Backyard Chickens: Anyone Doing It?

So I'm bored waiting for the snow to melt and imagining my new life in Chapala, (9 days!) and thinking how cool it would be to keep half a dozen hens in a coop in the backyard (or roof) of our new home. A steady supply of fresh, organic eggs would be nice :-)

Anyone doing this? I probably should run this past my landlord first.haha!

If a rooster is included, you surely best contact your landlord first! Good luck.

I am sure you neighbors would love you and your chicken would end up in someone´s pot really quickly . We have a neighbor who loves birds , at one time she had 6 large parrots a couple of peacocks, geese, ducks, chicken and so on..tshe took the parrots back to Guadalajaa and all the other animals disappeared rather quickly..roosters are nothing compared to peacocks .

brigitte wrote:I am sure you neighbors would love you and your chicken would end up in someone´s pot really quickly . We have a neighbor who loves birds , at one time she had 6 large parrots a couple of peacocks, geese, ducks, chicken and so on..tshe took  the parrots back to Guadalajaa and all the other animals disappeared rather quickly..roosters are nothing compared to peacocks .

LOL.  I once lived far enough out in the country in Sonoma County that it didn't much matter what you kept on the property and I had two pairs, but a peacock scream sounds like a woman being strangled to death.  Passed them on to a person who lived even farther out.

I used to have laying hens in Canada. They do not make any noise. You do not need a rooster. It wouldn't be any problem at all as your neighbors wouldn't even know you had them. I'm sure lots of Mexicans have laying hens in their backyards. Peacocks and parrots are a different matter.

the virginian wrote:So I'm bored waiting for the snow to melt and imagining my new life in Chapala, (9 days!) and thinking how cool it would be to keep half a dozen hens in a coop in the backyard (or roof) of our new home. A steady supply of fresh, organic eggs would be nice :-)

Anyone doing this? I probably should run this past my landlord first.haha!

BTW, you can get food fresh eggs in this area. Not in Walmart, but in smaller stores and the local farmers' markets. Much tastier than the U.S. commercially grown eggs.

A Mexican wanted to sell his lot that happened to be near a bunch of rich French Canadians and their trailer park. He brought in a bunch of fighting cocks in cages and put up a Forsale sign. Sold it within 2 months

Except for fighters all the chickens just wander around here

I bought my neighbor's rooster,my wife made a caldo,best money I ever spent on poultry.

All my neighbors have them and we never hear any noise from them, not a problem. We do live out of town……..on the other side of the lake.

Lots of people have chickens down here. We live in Chapala Haciendas and occasionally hear roosters crowing in our neighborhood. Please do ask your landlord (and neighbors if possible).

Oh boy...I have a chicken story.  My husband built me a chicken tractor.  I drove into Chapala to a place that had chicks.  I made my own chicken feed and cared greatly for my 5 hopeful laying hens.  About 5 months later, those 5 hopeful laying hens started to crow!   I can't say that killing the chickens was anything like what my great grandmother did nor was eating them was anything like cornish hens.  We only killed 4 of them and I donated the last one to Hope House.  Then the other adventure started.  

Part 2 begins now.  The place we buy plants and trees from happened to inherit all of the laying hens that were school projects for the elementary class that year.  I don't know where they got the beautiful Rhode Island Reds, still don't know but bless her heart, the gardener said she had too many chickens and gifted one to me.  One was a start but I wanted more so a friend helped me hunt down a crazy Mexican in Ixlauhuacan, who had some laying hens.  These laying hens didn't look normal to me but I was assured they were great laying hens.  So, after he got them out of the trees, (lol)  I took two home.    Found out they were American Game Hens, the roosters are used for cock fighting and the hens are great layers.  They are a bit odd though. They didn't want to sleep in the chicken tractor with the rhode island red, nope, every night they flew up into the fence and slept in the razor wire filled with bugambillia.   Well, all was swell until our guard dogs ate the blessed Rhode Island Red when we left one evening...that broke my heart.  The two American Games flew over the fence and escaped.  One of the precious hens came back almost every evening to see me.  In fact, she was taken in by another neighbor I guess.  One evening, she came to see me with a little chick.  After a while, I didn't see her or the chick anymore... sniff, sniff 

Moral of the story.  Making my own chicken feed was so expensive it didn't prove to be frugal.   I'd still love to have a couple of laying hens that could stay in a chicken coop rather than be free range.  We just can't have free range with our guard dogs.  The chicken tractor was repurposed...not sure I could convince hubby to build me another one.    Little foot still talks about the chicks we used to have.  :)  

To successively raise chickens in Mexico you must have a very secure coop. Too many free-range dogs, cats, tlacuaches, ardillas, skunks, and hungry borrachos.

gringal wrote:

brigitte wrote:I am sure you neighbors would love you and your chicken would end up in someone´s pot really quickly . We have a neighbor who loves birds , at one time she had 6 large parrots a couple of peacocks, geese, ducks, chicken and so on..tshe took  the parrots back to Guadalajaa and all the other animals disappeared rather quickly..roosters are nothing compared to peacocks .

LOL.  I once lived far enough out in the country in Sonoma County that it didn't much matter what you kept on the property and I had two pairs, but a peacock scream sounds like a woman being strangled to death.  Passed them on to a person who lived even farther out.

Absolutely true.  Sounds very strange at night especially since the peacocks like to live on your roof.

Z

There is a member of the organic vegetable club who is/was giving away some guinea fowls. They are apparently excellent gardeners and easy to keep.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/raising-guinea-fowl-zmaz92aszshe.aspx

I used to have a peacock caller - like a duck caller, but sounds like a peacock. Now why on earth would anyone make such a thing? Apparently the wild turkey hunters use it because it infuriates the turkeys. Why did I use it - I had dogs which were sometimes loose in fields ("bumping" rabbits for the hawks), I wanted a unique recall signal that wouldn't be confused with the usual whistles, etc.

Some not-so-kind soul dumped a mated pair of peacocks in my neighborhood in the US.  The only serious complaint from the neighborhood was the size and frequency of the poop.  They did call to one another, but only when they couldn't see one another.  In India, in the dense forest, that was their way to communicate their location to their mate.  As long as they can see one another, they are pretty quiet.  They would roost in the fir trees up the block at night then visit anyone who would put out feed during the day.  We actually enjoyed them.

Chickens and turkeys wander free around here and dogs and cats don't bother them. Their scratching for food makes a mess of a garden

Gamina wrote:Some not-so-kind soul dumped a mated pair of peacocks in my neighborhood in the US.  The only serious complaint from the neighborhood was the size and frequency of the poop.  They did call to one another, but only when they couldn't see one another.  In India, in the dense forest, that was their way to communicate their location to their mate.  As long as they can see one another, they are pretty quiet.  They would roost in the fir trees up the block at night then visit anyone who would put out feed during the day.  We actually enjoyed them.

My pair (Samson and Delilah, so called since Delilah constantly pecked off Samson's forelock) and Solomon and Sheba were penned up in a large enclosure. Trust me, even though they were always in sight of one another, they never shut up. Eeeeeigh!

the peacock sound is horrible. they had them at delicias and i thought fer a while that someone was in trouble. heeeeelllllpppp!