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lucamon
LIF Adult
Member since 6/09 1133 total posts
Name:
Samantha
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Chicken Coop
Not sure where to put this but the Home section sounds about right.
Does anyone have a chicken coop? I'd like to get a few chicks not so much to save money on eggs but for the quality of eggs and also to teach my boys to love animals, responsibility and where food comes from.
My questions are:
1. Is it a lot of work?
2. Are my kids too young ? They are 3 and 1. I was thinking for next spring.
3. How big is your property? Do your neighbors have a problem with it?
4. Did you get a permit for the chicken coop? Is this something the town will tax you on?
5. Do chicks carry a lot of diseases?
6. Will my dogs get along with the chicks?
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Posted 7/18/13 1:16 PM  |
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sfp0701
Liam's Mommy!
Member since 1/07 9764 total posts
Name:
Tricia
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Re: Chicken Coop
I don't have one. But, my coworker does and my mom dreams to. He LOVES it! He says the chickens are like little pets with personalities. It's not legal in the town of Hempstead but a lot of people have them. Just bring fresh eggs to the neighbors!
He has very young kids ( a newborn and a 2 year old). He has never said anything negative about the chickens and kids.
As far as noise I don't think the chickens are too noisy. You can't have a rooster.
There is a website called Backyard chicken that should answer a lot of questions for you.
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| Posted 7/18/13 6:02 PM |
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Crunchewy
LIF Adult
Member since 10/08 1232 total posts
Name:
A
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Re: Chicken Coop
Posted by lucamon
I don't have a chicken coop, but my parents still have one. I think they have about 40 chickens/hens and 2 roosters.
1. Is it a lot of work?
Not really. Chickens are very easy to take care of. They feed them twice a day and let them wonder around the property. Once it gets darker outside the chickens just wonder back to their little "house". My parents have to lock the door every night, because they live close to a forest and we have a fox family living close by.
2. Are my kids too young ? They are 3 and 1. I was thinking for next spring.
Chickens won't attack them or anything. I think it's good for the kids to grow up around different animals.
3. How big is your property? Do your neighbors have a problem with it?
My parents property is huge, their neighbors have chickens too, so they do not have a problem with it. Chickens are pretty quite animals!!!
4. Did you get a permit for the chicken coop? Is this something the town will tax you on?
No idea.
5. Do chicks carry a lot of diseases?
Not that I know.
6. Will my dogs
get along with the chicks?
Will your coop be closed or will the chickens wonder around? If it will be closed then your dogs should be fine.
?
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| Posted 7/18/13 7:23 PM |
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sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
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Re: Chicken Coop
I have a small backyard flock.
My 4 girls are 7.5 years old which is old for a domestic chicken. I got them when they were 3 days old
It is a lot of work when they are babies, once theyre grown it is easier. Protecting them from predators is very serious and requires commitment to keep them safe.
Your kids are not too young, the chickens can imprint on them and will love them like a cat or dog. They have chickenalities and can become very social. My girls know their names, one of them does tricks and they all love to be held.
We live in Brookhaven on a 1/4 acre. There are rules about flock size, roosters and coop location in every town.
No permit needed here, no its not taxed.
Chickens can get worms and other parasites but a clean coop and healthy diet prevents a lot of it. My chickens have never had mites. There are not really any diseases that can be transmitted to humans but handwashing after
contact is recommended
If you get them as babies your dog will be more inclined to protect them rather than hunt them. Both of my dogs and my cat all live in harmony with my chickens.
My girls have a coop inside a very large run but the spend most of their time free ranging my yard.
If you have any other questions, ask away! Also check out backyard chickens.com
Here's a link to my chicken story from the pets board
Sunny's story
Message edited 7/19/2013 7:59:05 AM.
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| Posted 7/18/13 8:13 PM |
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lucamon
LIF Adult
Member since 6/09 1133 total posts
Name:
Samantha
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Chicken Coop
Thank you for the responses. I have been on backyard chickens.com but just wanted to see if anyone on LI has done it. I live in the town of Huntington and it's pretty developed here.
My main concern is the time I have to dedicate to the chickens. I have two young children and 2 dogs. DH works in the city so he's gone 13 hours a day.
KellyFG your response is very helpful. I already looked into the zoning for a chicken coop. I need a permit. There is a min requirement of 2sf and a max of 5sf of space required in the coop for the chicks. No roosters, maximum of 8 chickens allowed. The structure must be inside your required yard setbacks. They make it really hard. lol
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| Posted 7/19/13 8:27 AM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Chicken Coop
My MIL has chickens OOS and my boys have always loved them. They spend a good portion of every morning running around with the chickens when we visit.
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| Posted 7/19/13 11:25 AM |
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smooney
Hidey Ho!
Member since 2/10 1669 total posts
Name:
.
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Re: Chicken Coop
my mom had chickens for many years and JUST got rid of them bc she moved. the kids loved them! the upkeep really isn't too bad. buying grain and hay is the only expense pretty much. they eat all left over fruits, veggies and grains so that cuts down on your garbage too. they lay eggs pretty much from spring through fall (not winter really) and they taste great. as long as you dont have a rouser! haha
id say if you are interested and have the room for a coop and fenced area for them to run around, go for it.
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| Posted 7/20/13 11:50 AM |
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Sparrow
LIF Adult
Member since 11/10 6826 total posts
Name:
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Re: Chicken Coop
This is really making me want to get chickens lol! I'm just nervous that the foxes around us would eat them.
Also, how do you clean up after them? Do you have to sweep out the coop fairly often? I imagine you have to clean up their poop somehow? Is there a lot of daily or weekly maintenance involved? (can you tell I have absolutely no idea about any of this?)
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| Posted 7/20/13 12:09 PM |
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FDNYWife31
LIF Adult
Member since 8/12 1117 total posts
Name:
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Re: Chicken Coop
I grew up with chicks/ chickens, although they were wonderful pets (hens are so sweet) it was a mess and a huge upkeep! They smell, the do make some noises and because of those two reasons alone neighbors can complain. The eggs were extremely fresh and delicious and it did teach my brother and I a lot of responsibility, however that being said I know what my parents went through and I would never consider it for me and my family.
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| Posted 7/20/13 5:55 PM |
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sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
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Re: Chicken Coop
Posted by Sparrow
This is really making me want to get chickens lol! I'm just nervous that the foxes around us would eat them.
Also, how do you clean up after them? Do you have to sweep out the coop fairly often? I imagine you have to clean up their poop somehow? Is there a lot of daily or weekly maintenance involved? (can you tell I have absolutely no idea about any of this?)
My original coop was very large, I cleaned it weekly in the summer and monthly in winter. My new coop which is much smaller for my small flock only takes 5 minutes to clean. The floor is covered with pine shavings which I sweep out into a bin that allows me to dump them in my compost pile or in a trash can. The nests get new hay weekly which is a one minute job.
Chickens cannot be trained to hold their poop or poop in one place, so you have to be committed to keeping their house clean. If you had an area of your yard with dog or cat poop that never got cleaned up it would certainly smell.
My chickens don't smell bad, in fact I have two outdoor rabbits that are a lot harder to keep cleaned up and Odor free.
My chickens can have all of their needs met, food, water, clean house and safety from predators in less than 20 minutes per day unless its time to completely clean the coop. Often I spend much more time than that because I want to.
We are over 7 years into chicken keeping and we've never had a neighbor complain. Most of my neighbors beg for eggs and their kids always want to visit with "the girls" as they call them.
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| Posted 7/20/13 6:18 PM |
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LemonHead
Sour Girl
Member since 3/08 5271 total posts
Name:
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Chicken Coop
This Old House magazine has an article in their August issue about building a chocken coop.
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| Posted 7/21/13 12:47 PM |
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