In regards to eating meat

[βαθμιαίος]

do you need a permit to keep chooks?

or does it all depend upon the local council/region?

We don't because we're in a rural area. I think places with Homeowners' Agreements (newer subdivisions) would probably not allow them, and they're often not allowed in urban areas.

We're in PA. Thanks so much, βαθμιαίος,. Great to get the kids involved. My husband hasn't been keen on this idea, I've been talking about it for a couple of years now, but when we spoke last night he agreed to help me with building a coop. I think changes just take time to sink in. It'll give him a chance to teach my son how to use power tools!


So are you saying you have a permanent space 20' x 60' and you move the coop within that space, or do you move the whole area to a different place in your yard?

Yes, a permanent space. It used to be our side garden, but we never kept it up very well. We used to move the chickens around in the lawn, but they really dig it up, so we decided to solve two problems at once and convert the side garden to a chicken yard.

We've also tried keeping the coop stationary and letting them out during the day into a fenced yard. That works well, too, especially if you can move the coop away from the manure every few months. I find it's a lot easier to move the coop away from the manure than to clean the manure!

The reason we switched to daily rotation is that when the chickens had their yard they liked to roost in a tree in the yard and we couldn't stop a raccoon from getting them.

I have never been tempted to let them roam wherever they want because our garden is not fenced and they can really do some damage there.