Spring has arrived in Kirkland, which means that the daffodils are blooming, the rain-soaked hills around us are sliding toward Lake Washington with $900,000 homes in tow, and everyone is engaged in some sort of spring cleaning. For the chickens, spring cleaning means rolling around in the dirt as much as possible. Theoretically the dirt baths keep parasites at bay, but I know a kid who bathes regularly in dirt and still managed to get head lice. Anyway, the chickens clean up well enough in the rain which has not ceased since March 1. Julie spent a full four hours this afternoon at William’s track meet in a relentless downpour. Which she did as the better, more dedicated parent. I told her that I was looking forward to seeing the two of them back at our warm house so she could give me a big wet Willy. Which she did not think was funny. But I believe that as long as I am able to amuse myself, that will be enough to get me to summer.
I wish we could have chickens – I looked into it and we have to have 5+ acres. It’s still my goal to have them so one day we will move. When we do, where ever we go, we will look for a new place where we can raise chickens (and maybe a few other types of small livestock; we’ll see).
How many chickens do you have and how long have you had them? Egg or eating or both?
We have six hens, each laying a different colored egg. I’m surprised they would require so many acres for chickens in Pennyslvania. Even a small yard is fine and if you don’t have a rooster they aren’t too noisy–just some triumphant squawking after laying. Although I threaten to eat Sylvia every day we just keep the chickens for eggs and entertainment. When you get them, I recommend at least one Ameraucana and at least three chickens, and as you’ll read, the chicken house needs to be secured against racoons every night. Racoons love chicken.
Yes PA is ok in lots of areas – I found it varies from township to township!! Our township requires 5 acres. I am still going to go down and ask to see the written codes for this. I can’t find any information on it online, so it could be just someone saying that to get me off the phone/not cause a raucous with neighbors/they’re just guessing, etc.
What’s an Ameraucana? Breed of chicken? Yeah I’d not get a rooster here if I could have them. He’d wake up a large amount of people here lol
FYI This is an interesting site with laws and ordinances for various areas/cities across the country: The City Chicken: http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/ Lotsa fun chicken links too 🙂
That’s Katy Skinner’s site–she’s down in little old Yacolt, WA where they have wild parrots flying around. Or used to. We love the City Chicken–even have a few of those stickers somewhere.
The Ameraucana is a breed from North and maybe South America. Origin is debated. They have wonderful personalities, puffy earmuffs, scruffy beards, and best of all, most of them lay blue-green eggs.