Urban Chickens in Chapel Hill! (Raleigh, Durham: coupons, home, calculation)

[IAPonyGirl]

Omnis Cohore Gallus!

Chickens ROCK and I hope all you city dwellers can convince your cities to let you have laying hens. I have 25 day old chicks coming next month and here is my coop, today was priming, we did not get to painting, unfortunately:

[needcaffeine]

Carrboro: permitted
Raleigh: permitted
Durham: unanimous decision as of Feb 16, 2010 to permit
Apex: permitted
Wake Forest: permitted
Chapel Hill: permitted? See first post in thread.

Cary: 4:3 decision to not permit, as of Aug 1, 2009
Garner: not permitted on lots less than 1 acre. Not enough support to bring to a vote. Issue died Feb 23, 2010.

So, only the two towns above that are throwing a fit.

My chickens will be 6 months old this month, and are currently laying me one day each a day. I get ~20 eggs a week from 3 chickens. I write the date on each egg and arrange them according to date in the egg carton

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by needcaffeine

Chapel Hill: permitted? See first post in thread.

The first post is from 2007. Since then, in March 2009, the town of Chapel Hill passed a new ordinance regarding chickens. Previously, up to 20 chickens were allowed in some areas. Under the new law, 10 chickens are allowed in all residential areas. (No roosters, though.)

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by needcaffeine

Durham: unanimous decision as of Feb 16, 2010 to permit

city of Durham actually passed the Chicken (Hens only) law in 2009. But keep in mind most HOAs prohibit livestock. Thus even if you live in a city that okays the chicks your HOA will probably have an issue.

[RaleighLass]

This post is timely! I have experience raising ducks so just bought 2 ducks (pekin) and 6 chicks! We live in Raleigh so it's OK. We brought them home Friday. We will be building their house in 2 wks when my friend is able to come help me. It won't be anything near as grand as the one on this post as I have a small yard and need room for my garden and somewhere for my dog to walk

Sunday 2 chicks started acting sick. I babied them and was able to save one, she's doing great now, she's a miniature chick breed. But the other died. I say "she", it's wishful thinking, too early to tell the sex of them.

So, if I end up with any roosters, let me know if you want em...can't have those inside the city limits. I might just take em for a ride to Cary, let them walk around the streets there...wouldn't that freak people out Just kidding!

For those of you considering chickens, I've been researching the care of and coop's all wkend! Here is a version of the style I think we will go with, the ark. I'll likely modify it to make it shorter and higher.
Chicken Ark - Chicken Ark Plans | Chicken House Plans
there's a guy in Wake Forest who sells plans for a different version of this, i think its called a Catawba ark?

Also thinking about this one
Mobile Standard Chicken Coop Kit - Chicken Coops at Chicken Coop Source

I am thinking of starting a blog about my experience with the chickens. I know lots of people do this but thought it would be cool to share with like minded ppl and my friends yet have it all in one place - as well as photos.
Any suggestions regarding my new venture are much appreciated! Oh, I figure that from 5 chickens I'll get around 40 eggs wk! My daughter wants to keep the ducks rather than put them at our pond. So I may end up with duck eggs too.

[IAPonyGirl]

RaleighLass, You can find a ton of information at backyardchickens.com many pics of coops, big and small, and a forum for questions etc.

I also have a guy who can build stuff for you if you need any help with that. He's pretty reasonably priced. PM me if you want it.

Not sure why your one died, or what type of housing you have for them now but they cannot tolerate drafts and if your chicks were day old chicks, they do need to be kept at 95-100F for several weeks.

Good luck with your hens.

[RaleighLass]

IAPonyGirl - thanks so much! I love that website and have referred to it a few times. Appreciate the offer of a guy to help build. I think I have it covered as my guy friend who is an mechanical engineer and has built stuff on his land over the yrs wants to do it for me. I think he is getting a kick out of coming up with the plans. I'll be his helper. I want to learn how to do woodworking just so I am not so clueless..so will be his happy helper!

We live across from a pond and have a hawk or two there and I've seen a coyote here, and an occasional neighbor cat wandering. So, we will be careful of the design and will put the wire down into the ground so that nothing can dig up. I lost two ducks one yr to the hawk...he's not getting my chickens!

Chicks - lost another one this morning She is the last of the two that acted sickly this weekend. I hand fed them baby bird food and water but it must have been too late. We now have 4 chickens that are bigger than the two that died, they have wing feathers, and they are very active. I think they'll be fine. They are currently in the same cage as the pekin ducks and getting along fine. But I will separate them next week as the ducks have different needs and will grow at a faster rate.

Thanks again! Your hen house looks awesome!

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by GarnerMama

We've been considering it for a little while. I'll have to check into having them in Garner.

There is a house in Garner (or maybe it's Raleigh) that I pass by every time I go to Home Depot. I don't know the address, but the house is on the south side of Grovemont (which runs between Old Stage and Timber), right at the intersection with Clearview. These people have LOTS of chickens and ducks/geese. The place is a mess. The back yard has a bit of a slope and the runoff from the yard (actually, no grass at all) feeds into a little stream/drainage ditch at the back of the property. I feel sorry for the people that live near them.

On the other hand, the people down the street from us have about 6-8 chickens. I never hear them and rarely see them. They are kept in the back yard, but sometimes they come out to the front yard looking for stuff to eat. They lay so many eggs that the family gives them away to neighbors. I'm betting that these chickens probably bother the proper southern lady who lives next to me, but I don't have a problem with them.

As a kid during the depression, my father raised chickens at his home in Pittsburgh. He always considered them pets.

[Crashj007]

Originally Posted by Jdatlas

Omlet USA | Product and Services | Chickens | good living

I love the idea of getting one of these and keeping a couple of chickens so that I can have fresh eggs every day. I wonder how my neighbors would react.

Good grief, that thing is the cost of over 200 dozen eggs. I'll get mine from the store, thank you.

[RaleighLass]

Originally Posted by Crashj007

Good grief, that thing is the cost of over 200 dozen eggs. I'll get mine from the store, thank you.

I am just getting started at this stuff but I wouldn't think that design wouldn't work in Raleigh. It gets so hot here, I think that would bake your chickens!

You can make your own house from simple plans for a lot less. Also, I don't know that the motivator is to save money...it's about the experience and having fresh, organic eggs. i imagine if you have enough of them you'd save some $$ or make some selling them but I think most folks here inside Raleigh do it for the fun and fresh eggs.

For me, it's for my daughter who loves animals and enjoyed raising ducks each spring and is now ready for more responsibility. With my guidance, she will be responsible for all their care, cleaning & egg collecting - the work & responsibility will be good for her. Once we've shared eggs with neighbors, she can sell them in the neighborhood to make a few dollars a wk. this is the plan....fingers crossed!