<p>Ok, this is crazy, but I want to get some chickens (mostly as pets). H and I live in a neighborhood that is zoned for chickens (although I don’t know anyone who has any). We would love the fresh eggs but are not interested in eating them. I’m thinking about getting 3-4 bantam (small) chickens. Does anyone have any words of wisdom?</p>
<p>We used to have them.</p>
<p>Make sure you have a very secure house/run for them, especially at night. Fox and raccoons love chickens.</p>
<p>If you live somewhere that has freezing temps in winter, you need to provide liquid water at all times.</p>
<p>Those are the two things I remember as being a problem. Because they lived next to our horse barn, my D and I used to care for them even though they were H’s project. We no longer have chickens as D and I did not need anything more to feed, worry about or clean up after.</p>
<p>All that being said, the eggs were excellent.</p>
<p>Have to ask - why do you want fresh eggs but not to eat???</p>
<p>We live in the city limits but have a neighbor who has a few. She has an adorable coop that she bought for them. She lets them roam in the yard sometimes. They have even been known to escape the yard and be outside the fence! Be aware that having the chickens and their feed out, etc. is likely to draw other critters to your yard/coop area. Rodents, squirrels, etc. I can say that there are some people in the neighborhood who have frowned upon this neighbor having them because of that.</p>
<p>It is a hoot in the summertime when the windows are open to hear the chicken clucking in a residential neighborhood!</p>
<p>Our suburban neighbors have kept chickens for about 10 years. They can be entertaining, but these animals die frequently (foxes, hawks, dogs etc.). They do escape and wander around the top of our yard. We don’t care, but others might. Twice the neighbors have ended up with roosters unintentionally. The roosters do crow at 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30 etc. so if you end up with any, have the nerve to to get rid of them quickly (my plea (on behalf of your neighbors, who haven’t signed on to live in Green Acres).</p>
<p>Our suburban Chicago town recently passed a ban on keeping chickens within the city limits. A year or so ago someone decided to keep chickens in their back yard and the village code did not explictly prohibit the practice. Well, it didn’t take long for the neighbors to complain and the village board to act. </p>
<p>I’m not surprised the village reacted the way it did - the joke around town is that our code is so strict, it takes three licensed electricians to legally screw in a light bulb! I guess they never thought anyone in an upper middle class suburb would want to keep chickens.</p>
<p>OP indicates that the neighborhood is zoned for chickens - do any neighbors have chickens? Are chickens specifically identified as allowed, or is there not an explicit prohibition? The answers to those questions could be instructive as to how much push back the OP might receive.</p>
<p>Yes, we had chickens for years - though not in town. Bantams are a great idea, they seemed to have more personality in general than the full size chickens we had, also could fly and hide better and were great mothers. The difficult part is protecting them from predators and if you want them to roam free in your yard you may not be able to completely do this except when they’re shut in at night. Which reminds me … You’ve heard the expression “herding cats”? Chickens are similar (unlike ducks who do everything by committee) so it is important that you have a way of getting them to roost where you want them to at night. If you live somewhere cold you can buy heater to stop water from freezing and there are some very cute little chicken houses available now. Another good idea is to research the breeds of chicken you plan to get because they do have different characteristics and if you want them as “pets” an easygoing temperament might be best.</p>
<p>As chickens get older, they typically lay fewer eggs and eventually may stop altogether. If you’re not interested in the chickens as dinner, this can get to be a problem for many backyard chicken raisers. But since you mentioned pets, this shouldn’t be a problem. We have a family in our neighborhood with chickens, and other than them getting out now and then it hasn’t been a problem. I worry that one might get into my backyard while the dogs are out, but if it happens it happens. I grew up in a town next to a woman who basically had a mini farm, and she had the MEANEST chickens as well as a rooster. I don’t mess the crowing, or her mean chickens pecking at my ankles!</p>
<p>My friend has chickens and a rooster, and her rooster just died in the last deep freeze. I’ve never seen her mini-farm (she used to keep goats, too), but I trust that if you are supposed to have a heated coop she did and it just wasn’t enough. If you live in a cold climate you should put thought into how you will keep them safe and make sure it’s not more effort than you want to make.</p>
<p>We’ve had chickens for decades. Your plan of 3-4 bantams sounds perfect. Bantams tend to be more intelligent than the larger chicken breeds, and typically can fly pretty well which is good (for their safety) if you plan to let them outside of a coop and/or run during the day.</p>
<p>It really is best to have some sort of coop with an outside run. At first we didn’t have one and we just let our chickens roost in trees at night. It’s a wonder that we didn’t lose them to predators or exposure to cold in the winter. Now we have a coop with an attached run.</p>
<p>We used to butcher some of our chickens but now we just enjoy the eggs while they are laying and let them “retire” when they stop. </p>
<p>Just start out small, like you are planning to do, follow good basic poultry husbandry guidelines, and see how you like it!</p>
<p>They sell the cutest looking coop on Williams-Sonoma. My neighborhood, which is quite rural, has rules against it. Hubby is the vp of our hood, and they’re always looking for board members. They were trying to recruit me until I said I had a 2 item agenda and would only deal with these two items - neighbors need to take their christmas decorations down in a reasonable amount of time and not make me look at the wreaths on their houses in July, and I want an exemption for a chicken coop. They stopped asking me - lol</p>
<p>A friend of mine has chickens and sells her eggs.</p>
<p>Our city ordinance is 5 chickens, no roosters, unless you have at least 1/2 acre. We have a bigger yard and have 8 hens; we had 9 until a raccoon got one a couple of weeks ago. 3 of them are “retired.” They laid for about 2 years then stopped, and the wife won’t let me make soup.</p>
<p>We got most of our info from a book called Backyard Chickens. Our coop is the kids’ playhouse converted for the use with a covered run attached, but we let them roam the back yard most days. The raccoon tore through the netting to get in, so now there is a sliding door on the coop to keep critters out at night.</p>
<p>If you leave food out for them, expect rats.</p>
<p>No advise here but I do think it is funny that the suburbs of Chicago have outlawed chickens but you can have them in Chicago itself.</p>
<p>I would love to have them but I don’t want them scratching up my flowers.</p>
<p>Do you have a nicely landscaped yard? Chickens DIG. They really DIG. So if you let them roam freely in your yard, you can say goodbye to the landscaping 
For the same reason, make sure that you have barriers in place preventing your chickens from escaping onto the neighbors’ territory. A portable chicken coop/run combo will solve a lot of troubles. If you have predators that roam your area (coyotes, foxes, raccoons), you will have to make sure the chickens are well protected from the dangers.</p>
<p>And eggs, especially fresh organic ones, are really good for you! The high cholesterol/getting fat from eggs is a big myth.</p>
<p>I had chickens for years, up to 19 at the most. Most of my hens were Americaunas, although not purebred, so probably more accurately called Easter Eggers, although they are commonly sold under the other name. I like the breed a lot, and they lay beautiful eggs in all colors of green, blue, and pinky peach. THe hens themselved come in a variety of colors, although with the same markings pattern. They also have what is called a “pea” comb, meaning that it is very small, like a peacock, which is more aesthetically pleasing to me, personally, and an advantage in cold climates because they don’t get frostbitten. </p>
<p>I’m chickenless at the moment, due to attrition, but may get a new flock in the spring. I live in a place that is a cross between small country town and suburb. We have about 3 1/2 acres, our neighbor on one side has well over 20…that kind of thing. A lot of people around here have chickens. I started out with 12, but I would get no fewer than 6. There will be attrition.</p>
<p>It is essential to have a secure coop for them to roost in at night, which is when most–although not all, unfortunately–predators are active. My girls were completely free range for at least 6 years, and then a family of foxes moved into the big woods behind us. After losing 3 hens in one week, I put up a fence adjacent to the coop, giving them an area probably about 15x15 to roam in. Having been totally free, they hated it, and would patrol the fence like prisoners. The fence has to be 5 or 6 feet high to prevent them from flying out, and even then one will do so occasionally. Whether completely free or penned, the hens will “come home to roost” as it starts to get dark, and all you need to do is close the door behind them. (Until then, unless you’ve trained them to come when called, good luck on rounding them up! )</p>
<p>Absolutely do NOT get a rooster, and if a chick turns out to be one by mistake, get rid of it. They are noisy, aggressive to humans as well as hens, and a general PITA. And you don’t need one to get eggs.</p>
<p>I prefer to get mine as chicks, because they will bond to me. I trained mine to come when I called using millet-based bird seed, which is like candy to them. Free range chickens are delightful to watch, and many of them develop a lot of personality. The common perception that hens are stupid is wrong. (How intelligent would a human infant be if it were raised in a closet?) A few of mine lived to be 7 yrs old, and were great characters. My girl at the top of the pecking order actually started to crow occasionally in her last year. I miss her. She would come up on the side porch and look through the glass next to the door, then crow for me to come out with treats. :)</p>
<p>Although they will select a spot to create a dirt bath, they are highly unlike to dig up the whole yard! </p>
<p>Oh, and you will want electricity in the coop for two reasons: to power a thing to keep their water from freezing in the winter, and to be able to burn a light bulb to extend their hours of light if you want them to lay year-round. And it is just nice to be able to turn on a light in there sometimes. BTW, they do not stop laying at 2, although it does slow down gradually over the years. Mine were still laying the occasional egg at 6 or 7.</p>
<p>Google The Chicken Whisperer. Great information. I think he has a radio show, too.
Great coops and supplies (and live chicks in very early spring) at Tractor Supply.</p>
<p>We’ve had chickens for almost 20 years and I love them. Couldn’t imagine life around here without chickens. Over the years we’ve had several roosters. All of them but one were as stated by others, PITAS! The exception was a jersey giant – he stood almost 3 feet tall – and he was the sweetest rooster I’ve ever seen. </p>
<p>My son sells the eggs for a little extra money and has show birds for 4-H. They’re pretty low maintenance and a ton of fun. Let us know what you decide.</p>
<p>Having been raised on a farm, I’m surprised by all the owners of chickens on this thread. It would never occur to me to want them as pets, so I find this idea…interesting.</p>
<p>Why do you want the eggs if you will not eat them?</p>
<p>I interpreted OP’s comment “we would love the fresh eggs but are not interested in eating them” as “we would love the fresh eggs but are not interested in eating THE CHICKENS”. Maybe I’m off, but that made more sense for me as a pronoun substitution.</p>
<p>That would make sense!!^^^</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! And yes, I meant we want the eggs (to eat) but don’t want to eat the chickens. A lesson for me on being precise!</p>
<p>To answer a few questions:
Our county specifically states we can have chickens. (we do not want a rooster…haha)
We will have a coop to lock them in at night and they will be kept in a fenced in area (that they hopefully can’t escape but I know there may be accidents). We only have neighbors on one side of our house but we asked them if they would be ok with it and they said yes. They also have two young kids who would love to come over and “play” with the chickens. </p>
<p>A few more questions:
We have dogs, will this be a problem if the chickens are never allowed out (of penned area)without direct supervision? Do dogs ever get used to chickens without wanting to eat them? Our neighborhood is known for coyotes that steal small unattended dogs…is this a deal breaker if we have a locked coop within a fenced area, within a fenced yard? We also have very large crows (newcomers to our area) that steel large baby birds right out of nests. We thought we would use a bird mesh on top of the outer enclosure. We have had a racoon enter our house before, through the dog door at the back of the house,even though we have a fenced back yard. We found the small hole it was getting through the fence,plugged it up, and it hasn’t been back.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t want to purposely put animals in harms way. DH is very handy, so I’m not worried about being creative with their enclosure.</p>