What does your chicken coop look like?

Backyard Chickens in Densely Populated Communities

Prepared for the Shorewood Village Board
3/12/09

“I was a little surprised at the lack of smell. With only a little effort, there’s little to no smell in the coop area, and certainly nothing that would carry over to my neighbors. The birds are quiet most of the time. [They] can squawk loudly after laying an egg, but still it’s not as obnoxious as a barking dog.”
-Carl Wacker, Madison chicken owner

Chickens love to eat food scraps, which diverts this source of waste from landfills and the water treatment system.

Typical sounds made by hens cannot be heard at all from 25 feet away.

Link to document here. (Slow download)

Vancouver approves backyard chicken coops

Vancouver city council delights aficionados by approving plan to allow urban hen houses, but ruffles feathers of poultry association

Jane Armstrong
Globe and Mail
March 11, 2009

Chicken Feed

The monthly cost of buying and keeping one chicken. Chickens eat a combination of pellets, grain, oyster shells and grit, all available at feed stores. Chicken owner Heather Havens broke down her costs of feed and caring for her chickens.

Feed:

Per hen per year: $10.75.
Per month: $.90 per month.

Scratch:

Per hen, per year: $10.25.
Per month: $.85 per month.

Shell and Grit:

Per hen per year: $9.19.
Per month: $.77 per month.

Hay (for bedding):

Per hen, per year: $10.50.
Per month: $.88 per month.

Shavings (for bedding):

Per hen, per year: $8.99.
Per month: $.75 per month.
Total: per month, per hen. $4.15.

Start up costs:

Hen: $10.
House: $25
Chicken run. (An enclosed area, attached to a chicken coop, in which poultry can roam): $69.47.
Total: $104.47
Paul Farley’s chickens lay, on average, about 270 eggs per year. If the annual upkeep is $49.80, the average cost per egg from a backyard chicken is about 18 cents.
Source: Heather Havens, Paul Farley.

Cost of a dozen SPCA-certified eggs. Label says the chickens were cage-free and vegetarian fed: $5.49. Cost per egg: 45 cents.
One dozen medium eggs from Safeway: $2.39. Cost per egg: 20 cents.
Source: Caper’s, Safeway.

See complete article here.