Urban Farm Online $10 for 1year subscription! Expires at Midnight!

Dusk sets in around 5pm this time of year.  Daylight is at a premium in a household of many children whose super power is channeling Jack Lalane and Jack Black.. at once.
Our use of electronic devices  sets our energy bill at a premium.

My chickens of course are oblivious to this non-weather we are having.
Soon my crocus' to will pop out at me like Steve Martin complete with banjo.
 ((Actually that I would really enjoy that.   Just putting that out there Universe.))


So we've been doing a lot of reading.. for today only you can get Urban Farm Magazine for $10 for a full year subscription. I subscribe every year and wanted to share this year. I can't tell you how useful this magazine is, seriously order your subscription today. Then we (all four of you who read this blog) will have so much more to talk about.

Happy New Year

Urban Farm Magazine $10/1yr. 01/05/12 only

Grown Up Talk.

Listen People. Chickens die a lot.. on their own.

So No. I don't mind eating chicken. I like it. It tastes good. 

But--I won't kill any of my own chickens.

And-- I'm not shocked and shaken when we lose a chicken now and then.

It's part of having chickens.

I might complain about it a LOT though.. I'm working on that.

A few of my "Grown Up" chicken keeper friends have no problem dispatching a neck like they were snap peas. Swift and Vulcan .

Therein lies my 'Chicken Hypocrisy' debate.. Were I to seriously "Keep it Real" barn yard style I would be like this;

Lately I've been looking at the pages of people and first of all... I'm not really sure y'all realize how beautiful your worlds are, but you don't have nosy neighbors who don't believe that you should be eating your own eggs. 

So for those of you who are limited zoning  

Riddle Me This: do you dispatch your roosters or re-home them?

I've gone back and forth about culling a chick who starts to show signs of being of the unwanted sex. Sorry Guys... although I'm sure some of you had it coming.

(I'm looking at you mean anti-social neighbor whose dog pissed on my shoe )

Children don't like it when you kill things they name.  And honestly folks I'm too big of a bleeding heart to look into their big eyes and say, "Sorry baby but we gonna kill him, bless your heart". 

Him of course are the male chicks you have irresponsibly let your children name--and then had to rehome-all our roosters of the BBCE microfarm....

Spike (White Crested Blue Polish), Forrest/Jenny (Turken), Kramer (Splash White Showgirl) and last but not least Ralphie as in Christmas Story (Black/Blue Bearded Silkie). 

He really does look like what Ralphie would look like.. if he were a chicken. How could I kill something who represents Raphie? I mean come on people. 

Got distracted.. sorry

So absolutely no disrespect to those of you Farm Sturdy people who aren't me and have no problem with this. I mean that in the best sense.

How does everyone handle this?

What are some good ways to learn to buck up and do whats right or......WELL, come on they're little kids.. they'll believe pretty much anything.

The Neruda Exodus

She's alive and she home!

(Shes the chicken in the middle)
Last night as I my son was rounding up the chickens from their free grange playtime we noticed that the newest addition to our flock the new Ameraucana chick we named Neruda was missing. Soon we realized that she was under our backyard deck and would not budge. We tried everything we could to coax her out-- it was beginning to get cold out, winds blowing and the temp was dropping quickly towards the 50F degree mark.

We tried until past 10pm. Dark, tired and no signs of a peep.. we gave up. I silently hoped she was somehow still alive.
I bounded out of bed this morning and went to the backyard deck to check for any sign. Not a peep.


I went about the daily chores of being an artist, mother and all around superhero. I had finished a raised garden bed box and was hauling it out to the backyard when I heard it... the faintest "cheep, cheep, cheep". I rushed to the deck and slammed my ear to the boards... "cheeeeep"


My son and his friend were over and came out side at hearing that we had found Neruda! Already wearing my tool belt.. it was obvious... my son rushed to get my reciprocating saw and I got to work making well placed cuts. I could already hear my husband saying "You did what to our deck?!" Then I would remind him that I'm the household handy-diva... not him.

Scared she kept running away... until my sons friend swiftly like a chicken-snatching-ninja grabbed her in a flash and pulled her to safety. She is returned to the safety of the coop after some rest and relaxation,  food and feed inside the house.

Egg-citing idea...

When proposing the idea of keeping chickens in ones backyard.. the response is generally one of stifled laughter and then a look of "huh.. that might work".

Ahh the romance and security of a urban chicken flock..
There are so many benefits of having a backyard flock of chickens..
The idea of fresh multi-colored eggs, the soft sound of clucking, children scattering chicken feed, and fresh organic eggs from home flock chickens are so so much better tasting that the starch white eggs in the grocery store (in my opinion).
Not to mention the free organic weed and pest control and lawn aeration that chickens are happy to provide.

But wait... I need to be realistic and focused.

I needed to decide what would best meet the needs of my family.
Two adults and four rapidly growing children.
What would my backyard accommodate?
What are the zoning laws? Am I allowed to even have chickens?
Where would I keep them?
What would my neighbors say?
Is someone going to answer that phone?! ... whoops sorry... that was well nevermind..

Somewhere in it all.. I know there will be chicken poop. Lots of chicken poo...


Glorious chicken poo! It's like crack for your lawn.

Back to business. I sat down and decided that I wouldn't be tempted by the cute little peeps from soft adorable chicks.. I would instead sit down and write down all the goals for my flock.
1. Good & steady egg production
2. A non-agressive flock
3. Pretty... yes I said it.. Pretty.

With my new goals in hand I went about finding out what the zoning laws are in Boise for chickens.

Here's what I found. A homeowner may keep (6) six hens (no roosters) in the Boise city limits.

So now I had to find out what chickens would be productive enough to meet egg consumption of a family of six. I figure we eat about 12 medium/small eggs a week.

Then I narrowed it down to the breeds that work best at being good/steady producers and do well in the Boise climate.
Here's the list I came up with.

AUSTRALORP- Not the Marylin Monroe of chickens, more like the nerd at the back of the class who is friendly, sweet and can produce more eggs than a Duggar.
PROS: 4-5 Large eggs a week at a steady pace. Not prone to try to fly away. Good in Boise climate. Can produce eggs even into the winter. Friendly. Docile.
CONS: Not so pretty and I worry that the chicken might know I'm only using her for her eggs.




AMERAUCAUNA/EASTER EGGER- Many hatcheries will sell Easter Egger chickens and call them with different names (Ameraucana, Americana). I think maybe some believe they will sell better with a schmancier name.

PROS: 4-5 Large eggs a week. Gorgeous pastel colored eggs. Good natured, friendly. Not prone to try to fly. Hens come in a variety of colors and usually with a cute soft ear and chin muff of feathers.
CONS: None chicken wise.. but while they are prettier than the Australorp they sit in the seats to watch the Silver Laced Wyandotte runway show.



SILVER LACED WYANDOTTE-Most popular and in most demand for a reason. They are just plain gorgeous birds. I picked the silver laced variety but they also come in Red and blue laced and white.

PROS: 3-4 eggs medium sized eggs a week. Good natured, friendly.. but most of all.. pretty, pretty, pretty.
CONS: The other hens may resent her for being so pretty and not producing as many eggs.



Below are a few sites I found really helpful in making my choices. I also was able to get valuable knowledge from Jim & Martha Schwartz who run a small hatchery in Parma Idaho and are my go-to-people for my chickens and guarantee the sex of their chicks which is important if your chick grows up to be a rooster instead of a hen. Roosters are big no-no according to zoning.

www.backyardchickens.com and www.mypetchicken.com and www.urbanchickens.org

Right now the demand for most breeds dwarf the supply and most hatcheries are already sold out of some breeds months and in some cases years in advance.

Many hatcheries and websites that sell chickens/chicks require that you purchase at least 15-25 chicks at a time and the shipping fees are almost always $35-$50. So getting them locally is a big plus.

I will be picking up my little flock soon...
1- Australorp (20 wk pullet ready to lay eggs) - $15
1- Ameraucana/Easter Egger (1 day old pullet chick)- $5
1- Silver Laced Wyandotte (1 day old pullet chick) $-5

All said-- my little $20 flock should hopefully produce my family with 12-15 gorgeous, super tasty and totally organic eggs.

In the plans are a coop and a brooder (a place for the chicks to live and grow until they get nice n'big).

There is a lot of speculation over whether this whole urban organic flock movement is just a fad.

I'm only sure that I'm bound to have a load of new experiences. Good and bad... but mostly good.

Actually I think mostly great.