Chicken Talk with Jennifer Murtoff
On Thursday, July 22nd Jennifer Murtoff of Home to Roost gave a talk about raising chickens in an urban environment. Murtoff brought 2 chickens in a travel pen. Both were hens. Roosters are illegal in Chicago; they crow all the time, not just in the morning. You don’t have to have a rooster for hens to lay eggs.Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, Plymouth Rock, and Barred Rockare varieties that are hearty laying hens and withstand the cold.
Murtoff then went through the anatomy of a chicken and showed us the comb, wattles, ears, earlobes, keel, crop (where food is temporarily stored before going to the stomach) and the cloaca. Eggs come out of the same hole (cloaca) as poop, but are protected by uterine tissue, so they are sanitary.
There are laws that address humane treatment of animals including chickens. You can’t kill them yourself. You must take them to one of six licensed slaughter facilities in the city. You can get chicks at the feed store at Harlem & I55 or through the mail.
Chicks need feed starter (a special mixture) because their digestive systems are not fully developed. They need a brooder box to keep them warm. Murtoff recommended having a light bulb in a box for warmth and straw or a towel on bottom of box. A thermometer will help keep the right temperature.
When chicks are ready to go outside they need a coop. Murtoff recommends having a run, coop with a slanted roof with ventilation. Seventy five percent of the cost of having chickens is the feed. A 25 lb. bag of feed costs $10.95 and should last about 2 weeks for 2 hens. Chickens can be fed table scraps but be careful as too many greens and potato peelings can cause an impacted crop.
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