Comments on: Sunday morning on the suburban mini-farm

By: Alison Brendel

Alison Brendel — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:07:19 +0000

Would love to see more picts of the pen and coop setup. I’m looking at doing the same thing here and am looking for ideas! I love fresh eggs!

Thanks!

By: Best in Flock

Best in Flock — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:30:53 +0000

Thanks for adding us to your blogroll, it’s quite an honor!

My bf is really interested in raising chickens on his property, mostly because he LOVES eggs :) I’ll make sure he reads this.

Thanks again and keep up the great work.

By: Marcy

Marcy — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:20:05 +0000

especially with regard to Purina’s non-recall recall.

Hmmm…good ol’ Purina. They have been off my shopping list since last year. Enuff said?

By: Nadine L.

Nadine L. — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:57:46 +0000

Re: The chicken-kissing ..

Oregon will also probably be the first to find a vaccine against salmonella so people are able to nuzzle and kiss their chickens! :)

By: C.L.H.

C.L.H. — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:47:02 +0000

A few cases of salmonella at Easter (we won’t even get into what happens to the chicks after Easter!) are a lot easier to address than the complete and total breakdown of the food safety system in this country. Go after the easy stuff, everything else is impossible.

Got my coop design book at the library last week and found a nice, completely enclosed, civilized and suburban coop design that will work for about 5 hens. I’ve started polling the neighbors to make sure there will be no objections. Should be able to start the coop in a few weeks and I’ll get my chicks at the local farm store. I’m looking at Gold Sex-links and Black Australorps. The Gold sex-links aren’t very big and I’ve heard that they are prolific layers of large eggs. Thanks for the info on feed!
A friend of mine keeps a motion detector light over her coop to help scare away predators. The raccoons and opossums take off when it comes on.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:45:40 +0000

The chicken-kissing, or the watch-dogging?

Just kidding. :)

You’re absolutely right. Oregon’s public health veterinarian did his job with grace and courage during the recall.

By: Nadine L.

Nadine L. — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:42:15 +0000

During the pet food crisis it was Oregon that didn’t look away, but instead was the first state to keep track of sick and dead pets — thanks to their “courageous” public health veterinarian, Dr. Emilio DeBess. Most of Oregon’s health practices should be the norm for the entire U.S. If the no-sales-tax State of Oregon can care for their people regarding these issues, significant or not, what’s our Federal Government’s excuse?

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:04:16 +0000

>The Oregon Health Dept. warns against “nuzzling and kissing” your poultry due to salmonella concerns;)

I don’t do any chicken-kissing. (And I do a lot of hand-washing post hugging, anyway!)

Isn’t it amazing, though, that a health department can be bothered about low-risk issues like chicken-kissing while the entire government bureaucracy looks the other way on intensive animal agriculture and food import practices that truly ARE a risk to our health?

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:53:43 +0000

This morning the chickens were freaking out at 5 a.m. because a stray dog had gotten onto the acreage behind me and was pawing at the boards of the enclosure.

I felt like I was in one of those old movies … “Ma, there’s a fox in the henhouse … hand me the shotgun!”

Fortunately, it wasn’t that dire. I opened the back gate and called to the dog to see if I could figure out where was his home, and he scittered away pretty quickly.

My house backs up to a creek that cuts through the small acreage (which is partly owned by the water district, and mostly by the neighbors behind me). It’s really just a a weedy undeveloped bit of suburban leftover, but in the absence of development the animals take over. We see a lot of critters, mostly rats but also possum, skunks and raccoons. Over the weekend, one of the neighbors saw a massive raccoon in his yard at twilight, and I was guessing the invader was that guy.

Suburban chickens … the adventure continues.

By: C.L.H.

C.L.H. — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:42:46 +0000

Chickens can be very lovable when socialized at an early age. If you want family pets they need to be held and talked to during the brooding process. Watch out though, Oregon Health Dept. warns against “nuzzling and kissing” your poultry due to salmonella concerns;)