Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Why didn't I think of this before? The structural strength of an object is affected by its shape. Think of an I-beam or a piece of paper folded accordion style. This could be held in place with metal stakes and reinforced with triangular wood braces to keep my dog out. The perimeter has concrete and flagstones around it. This will be far cheaper and easier than portable fencing. (I haven't gotten any further than the one panel I built.)

Some scenes from the Denver Chicken Coop Tour: The owner built top nesting boxes because the chickens couldn't find the lower ones. A simple run from scrap material. A run for a manicured yard. The Chicken Plaza. The view from my house isn't as nice as the view from this chicken house. I'm still working on my own chicken jungle. It's not a unique concept--one place on the tour provided so much cover for the chickens in the form of lamb's quarters (a weed) and a tree that the chickens could free range. After the heavy rains last week, the ground was soft enough to dig trenches around the chicken area so that I could put wire fencing below the ground to keep predators (such as my dog) from tunneling their way to a chicken dinner. While I was at it, I collected the earth worms and started a worm bin to compost kitchen scraps and junk mail and have some protein for the chickens. But as the worms go for $20 a pound, I may sell them instead--as s...

Living in the city presents some problems with housing chickens. Chicken coops are expensive and yet so tiny that they seem like six-chicken CAFOs. Electric fencing is forbidden. Regular fencing is hard work to build, and it's permanent. If the chickens don't work out, you're stuck with a fence you probably won't need or want. Living in the city presents some advantages, though. The biggest, toughest predators are dogs; aerial predators like owls and hawks probably don't hang around your place. And the city itself can be a source of inspiration for solving your problems. Like free-range chickens, festivals and construction sites have to be fenced off. Around here, we use portable chain link fencing. Taking a cue from that, I built a six-foot by four-foot freestanding fence panel out of scrap wood and wire fencing. I used 1/2" x 3s to make a 6' x 4' box, joining the pieces with metal angle braces that sit on the edge (see top photo). I fli...

"If you won't tell us, the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the bird I ate is country bred." [Sherlock Holmes] "Well then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped the salesman. Sherlock Holmes gathering clues in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" In ten years, will urban poultry growing be so common that we'll be arguing whether country birds or city birds are better? Will medical appointments be so difficult and antibiotics so ineffective that we'll argue whether a sick friend should take vitamin D, coconut oil or phage for her bad cold? Will be be eating more pigweed and lamb's quarters? Giving funny looks to low-fat fossils? Doctors aren't mean, most of the just haven't caught on. May the population get so well that they'll have time to raise some birds!

The site of my possible future chicken jungle: Driveway reclamation area. Plants don't grow well here; maybe livestock would. Chickens' ancestors were from jungles. I'm seriously thinking about fencing in this area of my yard--the part where nothing but holly and old garden roses grow well, the part I hate taking care of--and making it a home for some chickens. It's next to the garage (far right in the photo), which has electricity and room for some nests. I don't think moving the car in and out once or twice a week would hurt chickens. They'd probably do better staying outside in the summer since the garage gets very hot. Risks of the birds being free-range: predators and hail. I live in the middle of a large city, and the only predator I know of here is cats. I have a setup in mind to deter them (3" PVC pipe strung on clothesline atop the fences and gates--the kitties shouldn't be able to get a foothold). I haven't seen a fox around her...