Celeste - I recently found out that in my residential neighborhood we are allowed and zoned to have 2 chickens. Imagine my surprise! I live in a typical neighborhood, where the properties are 80' x 120' lots which includes each house built in the middle. Homes up and down each street. Not farm/agricultural land at all, so I was quite amazed! Using chickens as bug exterminators is a very good reason to have them (besides the edible eggs and the good fertilizer that their waste produces). Having two chickens is looking like a good idea more and more! Thanks for your article and the photo of your garden helper, Trixie!

Awesome idea! I need to check and see if I can get me some chickens!

We are fortunate to have The Savannah Urban Garden Alliance and each year they host a Tour de Coop. For a small fee (that even I can afford) we travel to several homes to see each person's idea of the ideal chicken coop. Everything from the basic wire A-frame to the really classy 'my-chicken-coop-matches-my-house' and everything in between.

In most cases we are allowed 5 chickens but roosters are forbidden within city limits.

A Tour de Coop! That actually sounds like a fun and interesting tour! Drat, there is nothing like that around here..... I guess I will have to settle for the internet to get some ideas!

Becky I hope you get a couple of chickens. They give fresh eggs, clean the insects off my plants and are just plain happy to be at your service!

I first need to research which chicken species do best in central FL and then where to get them and how much!

My husband may not be too keen on this idea as he would have to help me build the chicken coup. Another project that he would think I was off my rocker to want to do!

There is a site that has free plans for all sorts of things made from PVC ... even a chicken coop!

http://www.pvcplans.com/pvc-pa...

Also there is a site for raising chickens in your backyard.

http://www.backyardchickens.co...

Anne - Thanks for those links! Very interesting!!! Gives me a place to start researching about chickens!

If you just want to keep a few chickens this site has tons of information: http://www.mypetchicken.com/

Best to read everything you can before you actually bring home the chickens; also check with you local county cooperative extension service to get the best local advice.

Or you could do it the wrong way like I did. While I was walking my dog around midnight he found a fully grown chicken in the road.
We brought it home to keep it safe for the night thinking it belonged to our neighbor. No, not his chicken. So we kept it.
Had to scramble to find housing, food, enclosure, etc.

You're welcome ... a few years ago I had actually looked into raising chickens in the back yard because ticks are so bad around here and chickens love ticks.

Celeste, this is a good reminder for those who can have chickens within their property borders. I live in the country on farm land so our options are open. We raised six mixed bantams this spring, and are already seeing their benefits of bug control. I have noticed a huge absence of honey bees this year, and can't help wondering if this is due to over use of pesticides. Thanks for posting this important item! This is 'Miss Tisdale' a small bantam hen: One of our chief 'bug cops'.

Greene - Thanks! I bookmarked yours and Anne's links to my favorites. Sounds like that chicken was just meant to be yours!!!! Glad it found a good home!

The most challenging part of all of this is convincing my husband. I have already brought this up to him in the past 6 months when I found out we were zoned for 2 chickens. He about flipped his lid! So .... But I know I might be able to eventually convince him. I really do want chickens! They have numerous benefits so appear to be worth having. And it is only TWO birds, not a flock.

My one concern is the food might attract rats. I have tarp down below my wild bird seed feeders (so I can collect all the seed shells and any seed not eaten daily and pour them into a plastic trash bag & trash can to dispose of after the bag is full) to discourage any night rodents from coming around. (I had that problem before.) And it seems to be working since I started doing that. But tarp isn't an option under a chicken run/coop. So ....

If you build the coop correctly you should have no problems; also only feed what the chickens will consume so there is not food left to attract rats. Also, it is important that if you keep the food outside it should be in metal containers, not plastic.

I took these photos of the coop I want to build which is larger than needed for 2 chickens. The chickens are secure inside and can be let out to work the garden to keep insects under control.



Rat's-eye view of standard poultry netting most people use; it will not keep a rat out.



Better to spend the money once and buy hardware cloth like this; pay attention to security when attaching the wire to the framework.

By the way, the owner of the coop in the last photo said that racoons are smart enough to open that type of 'thingy' and he was changing to a locking garden gate latch for better security.

Greene - Wow! That is a very well designed and built coop/run! A little too big for 2 chickens, but could be designed as a smaller version. How much run space do chickens need? Also ... several of the websites say to move the chicken coop/run around your property. How often do you have to do that and why? I am clueless about all this!

As far as raccoons go .... they are very smart and have hands that they can use like humans, so you have think that way when building or securing something from them. Years ago, I used to camp with my family. Late one evening, we heard the raccoons getting into something, so we cautiously ventured out of our tent with a flashlight to see what was going on. We found two large raccoons who had gotten into our unsecured ice cooler and had pulled out cans of soda. They had punctured holes in the cans and were holding them up practically guzzling the liquid soda. We couldn't believe it! I wished I'd had my camera and taken a photo! It was so funny, yet also annoying because they drank several of our rationed drinks. (We later had to make a supply run for more. ) But after that, we never underestimated the raccoons! We learned to use bungie cords and rope!

I have a Pinterest board I started a year ago as we have plans to get chickens soon. It has all kinds of plans, tips etc., and each one links to a website.
http://www.pinterest.com/calif...

There is no one right answer for the chicken coop and run questions. Each person has a unique situation, climate, available space and time, type of chickens, etc. Best to do your research, work on the chicken coop and run area during autumn and winter and be ready in the spring to bring your flock home - even if the flock is only 2 chickens.

Edited to add: You can also do a Google search for 'chicken tractor' if you want your coop/pen/run to be moving around.

Because of the serious presence of Lyme disease in so many areas, communities are rethinking the idea of allowing chickens even in towns. Some places will permit them under controlled conditions. That means that the neighbors don't complain! So there are many small moveable chicken coops available online that can be moved around a backyard, even a small one. The chickens or Guinea fowl are still considered free ranging but they aren't free to harass the neighbor's Chihuahua! It also means being diligent about cleaning out the coop so the odors don't waft over the neighbor's BBQ. Perhaps an offer of fresh eggs would be convincing! My local supermarket magazine rack carries a great, informative magazine called "Chickens."

When we started out we were given 4 chickens and this is what we bought to house them......

On top of every other reason to keep them, chickens are just enjoyable! I'd love to have some again (I did years ago) but have no idea who would take care of them if we were gone on vacation or whatever... somehow I doubt the kennel where we leave the dogs would want to take them in!

One bonus I didn't count on was that the chicken (I only had the one chicken) was a 'cat alarm'. Dang, if a strange cat came into the yard Henrietta would holler her head off until I came out to shoo the cat away. She was okay with 'the deck cat' who belongs to a neighbor and sleeps in the sun on my deck, but any other cat was a no-no. Chickens are better than a burglar alarm.