Catching Up With CLUCK Red Deer

Hello again! Unfortunately blogging hasn't been much of a priority here (clearly) but that doesn't mean things aren't CLUCKing along merrily around us.

February 2013 marks one year from the initial decision by Red Deer City Council to instigate a 12-month pilot project for allowing Urban Hens. We weren't really sure what was planned by the City, if anything -we hadn't heard anything.. which we figured must be GOOD. We figured that if there were any problems, we certainly would have heard about them.

Just to touch base with each other, we had a bit of a meeting, anyway. Only a few of us were able to attend and we discussed a few items but it all boiled down to: no news is good news, just sit tight.

A couple of days later, Adrienne received an e-mail from the Inspections & Licensing Dept (I&LD) letting us know that they were submitting a report to City Council and that if we wanted to do the same we could -but we had to do so by noon the next day. It was quite a surprise and a bit of a scramble but we managed to share some ideas and I was able to put them into a reasonable format and get it in the next morning.

I&LD advised us that they have received 'minimal' complaints about Urban Hens in Red Deer. While 'minimal' is somewhat vague, we know of no direct complaints about CLUCK members. Off the tops of our heads, we tried to count the number of families that we knew had coops and hens IN Red Deer right now. We came up with 16. Adding to that the certainty that there are others who may or may not be members of the Facebook community, we estimate 20-30 coops. THIRTY. MINIMAL complaints.

Know what that means? IT MEANS THAT IT WORKS. That it is truly, clearly possible to keep chickens in the city without bothering people. *Insert happy dance.* That small flocks (6 hens or under), in well-managed (clean) coops, without roosters (quiet) can be good neighbours.

I mentioned this in the report (but without the bold & italics and happy dance) and mentioned (with references) current RD City initiatives with which Urban Hens can play a significant role:

Waste Management Master Plan -Urban Hens happily turn kitchen scraps (with balanced layer rations) into eggs, reducing household waste! **From the Winnipeg Urban Chicken Association’s Report for Council (Dec 2012); “(1 hen) (7 pounds food waste/month) (12 months) = approx. 84 pounds Big deal, you think. That’s not so much. But what if Winnipeg had 2,000 homes with 6 hens? (6 hens) (84 pounds of food waste/hen/year) (2,000 homes) = 1,008,000 pounds (504 tonnes) of biomass diverted from the Brady Road Landfill, and a savings of $21,924 in tipping fees ($43.50/ tonne) per year. The tax savings in not having to handle, transport and store all that biomass waste by reusing them onsite is staggering, especially since no operating costs exist.” (You can read the whole report here, it is many, many kinds of awesome.)

Composting -(This is the one I am personally VERY excited about) chickens are the.best.composters! Who needs aerating tools when hens get such joy in scratching, turning your piles, snacking, fertilizing, and keeping pests at bay?

Environmental Master Plan -Yes, Urban Hens are environmentalists. Fewer emergency trips to the grocery store for eggs=reduced vehicle emissions. Snacking on slugs, ants, mosquitoes, cutworms, dandelions, creeping bell flower (*I shake my fist at bell flower*) means less desire for pesticides.

So.. we will now have to just have to wait to see what Council decides to do at this point. Update: the reports will be addressed by Council on Tuesday, February 19th. In the meantime, we'll keep on CLUCKing, enjoying our super fresh eggs,  and eagerly rub hands to watch slugs turn into eggs this spring.

I would also like to take a moment here to mention that in the Fall of 2012, CLUCK Red Deer was specifically asked by Olds College if we could teach a course there as a part of their 2013 Hort Week! How awesome is that?! (Very!) We determined that Deborah and I would be available this summer so we will be co-teaching a half-day course on, you guessed it, Keeping Urban Hens! They don't have the courses listed yet on their site and we're not sure what the cost will be, but once we have more information we'll be sure to post it up on the Facebook page and here. (I promise!)

Keeping Small Flocks Healthy -Parasites

A day or two after my last post about keeping small flocks healthy, one of CLUCK Red Deer's most experienced urban chicken-keepers, Kristina, announced on Facebook that one of her favorite hens was lost due to a mite infestation.

Kristina wrote: 

"I want to encourage you to please be checking your birds regularly for lice and mites! And when you see some, don't put off treatment until you have more time! I treated mine for mites a couple of months ago, and forgot to do the follow-up treatment ten days later. I noticed a couple weeks ago that Dorothy (our favorite barred rock who was featured in the Advocate story recently) still had a few mites on her, and I powdered her again, but I didn't have time to clean the coop out. I didn't realize how badly they affected her health and she was severely weakened. And now she's gone."
 

I've seen Kristina's coop, it's far from being under-maintained. As Kristina said, it was an unfortunate case of not keeping on top of her treatments. 

It's easy to think, "Oh, they're just mites, they're tiny, how much damage can they really do?" Yes, mites are tiny, but they consume a LOT for their size and when left to their own devices, they can reproduce quickly and they feed directly on blood. Chickens may look pretty robust but they're almost all feathers -it doesn't take much loss of blood before their health begins to be affected, especially their immune systems.

Even if the mites themselves are not be a problem (due to blood loss), infections can set in just that much more quickly in hen already running a bit low on energy -just as they can and do in our other pets and even in ourselves. 

The bottom line is: do your best to keep your birds healthy and know when problems arise. A healthy chicken that comes in contact with a small dose of a potential viral or bacterial pathogen has a very good chance of being able to fight it off just fine on their own.

As has been suggested by Liz and Kyle on our Facebook page, in response to Kristina's post, doing a thorough butt-check regularly will help you notice infestations fast enough to take care of it before it becomes a problem. Once per month at least, though weekly would be even better (pick a certain day of the week and make it a habit to check every time that day comes around).

Liz wrote on the Facebook thread: "Northern Fowl Mite feed on blood. Around the vent the blood vessels are very close to the surface of the skin. This is typically their favourite spot BUT I have been surprised to see them concentrated in other areas on the chicken. If you handle them weekly you can also notice a weight loss or pelvic and keel bone sticking out." It's not just about checking for bugs, it's also about getting familiar with your chicken's build so you can notice when there's a change. (It will also help them become more friendly if they get used to being held regularly, especially if they get treats after each examination!)

So, what else can we look for -other than a change in body weight? Well, we should keep our eyes out for bugs!

This blog post is a great resource, though I must warn you, it contains some pretty grotey images (which, as a chicken owner, we must be willing to contend with!!)

How can we prevent infestations? I'll get into that and what to do if/when infestation strikes in the next post!

The Urban Hen Party Part II -Keeping Small Flocks Healthy

While at the Urban Farm Show last weekend, I took a bit of time away from the U.H.P tables  to wander around the whole show and admire some of the rural chickens on display for formal judging (I now want an all-black flock, those Black Cochins and Black Orps are gorgeous!!) I also checked out all of the other tables and booths set up around the periphery.

Tucked away in the very back (near the petting zoo) was a booth for the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (AB.VMA) in partnership with the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada. (*Please note that I am terrible at remembering names, I should know better than to not write names down by now.* Sorry!) The woman at the table, upon hearing that was I a CLUCK representative was very happy to have a moment to chat about some of the publications that the AB.VMA and the Gov'ts are jointly putting out and that she was hoping we could help spread the word about these resources. And, of course, I am very happy to!

Keep in mind, according to the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, which conducted extensive research before Vancouver passed its chicken bylaw:

"Overall, the risk of pathogen transmission associated with 

backyard chicken keeping appears to be mild and does not 

present a greater threat to population health compared to 

other animals allowed by similar bylaws (reptiles, dogs, etc)."

Basically, chickens are no more likely to make someone sick than a dog, cat or iguana. But.. dogs and cats can get sick -and our hens can, too.

BEFORE I GET INTO THINGS: DON'T PANIC! I am not trying to fear-monger, I am being practical and since I have an education in biology, I understand the applied biological possibilities we face as animal owners. I feel it's important that we all keep ourselves educated and aware of possible hazards -for the sake of ALL our birds.

It's easy to think, "Well, my flock is small and isolated, and I keep the coop clean.. I'm not really worried about infectious diseases." Yet, just as we may think that our indoors-only cat isn't at risk of coming down with distemper, the risk is still there and, for the sake of your pets' health (and let's assume Urban Hens are pets -they certainly are in my world), it's very important to take risks seriously and be proactive. It's MUCH easier to make it a habit to be proactive than it is to clean up afterward.

Pathogens can easily be carried from a public area, where thousands of other have stepped in the past few days, to your own yard and into your home on the soles of your boots (just as an example). Many of us buy our feed, grit, oyster shells from large, rural/ag shopping centres -do we need bio-hazard suits whenever we go to UFA to get a  bag of grit? No! (That'd be hilarious to see, though.)

What can we do, then, to ensure our pet chickens are kept healthy? There are the obvious basics: keep the coop and feed clean and secure from pests (mice, &c) and ensure your hens are fed a well-balanced, nutritious, fresh diet and plenty of clean water. Keep an eye on them. Watch for changes in behaviour.

To supplement the obvious and find more ways to help keep our girls safe and healthy (and laying delicious eggs!), I suggest you check out AB.VMA's  Biosecurity Best Practices: Keeping Small Flocks Healthy page (there are several publications available for free download on that page and associated links).

We are also fortunate (and grateful) to have regular immunization clinics held by Liz, who is a local breeder and operates her own pet-grooming business here in the city Red Deer. For a low fee, she will provide and administer the immunizations to Urban Hens at her business location. We have posted the information on past opportunities on our Facebook page and will continue to notify our CLUCK friends when Liz is ready to hold another (both on our FB page and here on the blog).

Lets work together and keep our girls healthy!!

The Urban Hen Party: Part I

Urban Hen Party! At the Canadian Heritage Breeds' Peavey Mart Urban Farm Show 2012

Wow. All I can say is WOW! The Urban Hen Party was soooo great! There is so much I could say and share and get all mushy about, I don't know where to begin, other than to say it was a HUGE success. Not only did we wind up with 21 Urban Hens on display and getting one of the best spots in the Agricentre, we had many visitors asking us some really, really great questions.

And not just small-talk kind of questions, but the kind of questions that prove that we are being taken seriously, we are treated with respect, with a degree of authority, and we are trusted as educators. To me, personally, that is what I'm finding most rewarding about being a part of CLUCK -being about to educate. Sure, I get a (ridiculously huge) kick out of watching and hanging out with my feathered friends, but I also feel that what CLUCK is doing as a whole is building community. It's about sharing, growing, learning.

(And I want to take this opportunity to say that we are incredibly grateful to Liz and Kyle, two local poultry breeders who are not only excellent sources of beautiful, healthy hens, they are also very supportive providers of advice, ideas and hands-on help for the CLUCK efforts.)

I'm going to post a bunch of photos from the weekend, share some resources that the Government of Alberta is putting out with regards to small flocks, talk about some of the highlights, and mention some of the places CLUCK Red Deer might be headed -but you'll have to bear with me. It's been a lot to process (even a few days later, I'm still excited about it and trying to put it into words) and I have some personal projects that require my attention for the next few days.

Countdown To The Urban Hen Party

The Urban Hen Party (UHP) is only 10 days away! Did you know you can give chickens a BATH?! I certainly would not have thought of it before I became a member of CLUCK and got to know a bit about showing chickens. What most of us think of as laying hens are typically rural, in large flocks, live exclusively outdoors, and never see water other than that which they are offered to drink.

Certainly not plastic tubs of warm, mildly soapy water that they are placed into.

*Note: this is a rooster, and he is not Urban, but he IS going to be at the Canadian Heritage Breeds' Peavey Mart show, so he requires a little primping before he's ready to wow the judges.

That's just it.. the people who CARE about their birds, who take the time and effort to ensure that their chickens are healthy and happy and want to show it off to the rest of the poultry-fanciers out there DO give their birds baths. And I can't get enough of the photos! Especially of birds tidily, cozily wrapped up in towels.

These girls aren't Urban, either, but I had to share the photo, anyway -isn't that adorable?

I'm certainly not going for the professional level of showing that many breeders are (there won't be any professional judges checking the Urban birds for form and breeding potential), but I get such a kick out of the photos that some of the breeders are sharing on Facebook. I might have to give my 4 hens a bath just so I can get some photos of them!! (I've asked the professionals for advice, I certainly don't want to get into anything that might hurt my girls or get them sick.)

I'll keep you posted!

Join the Urban Hen Party!

CLUCK Red Deer is looking for entrants for our Urban Hen Party, which will take place during the Canadian Heritage Breed's Peavey Mart Urban Farm Show in the Westerner Park's Ag Centre on the weekend of November 23-25th!!

Why? Because this is an excellent, excellent opportunity to showcase the variety and health of hens currently residing in urban coops. The city of Red Deer will have a presence (Councillor Lynne Mulder has most graciously accepted the role of guest judge!) so showing your birds and support for the CLUCK cause can go a long way toward helping the efforts to have the Bylaw Amendment fall on our side of the fence. That said, all entries' personal information will be kept confidential. This means that if you are operating 'Under The Radar' as an urban hen-keeper, you don't have to worry about your name and/or address being revealed. By no means do we want to interfere with your privacy choices. 

Not only will it show the City of Red Deer how well cared-for our birds are, it's an excellent chance to help the public of Red Deer see the variety of shapes, colours and sizes of existing Urban Hens, plus to see how much fun we're all having with our birds and that they are well cared for and easy pets!

Even better: the party is not limited to Red Deer's urban hen scene. We welcome urban hens from the surrounding area, Calgary and Edmonton included! Support for the Red Deer branch of CLUCK and the potential for positive decision-making may help tip the scales in other urban centres.
 
We here at CLUCK would very much appreciate your support -all it takes is a few minutes to complete the entry questionnaire (tell us a little about each hen), $3 per bird (to cover the costs of feed, bedding & cages), and arrangements to have your girls dropped off & picked up.

We're working on some awards to hand out to some of the most fabulous of Red Deer's urban hen scene. It's all in fun, mind you, we none of us are professional poultry judges. Curious about the awards? Enter your girls and see if they win! 

We'll have our bumper stickers, flock/family decals for vehicles and, of course, our fabulous buttons available for sale.
 
Another benefit: it's a great chance to give your coop a thorough cleaning while your flock is well cared for over the weekend!!

If you're interested, please let us know! You can either visit the Facebook page for more information: Urban Hen Party
or e-mail Deborah at: Teacher-creature@shaw.ca

Catching Up With CLUCK Red Deer

Hello! We're still here! Sorry that we haven't been keeping this blog updated. We are all people who care very much about the benefits to keeping urban hens but we are also people who have jobs, families, responsibilities and other distractions and this site sort of fell through the cracks.

That said, we have certainly NOT given up on CLUCK Red Deer, on spreading the word about how urban hens can be good for the Red Deer community. Things have been going strong on our Facebook Page. Please come and check us out if you're a Facebook user -photos, link, advice and answers are all to be found there.

On October 13th, Deborah organized an Urban Coop Tour with 4 hen-keepers and a wrap up at the Peavey Mart (who we thank for their support). There were many people (over 20) who came along for the ride and the feedback was great. If you visit our Facebook page, you can find photos of an article from the Red Deer Advocate discussing how the tour went.

UPCOMING EVENTS

URBAN HEN SPA DAY
"If you are a busy owner - drop your girls Nov. 3 at 11am. We will take care of the dirt and have them ready for pick up from 9 - 10am Sunday morning. Cost $5.00 per girl.
If you want to stay and learn - book an appointment time on Nov. 3 and learn how to bathe your girl for $2.00 per hen. She will need to stay over night or sleep in your house that night so she is thoroughly dry before going outside."
Visit the Urban Hen Day Spa page on Facebook if you have an questions or want to join.

URBAN HEN PARTY
After a day at the spa, your girls might be ready for a party! "All urban hens welcome. Hens need to be dropped off on Friday between 4 and 7 pm. Pickup on Sunday between 3 and 4.
Entry fee of $3.00 will include feed and water, the show cage, bedding, and elite security forces. (Our girls will be safe and comfy!)
Stay tuned for prize details!" As with the spa, visit the Urban Hen Party page on Facebook to ask questions and/or find registration contact information.

URBAN FARM SHOW & SALE
This is the big show that I know a lot of people are looking forward to, and not just because of the petting zoo or the White Crested Black Polish hens! Come and see what each breed looks like, chat up the breeders, marvel at the coloured Silkies and maybe buy a layer to add to your flock! For more info, please see the Canadian Heritage Breeds website.
 
Take care & keep on CLUCKing!