free to spread the word and request tickets as soon as you can if you're interested! The link to request tickets is www.marthastewart.com/get- tickets ; scroll down to ‘calling all urban farmers.' I hope to see you there next month (if they approve my request to attend, that is... fingers crossed!)
Building a Chicken Coop For Dummies
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Show chickens
With food costs sky rocketing you may have considered ways to produce your own food such as purchasing chickens but then changed your mind once you realized how much money it can take to start building a chicken coop. After all, unless you purchase a set for building a chicken coop you have nowhere to [...]Related posts: Chicken Coops Plans That Cover the Basics Trying to design your own chicken coops plans can be... Chicken Coop Designs – Complete Chicken Coop Designs For All Skill Levels If you have ever looked into building your own chicken... 3 Common Questions About Building a Chicken Coop Public interest in keeping backyard chickens is currently undergoing a... Building Chicken Coops the Easy Way There are thousands of plans, designs and ideas for buildings used in housing chickens. They range from elaborate two story structures right on down to a small doghouse type dwelling surrounded by a few feet of chicken wire. Before you invest a lot of money and time setting up costly coops, learn about building chicken [...]No related posts. backyard chickens chicken coop chickens chicken coops
Plans For Building Chicken Coops – Making a DIY Hen Coop
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Free range chickens
If you are considering making a DIY hen coop, you will need to get hold of some plans for building chicken coops. Alternatively, you may wish to design a coop yourself. If you have never kept poultry before, there are a few things to bear in mind which may help your decision making when it [...]Related posts: Chicken Coops Plans That Cover the Basics Trying to design your own chicken coops plans can be... 3 Common Questions About Building a Chicken Coop Public interest in keeping backyard chickens is currently undergoing a... Advantages To Small Chicken Coops Looking at some of the small chicken coops out there, you can easily see how there are some significant advantages to going this route with your building process. While some individuals will definitely want to avoid small chicken coops simple because of the purposes they have for the coop, in many other cases it’s a [...]Related posts: Chicken Coops Plans That Cover the Basics Trying to design your own chicken coops plans can be...
Iowa City Mayor Bailey's Odd Anti-Chicken Concerns
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Chickens breeds
In today's USA Today paper, there's a half-page feature article about urban chickens . In the print version of the paper, the story takes up the whole above-the-fold section of page 6D and includes a list of communities that we know have changed local laws to allow for urban chicken farming: Durham, NC; Portland, ME; Camden, ME; Huntington, NY; Lawrence, KS; and Longmont, CO. Great to see all these smart cities doing the right thing! Unfortunately, in what I'm hoping was a quest for "a balanced look at the issue," the author provided even more airtime for Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey and her peculiar concerns about urban chickens: Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey opposes efforts to allow backyard chickens in her community. One concern: University students often leave pets behind, she says, and the city – home to the University of Iowa – would need to develop facilities to shelter abandoned chickens. Another problem: Small Midwestern farmers are increasingly trying to raise a diversity of organic produce beyond corn, oats and soybeans. But that movement faces an uphill battle, Bailey says, when locals who are passionate about high-quality eggs bypass their local farmers. "We have a lot of small farmers around here making chickens and eggs available for sale," Bailey says. "My fundamental question is: Why aren't we supporting the regional economy?" I'd love to see the data that Bailey's consulting in order to form her opinion that she needs to create abandoned chicken shelters. If I'm lucky, it'll be the same data set that's showing backyard chicken owners will be putting small Midwestern farmers out of the organic produce business. How about it Mayor Bailey? Care to share what's informing your concerns? Or is it just more smoke-and-mirrors in City Hall? Photo credit gingerjess on Flickr chicken coop designs chicken coops chicken coop backyard chickens
Letter to Rep. McCabe to Ban Imported Garden Plants
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Farm chickens
Dear Rep. McCabe,I am writing to you as a constituent who is an organic farmer and a scientist, and very concerned about the health of our state’s agricultural economy and home gardens. I was informed that you are the sponsor of HP 1135, LD 1607, a bill that would ban the movement of firewood across [...] Backyard Chickens and “Quality of Life” At the last Bangor City Council meeting in which we discussed the proposed Domesticated Chickens Ordinance, one Bangor City Councilor expressed a concern that backyard chickens might detract from the overall quality of life in low-density neighborhoods. “Quality of life” is a sufficiently vague and ambiguous complaint to warrant an explanation from the councilor regarding [...]
On Machines and Sustainable Technology
Posted on March 01, 2010 in City chickens
Machines are essentially complex tools that increase the efficiency of a given task, or permit the operator(s) to conduct missions that would otherwise be impossible or prohibitively dangerous due to limitations imposed by nature. Although many people lament that machines have facilitated many acts of evil in this world, especially through their use in war, [...] The Feast of the Frozen It is the middle of January. A deep blanket of snow is covering the gardens and draping the forest. It has been nearly two months since our final harvest, and three months before our first garden plantings (peas). Yet, this deep into the winter, and it appears that we grew more food than we can [...] backyard poultry backyard chickens chicken coops chickens
Iowa City Mayor Bailey's Odd Anti-Chicken Concerns
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Chickens breeds
In today's USA Today paper, there's a half-page feature article about urban chickens . In the print version of the paper, the story takes up the whole above-the-fold section of page 6D and includes a list of communities that we know have changed local laws to allow for urban chicken farming: Durham, NC; Portland, ME; Camden, ME; Huntington, NY; Lawrence, KS; and Longmont, CO. Great to see all these smart cities doing the right thing! Unfortunately, in what I'm hoping was a quest for "a balanced look at the issue," the author provided even more airtime for Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey and her peculiar concerns about urban chickens: Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey opposes efforts to allow backyard chickens in her community. One concern: University students often leave pets behind, she says, and the city – home to the University of Iowa – would need to develop facilities to shelter abandoned chickens. Another problem: Small Midwestern farmers are increasingly trying to raise a diversity of organic produce beyond corn, oats and soybeans. But that movement faces an uphill battle, Bailey says, when locals who are passionate about high-quality eggs bypass their local farmers. "We have a lot of small farmers around here making chickens and eggs available for sale," Bailey says. "My fundamental question is: Why aren't we supporting the regional economy?" I'd love to see the data that Bailey's consulting in order to form her opinion that she needs to create abandoned chicken shelters. If I'm lucky, it'll be the same data set that's showing backyard chicken owners will be putting small Midwestern farmers out of the organic produce business. How about it Mayor Bailey? Care to share what's informing your concerns? Or is it just more smoke-and-mirrors in City Hall? Photo credit gingerjess on Flickr chicken coop designs chicken coops chicken coop backyard chickens
Chickens Pecking Each Other To Death
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Breeds of chickens
“Hi Wendy, My chickens have been pecking each other along the sides of their bodies for several months. During that time several of the chickens have had wounds that bled. I was advised to used corn starch to dry the wounds. This morning I went into the coop and one of my chickens was dead. [...] Holes In Chicken Eggs “Hi, thanks for a great site! I am interested to know the reason for a hole in each egg that our hen produces daily. I am not sure whether the hen / cock is responsible for this. The egg does not run out as such but the shell is always pierced (the hole being the [...] chicken coop designs backyard chickens chicken coop chickens
Check Out Free Chicken Coop Instructions
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Chickens keeping
There are free chicken coop instructions and they’re available to you in this very article. Have you thought about building a chicken coop, but held off because you didn’t know anything about what kind of material to use, how to put the material together to make the coop or because you thought it might cost [...]No related posts. Backyard Chicken Setup No related posts.No related posts. chicken coops chicken coop backyard chickens backyard poultry
Iowa City Mayor Bailey's Odd Anti-Chicken Concerns
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Chickens backyard
In today's USA Today paper, there's a half-page feature article about urban chickens . In the print version of the paper, the story takes up the whole above-the-fold section of page 6D and includes a list of communities that we know have changed local laws to allow for urban chicken farming: Durham, NC; Portland, ME; Camden, ME; Huntington, NY; Lawrence, KS; and Longmont, CO. Great to see all these smart cities doing the right thing! Unfortunately, in what I'm hoping was a quest for "a balanced look at the issue," the author provided even more airtime for Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey and her peculiar concerns about urban chickens: Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey opposes efforts to allow backyard chickens in her community. One concern: University students often leave pets behind, she says, and the city – home to the University of Iowa – would need to develop facilities to shelter abandoned chickens. Another problem: Small Midwestern farmers are increasingly trying to raise a diversity of organic produce beyond corn, oats and soybeans. But that movement faces an uphill battle, Bailey says, when locals who are passionate about high-quality eggs bypass their local farmers. "We have a lot of small farmers around here making chickens and eggs available for sale," Bailey says. "My fundamental question is: Why aren't we supporting the regional economy?" I'd love to see the data that Bailey's consulting in order to form her opinion that she needs to create abandoned chicken shelters. If I'm lucky, it'll be the same data set that's showing backyard chicken owners will be putting small Midwestern farmers out of the organic produce business. How about it Mayor Bailey? Care to share what's informing your concerns? Or is it just more smoke-and-mirrors in City Hall? Photo credit gingerjess on Flickr chicken coop chicken coop designs backyard poultry chicken coops
Chickens Pecking Each Other To Death
Posted on March 01, 2010 in Red chickens
“Hi Wendy, My chickens have been pecking each other along the sides of their bodies for several months. During that time several of the chickens have had wounds that bled. I was advised to used corn starch to dry the wounds. This morning I went into the coop and one of my chickens was dead. [...] Holes In Chicken Eggs “Hi, thanks for a great site! I am interested to know the reason for a hole in each egg that our hen produces daily. I am not sure whether the hen / cock is responsible for this. The egg does not run out as such but the shell is always pierced (the hole being the [...]
Letter to Rep. McCabe to Ban Imported Garden Plants
Posted on March 01, 2010 in City chickens
Dear Rep. McCabe,I am writing to you as a constituent who is an organic farmer and a scientist, and very concerned about the health of our state’s agricultural economy and home gardens. I was informed that you are the sponsor of HP 1135, LD 1607, a bill that would ban the movement of firewood across [...] Backyard Chickens and “Quality of Life” At the last Bangor City Council meeting in which we discussed the proposed Domesticated Chickens Ordinance, one Bangor City Councilor expressed a concern that backyard chickens might detract from the overall quality of life in low-density neighborhoods. “Quality of life” is a sufficiently vague and ambiguous complaint to warrant an explanation from the councilor regarding [...] chicken coop designs chicken coop backyard poultry chickens