Be warned, my personal experience was that the ark was difficult to clean (poop and chips get stuck in the corners.) I actually had a family of mice move in one year!  Also, they are HEAVY so it will take 2 strong people to move it. But, they are cute and trendy and the chickens will be safe from most predators. Here’s my peanut in the foreground, homemade ark in the background:

Thanks to my buddy Rob for passing this one along!

Now I change water once a day, and they have ice-free liquid all day. Definitely worth the $25.99!

Our yard is quite small. We have a couple of acres, but it’s mostly a steep hill. The coop is built at the edge of the back hill. 2009 was a relatively rainy year, and the water flowed down the hill, directly into the coop. Every time it rains the water collects in the coop and creates a mushy, muddy, stinky mess. Good thing for my gals that I don’t mind some hard labor. Every time it gets muddy I don my muck boots and shovel out a layer of stinky mud. Chickens are notoriously wasteful of their food, so all the layer ration gets flung out on the ground and mixed into the mud. It smells awful when it’s wet, just a cloying, sickly smell. So, I have to shovel it into a wheelbarrow and haul it to my compost pile, and bury it.

If you’re considering a coop, keep drainage in mind. I am looking at my options, maybe digging some drainage tunnels behind the coop. Unfortunately it mostly rock and shale, so it’s going to be some hard digging!

• Pro-chicken legislation failed; BUT
• Anti-chicken legislation was deferred indefinitely!

I still have my beloved girls, and they are full-grown and beautiful. Despite the cold weather, they have begun laying. Yesterday I had a record day: 6 chickens, 6 eggs! Now that they are up to production I am able to share the bounty with my neighbors. I am delighted to report that they love having chickens in the neighborhood, so my girls are safe from the law. At this point, the only reason I’d have to give them up would be a neighborhood complaint. I will post daily updates from now on!

So, I may need to take someone up on the many kind offers to foster the girls. Alternatively, I can live a life of crime and keep my illegal flock. This is unfamiliar territory for me, law-abiding citizen that I am. Who polices the chickens? Will I be fined? Will I go to jail? And, how do you broach the subject?
(”So person so-and-so in authority, if I did theoretically decide to break the law and keep chickens, what would happen to me?”)

Anyway, the big, wonderful news is: Metro Planning Commission Approves Plan to Drop Nashville’s Poultry Prohibition. The plan still needs approval from Metro Council, but I am feeling pretty confident that this will pass. I was shocked at how many other illegal chicken owners and their neighborhood supporters showed up last night. Kudos!

I was most interested in the “stealth chicken coop” concept. Apparently people are making coops that look like garbage cans to circumvent the law. I’d rather change the law so I can get a hot pick eglu!

From Today's Tennessean

Jenny Upchurch from the Tennessean wrote an article titled: Urban chicken coops spark Nashville zoning conflict.

I am worried that our beautiful hens will have to go, but on the other hand, someone had to advocate for them!

Our friend Tim Moses brought his daughter to meet our Brahmas at the old house.

Brahmas are extremely gentle. Ours seem only mildly annoyed when our 5-year-old chases them around the yard. When she does manage to grab an unsuspecting hen, the bird will sit quietly until the petting session is over.

The American Poultry Association publishes the American Standard of Perfection. The AMA recognizes three varieties of brahma:  light, buff and dark. We have light and dark. Our hens will weight 8 – 10 pounds when full-grown. When they are a about 5 months old they will lay large brown eggs. We can expect about 140 eggs per bird, per year.  You can tell a Brahma by its yellow skin and pea comb. They have small wattles and feathered feet and toes. Their size and feathers make them hardy in cold weather — winter can be chilly in Nashville and as long as they have water they will do just fine.

Jessica, pictured below behind the white crested black polish, is my new favorite. She’s in her “awkward teenage” stage of development. You can see her plumage starting to fill out, but she’ll be even prettier in a few months.

Jessica, standing behind Crowded Place