When I went to buy my Mercury Colony park wagon about three years ago, the seller had several auracana chickens running around the yard. Chris had had chickens before, when she lived out in the country, but this was practically downtown. A seed had been planted in her mind. The next week she bought four auracanas and named them Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Moe. They ran around the yard eating bugs, lizards and weed seeds while laying blue/green eggs. They slept under a sheet of plywood laid across two sawhorses. Life was sweet Eventually a hawk got one, then her rotten basset hound got another. The Basset Hound from Hell now has a new home. Then Norman posted a link to Mother Earth News here, which I sent to Chris. She read an article about raising chickens in the city, and I was given a new project. I had to build them a coop. Thanks Norm. Now there are the two surviving auracana chickens, two buff orpingtons (with an extra toe, just like her cat), and two Rhode Island reds. There will be at least two more very soon, probably naked necks. One Orpington looks like a rooster, but he's keeping very quiet. I think he knows that as soon as he opens his mouth, his "goose" is gonna be cooked. Or fricasseed, as the case may be. I built their home in a day using recycled / found materials, and she covered the tin roof with palm fronds to give it that Margaritaville look. We only paid for screws and hinges, which we bought from the Habitat for Humanity Re Store. Anyway, you can raise chickens in the city, so long as neighbors don't complain about the noise or the smell. Thats why the roosters have to go! And then there are the rabbits, but thats another story that has only just begun with the birth of two little black furballs....
I am glad to see that I wasn't the only one to do this. My wife and I were once told that we had the smallest working farm in our county due to all the activity we had thereon our "half acre of heaven". We had two geese, four cats, one dog, thirteen chickens, and twenty eight rabbits. My daughters are in 4-H, and we started a rabbitry when they were younger. We raise and sell them for other 4-H'ers in our area, as well as put some in the freezer. The neighbor hood kids enjoyed the local petting zoo, and all the neighbors were sad to see us go. I moved one of the roosters because of the fact I thought he was a little noisey, only to find out that one of the neighbors behind us actually used him for an alarm clock and was late the morning after I moved him. But now we (animals included) are a lot happier since we moved to four acres out of town..More room for my wagons to.
Let me help the poor boy out. http://www.cps.gov.on.ca/english/planmenu.htm http://www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/Farm_Structures http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/plans/ http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=102 And the first Station Wagon - Noah's! http://www.furnitureplans.com/pi_products/5110 The SWMBO will love you now!
Ark ark ark ark! You have no idea how right you are. Two dogs. One cat. Three Cockatiels. Six chickens (two more soon). Four rabbits. Two bird feeders in the yard. She even has an old aquarium full of tadpoles! And the biggest animal of them all, me.
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..." You've got a few more than 12 days to go, man! Move out!
