This means you can own chickens without the local municipality saying you can't.
Chickens are cheap, easy to care for, and they produce a fuck ton of eggs.
Chickens are great but let me present to you: ducks.
Hear me out - ducks cost only slightly more to obtain, if you get the right breed the egg production is still quite high, ducks are MUCH hardier than chickens - they can live in rain and snow with minimal shelter and are not susceptible to disease and parasites like chickens are. Their eggs are higher in nutrition and if you’re looking to sell your eggs they fetch a MUCH higher price than chicken eggs. Feeding ducks can cost less than chickens if you have decent yard forage for them (ie bugs and grubs and worms) so if you’re growing them for meat they can often be more economical per pound of meat than chickens simply because they require less input (see initiatives in poor equatorial nations, they’re feeding entire villages on what are basically feral duck populations). Also almost no municipality has rules regarding ducks since ducks and geese often live in urban settings wild. Icing on the cake is that ducks are much easier for novice growers to deal with as they simply require less work and are generally very mild tempered. Just make sure you have enough females for your drake(s) because they are horny little shits and will literally mate a female to death if they don’t have enough other females to work with.
Correct, just keep their flight feathers trimmed. I’ve also read anecdotal evidence that often they may fly but will return if they have good forage so some duck farmers choose to leave them in their natural state so that they can escape predators if needed. In town though I’d say clipping the flight feathers is a better option.
that’s interesting, i’ve mostly found chickens to be more disgusting just bc of how nasty their poo is and the fact that they’ll cannibalize their own eggs. I think the trick with ducks and water is either a constantly circulating pool or spring fed natural pond. standing water that never gets changed out or is reliant on rain will get nasty fast. a lot of urban duck growers will just empty and refill a kiddie pool every couple days but imo that seems like a LOT of water to go through. I guess if you’re recycling the duck water into your garden though it could work. Duck poo is pretty legit fertilizer.
Yes most growers clip the flight wings. In winter all they really need is a shed like shelter. Check out Goldshaw Farms on yt, that guy raises 2-3 varieties of ducks and geese and he was the entire reason I got into it. Very informative channel. https://youtube.com/channel/UCjl3zDun9SazYI0UWWu6_1A
Also the meat you get is good. If you don't want to slaughter them yourself and get them dress out there are people that can take of that for you. My grandmother back in the day would take are of that part. Sunday chick dinner was pecking around the yard just that morning LOL!!
There are serious drawbacks (from someone who has a prejudice against chickens unless they're fully dressed out on my plate steaming hot with a pinch of rosemary and olive oil).
Chickens are expensive to keep--building a coop, feeding them. They attract snakes and predators that will not only eat your eggs but your chickens. They're messy (feathers, feed waste, droppings, feathers), and they stink.
Of course, this is coming from someone who was attacked by grandma's rooster as a child and hated the nasty little fuckers ever since, so you can take that for what it's worth. I'll just get my eggs from the farmer down the road. An omelet isn't worth putting up with those feathered demon dinos from the eighth circle of Hell
I know. Grandma kept chickens my whole childhood, and ducks (a little rich but delicious).
Best chicken I ever had was a month after the Rooster Attack. We were sitting down at grand'mas for dinner and she said, "You know where that chicken came from, don't you?" and I just looked her, confused. She pointed to the crispy leg in my hand, "That's the rooster that attacked you," and smiled. And I smiled. And I dug into that chicken with gusto and that was the best chicken I have ever had in my life :-D So yeah, chickens are amazing....on my Plate
This means you can own chickens without the local municipality saying you can't. Chickens are cheap, easy to care for, and they produce a fuck ton of eggs.
Chickens are great but let me present to you: ducks.
Hear me out - ducks cost only slightly more to obtain, if you get the right breed the egg production is still quite high, ducks are MUCH hardier than chickens - they can live in rain and snow with minimal shelter and are not susceptible to disease and parasites like chickens are. Their eggs are higher in nutrition and if you’re looking to sell your eggs they fetch a MUCH higher price than chicken eggs. Feeding ducks can cost less than chickens if you have decent yard forage for them (ie bugs and grubs and worms) so if you’re growing them for meat they can often be more economical per pound of meat than chickens simply because they require less input (see initiatives in poor equatorial nations, they’re feeding entire villages on what are basically feral duck populations). Also almost no municipality has rules regarding ducks since ducks and geese often live in urban settings wild. Icing on the cake is that ducks are much easier for novice growers to deal with as they simply require less work and are generally very mild tempered. Just make sure you have enough females for your drake(s) because they are horny little shits and will literally mate a female to death if they don’t have enough other females to work with.
Just something to consider.
How do you keep them from flying away? Clipped wings?
Correct, just keep their flight feathers trimmed. I’ve also read anecdotal evidence that often they may fly but will return if they have good forage so some duck farmers choose to leave them in their natural state so that they can escape predators if needed. In town though I’d say clipping the flight feathers is a better option.
that’s interesting, i’ve mostly found chickens to be more disgusting just bc of how nasty their poo is and the fact that they’ll cannibalize their own eggs. I think the trick with ducks and water is either a constantly circulating pool or spring fed natural pond. standing water that never gets changed out or is reliant on rain will get nasty fast. a lot of urban duck growers will just empty and refill a kiddie pool every couple days but imo that seems like a LOT of water to go through. I guess if you’re recycling the duck water into your garden though it could work. Duck poo is pretty legit fertilizer.
do you clip their wings?
what do you do for seasons?
Yes most growers clip the flight wings. In winter all they really need is a shed like shelter. Check out Goldshaw Farms on yt, that guy raises 2-3 varieties of ducks and geese and he was the entire reason I got into it. Very informative channel. https://youtube.com/channel/UCjl3zDun9SazYI0UWWu6_1A
I'm not that knowledgeable about farming etc. but chickens seem really efficient for the amount of quality food you get.
Also the meat you get is good. If you don't want to slaughter them yourself and get them dress out there are people that can take of that for you. My grandmother back in the day would take are of that part. Sunday chick dinner was pecking around the yard just that morning LOL!!
There are serious drawbacks (from someone who has a prejudice against chickens unless they're fully dressed out on my plate steaming hot with a pinch of rosemary and olive oil).
Chickens are expensive to keep--building a coop, feeding them. They attract snakes and predators that will not only eat your eggs but your chickens. They're messy (feathers, feed waste, droppings, feathers), and they stink.
Of course, this is coming from someone who was attacked by grandma's rooster as a child and hated the nasty little fuckers ever since, so you can take that for what it's worth. I'll just get my eggs from the farmer down the road. An omelet isn't worth putting up with those feathered demon dinos from the eighth circle of Hell
And an added bonus, no refrigerator required to keep your meat fresh.
I know. Grandma kept chickens my whole childhood, and ducks (a little rich but delicious).
Best chicken I ever had was a month after the Rooster Attack. We were sitting down at grand'mas for dinner and she said, "You know where that chicken came from, don't you?" and I just looked her, confused. She pointed to the crispy leg in my hand, "That's the rooster that attacked you," and smiled. And I smiled. And I dug into that chicken with gusto and that was the best chicken I have ever had in my life :-D So yeah, chickens are amazing....on my Plate
I can see why you don't like them haha. I've been around them a bit and I can relate to what you're saying regarding the mess and smell.