The coop and our chickens are part of a story about urban chicken-keeping in the LA Times today. If you're here because of that article, welcome! To see all my chicken posts, you can click here. Or, feel free to browse around.
We did the interview a few weeks ago, and I think the piece came out really well. They definitely put up some great shots of the chickens and Dakota's coop. Perhaps it will inspire more Los Angeles residents to get their own small flock. They should. It's awesome.
Congratulations on the article, Audrey! Great to see the favorable press for urban chickens and hope you convince a lot more Angelenos to join you!
The LA Times article was really great. I am originally from the SOuth and my grandparent had chickens when I growing up. This broght back so many memories and ideas of having them as pets.
Great article! It made me rethink keeping chickens in the backyard, as I've always heard they were ill-tempered and hard to care for.
I discovered your blog via the LA Times too. What a lovely blog. I live in LA now, but am originally from Wales in the UK. We always kept chickens when I was a kid; first in the back garden of our house, and then we moved to a farm, and so had even more. Congratulations on everything you're doing. Keep it up. You're good people.
I am in NYC, but love the fact that people are beginning to see the advantage and fun to have these beautiful animals close to home. I have a few chickens, as does my sister. They are wonderful animals.
That's a great article - nice pictures. Reminds me of a drake a neighbour used to have, among tortoises, etc. We, as kids, even played tag with that handsome bird. LOL!
You have a very nice blog.
Audrey - I enjoyed the L.A. Times article, especially because it led to your blog. I've been a fan and photographer of farm animals for a while now, but this year we finally got backyard chickens of our own. We love it, too! Here's a few photos I did for an upcoming project.
How exciting Congrats!
Came across your coop on backyardchickens.com, the boyfriend and I are in the process of trying to figure out what kind of coop we are going to build, something with a green roof like yours is in the top two.
Audry,
I love to have chickens in my backyard in South Bay.
Do I have to check with city before spending time on building the coop?
Is there any restrictions for having chickens in backyard?
Thanks
Yes I'm sure you're chickens are getting extra visitors to the blog since the LAT article. Friend has chickens, so amazing to see the many different varieties of color & plumage.
I love your blog...I live in Mt. Washington too and have a big garden. I've been thinking of adding chickens to the mix. I have loads of questions and would love to see yours in person. If that idea is a possibility email me at msmopp@gmail.com
I too found your blog through the LA times article, congrats! I've been thinking about putting some chickens in our backyard for awhile, we live a few hills south of you. My one concern is their safety and predators, do you worry about hawks, coyotes etc? I have no idea how well chickens fend for themselves. I'll be pouring through your archives for info, thanks for the inspiration.
Hey there -- found you and your wonderful chickens via the LA Times. Would be very interested in featuring, you, your house, and your chickens on Re-nest.com (I'm the managing editor). Shoot me an email if you're interested! stephanie [at] apartmenttherapy [dot] com
I'm a redirect from the LAT article too and love all the pictures here. I'm in Silicon Valley and have a backyard flock of 5 ... 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 2 Buff Orpingtons, and an Ameraucana who lays green eggs. Each bird has its own personality and range of emotions. It's so fun to see that come out as chicks grow. And they're so affectionate ... mine will tug on my pants leg to get me to sit down and cuddle them!
Shelley
http://www.shelleyadina.com
Thanks for all the nice comments!
Scott, if you're in LA County, here's a post I did about regulations: Chicken Tips. I'm not sure what the rules are in Orange County or Riverside, but I bet you could find them through the county animal services website.
Miss M, We did worry quite a lot about predators, so we made our coop and run very secure. We dug down and buried the metal siding several inches into the ground to keep out raccoons and skunks and put fencing over the top of the run to keep hawks away. (In fact, a hawk landed on top of the run last week and scared the poop out of the hens! I was glad the wire was there to protect them.) If you look back through the archives, you can see the coop building process and get more predator-prevention tips.
What a great article and wonderful experience for you! Hopefully you'll meet a ton of local chicken enthusiasts. This has been one of the best parts of being on BYC is finding, meeting up with, and talking chicken with other peeps in the area!