EPISODE 179 KEEPING URBAN CHICKENS…UPS AND DOWNS
alan skeoch
nov. 29, 2020
THIS IS BIG RED…THE KING IN OUR CHICKEN COOP LONG AGO
“Andy bought some chicks for us from the Fabers…mixed breeds…plymouth rocks, new hampshires, leghorns…
”Any Silver Laced Wyandottes?
“No, weren’t they beautiful when we raised them years ago…regal looking…rare breeds “
“Neighbours loved seeing them…”
“Not all the neighbours…someone reported us to the By Law Inspector, Remember?”
The by law inspector dropped by. Reacting to
a complaint about our chickens. Marjorie gathered a bunch of supporting neighbours
when he arrived. I met him of the front lawn and asked, “Are you sure you want
to go in there? MY wife has and army of supporters on the verge of war.”
We were cleared as a non conforming property having chickens before
the by law was written.” HE ESCAPED.
SILVER LACED WYANDOTTE HEN…REGAL…AND ALONE.
Points to remember about keeping urban chickens
1) Free range chickens lay wonderful eggs. A thrill to reach
in the nest and gather fresh eggs. I am not sure the chickens
liked that. Must have damaged the psyche of those hens.
2) Backyards chickens attract kids. If you do not want children
around then do not keep chickens.
3) Backyard chickens attract practical jokers like Kaye Donovan
who sneaked into the coop one Easter and painted all our eggs.
4) Backyard chickens need lots of care. Chicken dung can
smell bad if allowed to pile up and get wet. Believe it or not there
are people who do not like the smell of chicken manure. I know
that is hard to believe. Chicken manure…with age…makes things grow.
5) Backyard chickens get lice. Nasty little devils that can
get out of control. Control? Yes, they have to be dusted with
louse powder. How? Pick the chicken up by back legs and
dust its bare bum with the delousing stuff. Not a nice job but
necessary. The key was a piece of string.
6) Predators soon arrive to assess the availability of backyard
chickens…foxes, coyotes, raccoons. We designed an ourdoor
run with a cement floor and s heavy chain link fence that hung like
a drawbridge door.. When loose in the backyard the chickens were
vulnerable. One day a huge Osprey swooped down a picked up
a one eyed hen. How did the Osprey know that? The odd skunk
slipped around looking for the eggs. Nice animals as long as they did
not baptist you with fluid.
7) Backyard chickens attract rats and mice since the chickens like
to throw their food around so traps small and large are necessary.
Enough said about that.
8) Backyard chickens are beautiful to watch as they wander around
the yard cleaning up unwanted insects. Friendly birds is well treated.
9) Backyard chickens to be avoided are the so called ‘meat birds’/
We accepted 10 or 12 of these from Vic Laing and For Root and the
Parkdale C. I. science department. Dreadfull creatures bred for fast
growth in weeks rather than months or years. They grow immense
and ours had lots of genetic defects…crooked beaks and feet…some staggered.
They ate fast. They ate lots. And they dropped turds lots. When I got rid
of them to a farm friend they managed to make our van unlovable. Chicken
shit everywhere.
10) Backyard chickens are perfect right now as we are in a Covid 19
Pandemic and urged to stay home. IN normal times, however, backyard
chickens travelled with us in the truck.. We could not leave them alone.
Farmers must stay close to their farm animals.
11) Backyard chickens and backyard gardens are not harmonious. Choose
one or the other. Or build extra fences.
12) Backyard chicken farmers are credited with saving some of the
breeds on the verge of extinction…such as those Silver Laced Wyandottes that’
we grew to love. We were never able to find a rooster of that breed sadly.
13) If you do not mind me making a suggestion. Try backyard ducks after
you tire of the chickens or after the predators have emptied your coop. Get a couple
of ducks. Get them young. They IMPRINT a couple of weeks after birth. Imprint?
They look around and consider whoever they see on that particular day as their
mother or father. Our backyard pair of ducks imprinted us as their parents.
We just had to call them. They would waddle over and up the ramp into the van
or into the duck cage. They got so familiar with human beings that occasionally
they would go for a walk around the neighbourhood gabbing away to each other.
One day I caught them a block away…called them and they came chattering
in a language i did not completely understand. I put one under each arm and
hot footed home with them. My camel hair suit coat was never quite the same.
I went to school with duck shit streaks under each arm. But we loved them.
They would go to the farm with us…swim all day in the swamps and ponds…then come
when called. What happened to them? We were never sure but suspected a fox
or coyote got them. It was easier to think they fell in love with wild ducks and
flew away. Easier, yes, but the problem was they were to fat to fly.
14) The same applies to a crippled Canada Goose we adopted when it
was a gosling. Imprinted. Thought it was human. Then one day it was gone.
We think it could fly. Happy ending.
Baby Canada Geese are hatched and raised every year on our big pond. Once
mobile the parents take them away because your Big Snapping Turtle is a threat.
Nature ‘red in tooth and claw’.
alan skeoch
Nov. 29,2020
Post Script
One day I gave Marjorie a nicely carved wooden pig.
“Does this mean we are going to try to raise a baby pig?”
“Not a chance.”