Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs...

My girls have been busy.

Some people who have no knowledge of backyard chickens, or chickens in general, might be wondering how many eggs these ladies will lay. I was one of those people only a few months ago and I am still learning every day.

Well, it seems Barred Rocks lay plenty. My girls have now produced 12 dozen eggs as of  this Sunday. That is 11 dozen eggs in only 5 weeks from only 4 hens.  At full production we are now getting a dozen about every three days.

Now, I realise that their laying will reduce in the winter, but for now we are enjoying the delicious eggs we are getting every day which is a bonus most pets don't provide. That is right, I wrote pets because, after all, that is what they are.

Allison with Dot.

We enjoyed Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend. Family, food and fellowship. Now that sounds Christian! Some of my family members asked the same questions everyone asks of us when they find out we have chickens in the back yard.

For your amusement, here is a list of FAQ's I created from our conversations this weekend.

On keeping chickens in the backyard:
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Q1: Don't they smell?
     A1: Nope, keep their coop clean and they don't smell - four chickens don't create as much poop as a big dog. All animal and human waste has to be cleaned up and disposed of. The great thing is chicken waste can be composted in the backyard for use in our garden later.

Q2: Doesn't the dog bother them?
     A2: Nope again. Our dog co-exists in harmony with the chickens and even checks up on them now and then. Once we were watching an old movie that had some free-range chickens making distressed noises - our dog took off to the backyard thinking that our chickens might be in danger when it was only on the movie! All this being stated - it pays to know your dog. Some dogs can't be trusted with chickens and it is up to each of us to know our pets. Check out this story about chickens and dogs: http://communitychickens.blogspot.com/2010/08/chickens-and-dogs.html

Q3: What do your neighbours think?
      A3: Our neighbours are super supportive. We checked with them before we got the chicks to make sure they were okay with it.

Q4: Are the chickens noisy?

      A4:  Not as noisy as the neighbourhood crows and jays or riding lawn mowers and leaf blowers. Seriously though, they make very little noise but they do like to holler a bit to announce they a have laid an egg or if they sense a predator.  in general even this is pretty quiet even in our sleepy little neighbourhood.

Q5: Isn't there a by-law?

     A5: Actually there isn't an explicit by-law about chickens, however there is mention about poultry and livestock in general in the Zoning by-law. It is ambiguous enough that even our planning department wasn't sure if it prohibited chickens or not and during the Official Plan review this year they are hoping to make it more clear and chicken friendly as currently it states prohibition or raising livestock "for fur or food" on all lots 2 hectares or less. This means someone on a 5 acre country lot can't even have one chicken. We know at least dozens of people are breaching this now. However, you will be happy to know that I am permitted a tiger or elephant under the current zoning by-law.

Q6: What will you do in the winter?
     A6: We are in the process of winterizing the coop. We have installed insulation and I designed the coop with winter in mind - there is an east and a south facing window. Our chickens are a winter hardy breed.  Unless it is an unusually harsh winter we are not planning on adding a heat lamp. We will judge that when the situation arises and are going to monitor these girls closely.

Q7: Are you going to eat them?
     A7: We aren't going to eat them. We consider them our pets.