Your Connection to Bay Area Local Food and Sustainable Living

Backyard Chickens

Information

Use this group to learn or exchange ideas, stories, and tips on keeping backyard chickens.

Members: 27
Latest Activity: on Monday

Chicken Resources

Chicken Supplies:

Biofuel Oasis

A worker owned co-op in Berkeley, Ca. A Biodiesel Fueling station that has an Urban Farming store with Chicken feed, supplements, feeders/ waterers, books (including the one below), etc. Located at: 1441 Ashby Avenue @ Sacramento • Berkeley, CA 94702 | 510.665.5509

Books:

Keep Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs and other small places.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable and informative read on keeping chickens in an urban environment. A comprehensive how to book that will have you laughing out loud.

Discussion Forum

Organic chicken feed

Just thought I would let you know that if you are looking for a good price on organic feeds check out Western Ranch Supply in Vacaville. I just bought a big bag of organic layer crumble out there for…Continue

Started by Tracy Mills on Monday.

pecked eggs

Hedwig our australorp keeps pecking her eggs and is sometimes laying in the yard not box. I have 3 chickens and 3 lay boxes. Can't figure out what's going on with her. I tried putting in a egg shaped…Continue

Started by michele senitzer Sep 12, 2011.

Chick starter

Hey, Fowl Friends! I will be getting my three new Barnevelder chicks the first week of May. The only pet store that I have been able to get in the city to order organic feed for me can only get the…Continue

Started by Shelley Esson Apr 16, 2011.

Where do your chickens sleep? 12 Replies

Our new pullets just don't want to be on the perch at night. One wants to be on top of the lay box. The other wants in the lay box. I have tried various things that have made the situation worse...…Continue

Started by michele senitzer. Last reply by michele senitzer Apr 13, 2011.

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Comment Wall

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Comment by aris on January 9, 2012 at 2:48pm: This is a very reliable resource for chicken laws. I've noticed that if the laws are too restrictive, they're flouted!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/laws/search.php

Here's what they say about Oakland:

6.04.320 - Keeping of fowl. It is unlawful for any person to keep any ducks, geese, chickens or other fowls in any enclosure in the city unless the exterior boundaries of said enclosures are more than twenty (20) feet from any dwelling, church or school. It is unlawful for any person to keep, harbor or maintain roosters within the city limit. This section shall not prohibit the activity authorized under Section 6.04.290 of this code. (Ord. 12705 § 3, 2005: Prior code § 3-9.28)

Comment by Jeni Johnson on January 9, 2012 at 9:46am: Hi, I'm new to the group. Can anyone tell me what the law in Oakland is regarding keeping backyard chickens? Some neighbors and I are working toward starting a coop in the near future and we've all heard different things.

Comment by Nicole Kramer on December 21, 2011 at 3:38pm: Hey Aris, we also live next to a predator preserve - we always have raccoons, skunks, etc and a fox has been scooping up house cats from the neighborhood lately. Our run is enclosed with chicken wire on all 6 sides (including bottom and top). We haven't had a single chicken loss since we've been here three years. If I were to do it again, I would use those hardware sheets they use in construction because over time the chicken wire has begun to rust and detach from the frame, especially where it touches the soil.

Comment by aris on December 21, 2011 at 3:23pm: Thank you, Michele, Yolanda! We're looking at no more than 10 in the laying flock and bringing in meat birds occasionally. That probably means a partitioned coop, we're thinking.

Comment by Yolanda Burrell on December 21, 2011 at 3:13pm: We dug 1' below grade, and laid hardware cloth along the floor, and sewed the floor to the hardware cloth that covers the sides of the run. The coop was built inside the run. We covered the coop with a roof of plywood, and covered the roof of the run with hardware cloth and fiberglass paneling.

The door has a lock on it, and has no egg door. We go inside the 8' tall run to get the eggs.

We based our plans on the tutorial from the Tangled Nest:

http://thetanglednest.com/2010/02/our-urban-chicken-coop-plan/

Comment by michele senitzer on December 21, 2011 at 3:12pm: hi aris, well definitely don't use regular chicken wire. knowing what you're in for you may want to attach a covered run to the coop. i have an auto door that opens dawn and closes dusk. the safest auto doors are the guillotine type. post pics when you have 'em! how many chickens in the flock?

Comment by aris on December 21, 2011 at 2:59pm: We're getting ready to build a coop for our new flock. Down the slope of the backyard is a creek that runs to a wildlife preserve... we call it "Predator Highway." Deer, opossum, raccoon, you name it. Please give me some suggestions on how to keep our chooks safe, and thanks!

Comment by Kitty Sharkey on September 27, 2011 at 10:44am: Heya Radam -

I raise quail here in Oakland. They're pretty easy to raise, but are also extremely easy prey for our urban wildlife, so safe housing is critical. I keep mine for eggs. Unless you're thinking of a large scale operation, it isn't economically beneficial to raise them for meat.

I'd be glad to answer any specific questions you might have concerning housing, feed, obtaining your stock.

Comment by Radam Chasey on September 11, 2011 at 9:50pm: Hey hey! I have been interested in raising quail in Oakland but have been unable to find any resources. Does anyone have any pointers or books/zines/etc they could point me towards?

Comment by michele senitzer on August 4, 2011 at 11:36am: Check out my recent blog post about Harry Potter the chick who lived. It's about Found Fruit members who hatched chicks from fertile eggs purchased at the grocery store.

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