- For chicken-raising questions, I highly recommend http://www.backyardchickens.com/
- For getting-legal questions, I recommend, with reservations, http://www.salemchickens.com/
legalstuff.html -- There's a lot of good info on their site regarding existing ordinances, but I think their aggressive strategy has the potential to do more harm than good, depending on your local situation.
Contact Us
Use the comments below (or anywhere on the site) to contact us. If you leave an email address or phone number and want me to take it down once I receive it, let me know that, too. We're certainly not experts in chicken-care or in working with your local government to get your chickens legal -- but we're happy to share what we know.
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Jessica,
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get your baby chicks? Jay (Kristoff) and I are working on getting a couple of birds for our backyard. We were also curious as to whether you still had your "incubator" supplies (lamps, heaters, etc. for the babies) and would be willing rent/sell them to us. Rent if you are planning on getting more chicks at come point, buy if you are done. I prefer to recycle things rather than buy new. :)
Thanks!
Jenni K.
Greetings from south Bexley! We went to TSC hoping to get three chickens and they told us the minimum in Ohio they could sell was 6 but Bexley only allows 5. How did you handle this?
ReplyDeleteHi Douglas-
DeleteSome places will only ship 6 at a time because they want to make sure the little guys have enough collective body heat to keep them warm enough. Some places then take this a bit further and will only sell 6 at a time to folks who are carrying them out the door. It's a really silly policy in my opinion. Rather than argue with the TSC, I recommend calling City Folks Farm Shop (in Clintonville: 946-5553) and ask them when they'll be getting more chicks. Through City Folks you can get more interesting breeds and support an awesome local shop. Another route (the one we took because City Folks didn't exist yet) is to drive up to Polk, Ohio, and get them from Meyer Hatchery. They sold us 3 chicks and even helped us pick 3 healthy females. Chicken sexing is an art and it's not 100% accurate. But there are chicks that they're /more/ sure are females and those are the ones you want. Rehoming an accidental rooster is no fun.
I think I might draft a letter to TSC right now. Maybe, given the popularity of teeny backyard flocks, they'd consider updating their policy?
Thanks for the info! I hadn't heard of Meyer Hatchery before. We did go ahead and buy the 6 and are looking for a potential home or God forbid if one of them goes naturally, we won't have to worry about that.
ReplyDeleteOn another note I know I have to make everything secure for them. I've seen lots of raccoons in Bexley before but last night when I just happened to look out back at the coop construction site, I spotted a possum snooping around.
Thanks!
Doug
neither link about connects to the Bexley ordinances - it just says page not found. I live in Gahanna and want to present city council with a proposal for an ordinance to keep chickens in the city, and was wanting to see what Bexely allows to get an idea of you to draft my proposal. Is there an updated link you can provide? or do you have any links that can supply a "boiler plate" proposal that I could use/modify? Thank you!
ReplyDelete-Emily
Emily-
DeleteI've updated the "Getting Legal In Bexley" tab. The language of the ordinances is cut/pasted at the bottom of that page. Let me know if there's anything else I can do. Good luck! I hope the process in Gahanna is as amicable as it was in Bexley! Aim for sensible! Sensible means less hassle and $ for the city, too!
Also, as far as a boiler plate proposal, start with figuring out what ordinances Gahanna already has that are relevant (re: structures, variances, noise, pets). It can be easiest just to modify what's already there. Feel free to email me, too, if you want some help thinking through this (not that I'm an expert).
DeleteEmily-
ReplyDeleteBexley must've moved them on their website. I should have time tomorrow to hunt them down, but you could also call Amy our animal control person. She is fantastic and nice and probably knows where to find those links. When are you presenting? If I'm free & you think it'd be helpful, I'm happy to come provide moral support!
Jessica
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Dane Carlson. I wear many hats. In addition to blogging about business opportunities and ideas (www.business-opportunities.biz) since 2001, I'm also a farmer, and inventor.
Last year, I stumbled onto growing barley fodder as a way to feed my own chickens and pigs for pennies a day, and shortly, I was building fodder growing systems for all my neighbors. (http://www.mariposafodder.com)
Barley fodder, if you don't know, is simply sprouted barley seed. It is incredibly nutritious, easily digestible and very inexpensive. Not only that, but it is very simple to produce yourself, because it grows from seed in only seven days. In other words, it is the perfect animal feed.
I've packed up everything I know about growing fodder, and building systems for others and making a profit doing so (often nearly $200 on a $300 system!), into a 139 page ebook that I'm selling for $49. (http://www.mariposafodder.com/sell.html)
Since your an active chicken farmer and blogger, I was wondering if you'd like to take a look and do a quick review of the book?
(If you like the book, I'd be more than happy to giveaway a few to your readers, too!)
What do you think?
I'm looking forward to talking to you soon,
Dane - dane@danecarlson.com
(you can remove this after you read it, if you like.)
I don't know if anyone monitors this page anymore. It looks like most of the comments are pretty old. We are working I getting her legislation in Gahanna to allow chickens. If anyone in Bexley that has chickens would contact me I would appreciate it. Jeannie Hoffman. Jeanniecustom@Gmail or cell 614-570-3778
ReplyDelete