Mr. 66

Pets are fun dogs, cats, they are all great stress relievers, but for me there's to much allergens for my household. Being a retro person I decided to go with cluckers. These are my beauties, outside always, easy to care for, they don't run away. Healthy hardy eggs year round, if one sets up a proper coop.

My chickens are silkies, pictured is Blackie, Bluie, and Snowball, Brownie is roosting in coop. I try to get them in background of as many outdoor bike shots as I can.

Yes I do have a goal, I hope to get a Galmozzi.

Mr. 66

Snowball she's the oldest, about 4 years old, is the top of the pecking order. The other three are about nine months. I'll post a picture of Brownie later.

sloar 

My wife wants chickens for the eggs, I'm not to happy about it. I usually end up taking over her projects....

Spaghetti Legs 

I like eggs. I also like wine.

Andy_K 

I was expecting something more like this:

Andy_K 

I got stuck taking care of my wife's dog that way. Chickens lend themselves a solution that dogs do not. I will say no more lest Mr. 66's friends become alarmed.

Mr. 66

Once the coop is set its not that much effort, my coop is big enough that they would be fine if I kept um in there all the time. I have a good sized run, it's really cool to see them chase after bugs and scratching up worms. The eggs are loaded with proteins compared to the mass production, one can see this just by looking at the yolks. They are a vivid orange to the pastie yellow.

Mr. 66

I like wine Walla Walla style, I have a little git away over there. Where is that one, and what is the brand?

I've been thinking of setting up a c&v ride over there, crossing into Oregon, with dirt road included. Possible routes may look like this.

Mr. 66

Throw a saddle on the chicken, and ride! Wow is that yours?

Andy_K 

No, but I'll always have fond memories of the weekend it spent in my garage. That beautiful Galmozzi belongs to @Andy Antipas. He brought it down for the last Velocirque.

Spaghetti Legs 

That is a winery in the Chianti region in Tuscany. Pic is from many years ago, I forget which brand. The Gallo Nero (Black Rooster) is the emblem of Chianti wines so you’ll see a lot of that around but this was the biggest one we saw.

capnjonny 

We have been keeping chickens for the last 10 years. Originally we were given 6 chicks by my sister in law . We gave 2 away and kept 4. over the years gave us eggs, humor, and exasperation. They have a small coop in the back yard and are allowed to free range. Nothing I have done , including building fences around the garden and the back deck have kept them out. They poop on the deck and dig up the veggies and squawk when ever some one lays an egg. The last of our original brood died a few days ago at the age of 10.

Please, if you are considering keeping chickens, remember they are fairly long lived and after about 3 or 4 years will stop laying eggs regularly. Consider them a messy and sometimes infuriating pet, not a cheap source of eggs.

Having said all this I have enjoyed our girls and was sad when Benny, our last survivor died. I will not be getting any more chickens as my son just adopted a pit bull puppy and it will not be compatible with chickens.

vtchuck

My chickens:

non-fixie 

Oh, yes. And old bikes. My favorite gallo, the one in Gaiole:

Mr. 66

Isn't Gallo? "We try no wine before it's time" slogan.

Johnny Carson did a skit of it the was pretty humorous.

thinktubes 

Seriously, I would love a chicken tractor (or bees!) if I had the space.

smontanaro 

Do you live in Portlandia where they name the chickens you eat?

rumrunn6

that was a hysterical episode & I'm not even a regular watcher of the show

Mr. 66

Vtchuck, you are true evil, I only say this because chicken dinner is not a staple at my house since my wife found out that she is allergic to chicken, but not egg thankfully.

Mr. 66

Hazetguy, you must be a little more ruts than me, the most I need to be concerned with is an occasional active dog, now that they're full sized. The first time with the dogs. A stray, of a few days, hunting dog retrieved my pair for me lined them up and was very proud of what he did for me lol. I just couldn't harm the pup, but I also decided to not help the dog owner so I did a catch and release. My youngest wanted to take them, or should I say survivor to the vet, but it wasn't going to help. Chicken Safire was probably not going to make it, and the price of care was also a factor. I explained this to him, and then said ya know chickens are $3.00.

When they were chicks we had the crows take a couple. Freaking flying hyienas!

Mr. 66

My oldest did name one Greg, yep it was fitting. We found a home for him in the country. I wanted to set him free at Discovery Park here in town, but my gal didn't like that idea. Not much wild life in that green space he could of ruled it all.

Mr. 66

Whoa! Patrick wasn't cheap $7.21 lbs.

vtchuck

Not a fan of backyard foul, er fowl. Coops are very popular here in the Peoples' Republic.... like solar panels and Subarus. I am a peaceful citizen, but I have seriously considered taking a baseball bat to my neighbor's rooster at 5:00 AM.

I prefer my poultry on a styrofoam tray, wrapped in plastic.

dweenk

I am not sure if any neighbors have chickens, but I can verify that there are no roosters.

If any do have hens, they would be well advised to keep them under wire since we have a pair of nesting Redtail hawks in the neighborhood.

lonesomesteve

In the interest of keeping this bike related, here's my son demonstrating proper chicken portaging technique with our Bantam Dutch named Nugget.

We don't have problems with bears here in the bustling metropolis of Seattle, but we have lost several hens to raccoons over the years. Vicious animals those raccoons...