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Chicken Tractor. Photo: Jessica Reeder
Pretty much everywhere I’ve been where I thought life is good, the people had chickens. It just makes sense on so many levels. You can get organic eggs, you can harvest meat, the chickens help make the land more fertile–and it doesn’t take a lot of space to do it.
A couple days ago I saw this piece on the recent surge of people raising backyard chickens, which is legal here in Sarasota county. People living even on very small lots can use chicken ‘tractors’ like the one pictured here. Tractors are basically inexpensive floor-less coops that you move from place to place around your yard. The chickens scratch at insects and worms, and their manure goes directly into the ground as organic fertilizer.
Here’s a great resource to find out what the laws are for having chickens in various places around the US. It’s surprising how many urban areas, such as Seattle, allow you to raise chickens. Here’s another good site that sells tractor kits (although they’d be super easy to build yourself if you have carpentry skills) as well as poultry supplies.
As we settle down in Patagonia this fall, we’re definitely thinking about having chickens. I’m tired of buying everything. I want Layla to grow up eating food that comes right from our land, food we raise ourselves.
Anyone raise / raised chickens in an urban environment or using a tractor? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
David Miller
David Miller is Senior Editor of Matador (winner of 2010 and 2011 Lowell Thomas awards for travel journalism) and Director of Curricula at MatadorU. Follow him @dahveed_miller.
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Kind of gives new meaning to Tweet hey? Yes! I was hoping no one had used that yet. Although I did enjoy Dave and Deb’s “wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be” (have I told you I’m a sucker for a good pun?).
That’s a cool idea. We have a dream. And that dream is to one day have some land to have a few farm animals. And yes, chickens will be on that land.
I raised chickens on a standard suburban lot on Mercer Island, outside of Seattle, for many years. We gave them the run of the yard which they were able to demoslsh in about three months. I loved the whole operation and chickens are more interesting than you might expect. Problems are: care is needed with the feed as rats are bound to show up; you may need to clip your chickens’ wings so they don’t fly over to the less-agrarian neighbors’ decks; few jurisdictions allow roosters so you need a plan when your “sexed” chick turns out to be a he and not a hen; chickens need to be treated regularly for mites; raccoons and coyotes can be a problem; your winters may not be mild enough for the portable “coop” which you show. Finally, not all your friends and neighbors will trust real eggs and be prepared for many questions from people who do not understand that females produce eggs without the help of males.
really appreciate all those insights.
We too are contemplating chickens – maybe next spring. My 8-year-old is excited about helping to design a coop. We priced feed the other day and it looked like for 2-3 birds, it would cost around $15 a month (US). Not too bad if they turn out the eggs. Of course, I buy feed for wild birds for $15 every few months, and all they do for us is turn our front porch into a hull- and poop-littered disaster zone.
My wife and I are in the start-up phases of a micro-farm and are absolutely going to incorporate chickens in our sustainability plans. Chickens are great recyclers of kitchen waste, good for pest control and make awesome little tillers between plantings. Not to mention the tasty fresh eggs.
I know those smelly places in Athens and also in the town on Lake Lanier we used to go to in the summers. Can’t remember the name but it was apparently the “broiler capital”. But yours shoudn’t be anything like those mega-sized genetically engineered farms so no worries;-)
My husband and I first started fantasising about having a chicken tractor whilst living in the concrete jungles of Japan. I’d never felt further from the land there despite living in a sake rice region. Missing green things was one of our major reasons to return to New Zealand, but I’ve yet to get my chicken tractor!
Good luck!
Well, you don’t HAVE to get feed, you can feed them a lot of stuff.
Raising chickens in your backyard is something that anyone who can, should look into. The reasons are countless, anywhere from the cost of saving on eggs over time, to the fun family activity of it, to lessons learned for children, and so on. Nothing like eating eggs from your own chickens!