[Community_garden] Chickens in Community Gardens

[Starr Farris]

Hi Annie,

We have 3 chickens at one of our gardens at Oregon Food Bank. Our garden
is not locked and therefore, technically, open to the public 24/7. We
haven't had any vandalism problems (knock on wood!) so far and we've had
them for about a year. They are in a coop with an attached run that
allows them to access to the outdoors even when no one is available to
let them out. The run has a floor made of fencing to keep raccoons out.
We have three chickens because that is the number allowed in the city of
Portland without a permit. We plan to get a permit (a fairly simple
process) and add 3 more this year.

Adding living creatures to a garden is not a commitment to undertake
lightly. In my experience the biggest factors for success are the coop
design - allowing the chickens outdoor access, and volunteer commitment.
Chicken chores are integrated into the regular garden tasks. We have
volunteers in the garden 3 days a week, so it hasn't been difficult to
get people to take care of them. 

Zenger Farm (also in Portland), has an incredible chicken project (the
Eastside Egg Cooperative) that I would encourage you to learn more
about. They have many chickens who are cared for by volunteers who
receive a share of the eggs. You can check out their website at
www.zengerfarm.org.

Good luck!

Starr
 
 
Starr Farris
Learning Gardens Program Coordinator
Oregon Food Bank
503.282.0555 x268
sfarris at oregonfoodbank.org 
www.oregonfoodbank.org
 
More grows in the garden than was sown there.  
 
-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org
[mailto:community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org] On Behalf Of
Annie Sweeney
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:30 AM
To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
Subject: [Community_garden] Chickens in Community Gardens

Hi All,
I'm looking for some words of wisdom regarding raising chickens in
public
spaces. Growing Gardens has been approached by a community group looking
to collaborate on a chicken project at our site. However, we have a few
concerns and I was hoping to get some feedback from this group.

Growing Gardens' main garden site is located in a very public space.
Therefore, our primary concern is regarding securing the chickens on
land
that is open to the public 24/7. I've found a lot of great information
on
the web, but most of it pertains to backyard spaces.

I'm also looking for models of cooperatively taking care of chickens to
be
adopted out to local families who help care for them. Specifically,
information on successful ways of empowering volunteers to take on a
sense
of responsibility and staff time and resources needed for a successful,
healthy chicken project.

If you have any advice, successes and/or struggles, I would really
appreciate hearing from you!
Thanks so much,
Annie Sweeney
Growing Gardens
3198 North Broadway
Boulder, CO 80304
303-413-7248
www.growinggardens.org





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