Green at 50

The joy of eggs

Who knew how exciting the first eggs from your very own food generating chickens could be? After months of fussing and worrying the small protein packages just appear one day. One of my hens is a real over-achiever and began laying at 16 weeks! I was not prepared and the poor thing laid her first egg on the ground. I felt like I'd let her down not having the nest boxes prepared with carpet bottoms and golf ball decoys. We quickly remedied that and now she regularly lays an egg a day in the nest. Today, another of her sisters caught on and laid an egg of her own. There was rejoicing in the household...we're such geeks. Still, it is a wonder that a 5 pound hen can take my grass, weeds and kitchen scraps and turn things that I would have thrown away into a neat package of perfect food. The yolks are orange and make the most beautiful (and tasty) yellow omelets. And, these eggs are much better for us than the factory farm raised kind. According the Mother Earth News, you can feel good about the nutrient punch that you get from your home raised eggs:

1⁄3 less cholesterol
1⁄4 less saturated fat
2⁄3 more vitamin A
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
3 times more vitamin E
7 times more beta carotene
4-6 times more vitamin D

I'm surprised that we as an urban society ever gave up on backyard chickens. They require so little from us and the benefits are great. My chickens work hard for me in the garden eating weeds and bug pests. They'll prepare the garden soil for planting by scratching in the dirt in early spring. They provide hours of entertainment for the family (and the cat) and completely fascinate our grandson. In return, they need fresh water, chicken feed and protection from predators. A healthy symbiotic relationship...it's a good life for both of us.

Weeds...the roots of all evil

I have a friend that says that creeping charlie doesn't creep, it sprints! Anyone who has ever had an infestation knows that this is true. We have about an acre surrounded by large trees and wooded areas which seems to make it especially difficult to stay ahead of the weeds. Besides the creeping charlie and garlic mustard I have miniature maple trees everywhere from my neighbor's soft maple airplane seeds. Poison ivy took hold of my woods last year during the wet season and infects my poor sensitive neighbor...now that's a way to foster neighborly love! In the interest of the environment, I've been trying out some ways to reduce the weed population in my yard without harmful herbicides. Here are some of my techniques....

Cultivation
An old fashioned hoe with some back put into it does wonders in the vegetable and flower gardens. If I hoe now I'm pretty much OK until fall. It's not my favorite method...it's hard work! And it's not practical in large areas such as in the woods.

Mulching
Mulching not only helps to keep the weeds down, but it also retains moisture. This year I'm mulching with grass first and then leaves in the vegetable garden. I'm trying to use my "yard waste" as a "yard resource" and not sending so much to the city compost pile. That way I keep my land resources on the land where it was formed.

Plant canopies
This year I planned my vegetable garden without rows. I grouped the plants next to each other with a few stone pathways into the center to have access to the plants there.  The canopy of tomatoes, beans and potatoes is now large enough to choke out the weeds below. It works with the mulching to keep weeding down to a minimum.

Heat
My friend Robyn swears by pouring boiling water on weeds in the spring to kill them by the roots. I've never tried it but it makes sense since organic farms use flame heat to kill weeds in rows of their crops. She says that she can selectively kill even the dreaded creeping charlie in her lawn with this technique. The spring got away from me (I was busy with the chickens, ya know) but I plan to try it next year...how simple is that?

Chicken power
I have large areas in the woods that have been taken over by all sorts of weeds. I want to plant perennials and ground covers in these areas in the fall and next spring...but the thought of digging creeping charlie roots by hand is just overwhelming. Enter my five fabulous hens. The hens not only help to keep the lawn green and lush (provided they are in one spot for only one day), but given a few more days, they will completely devastate a weed infested area...roots and all. I've been moving their chicken tractor around weed infested areas of the woods since the weather got warmer. It keeps them from over fertilizing the lawn and gives them shade on hot days...and they do the work of annihilating the weeds for me!

Off with their heads
Frequent mowing is supposed to help with weed control. Apparently, cutting your lawn is like giving the grass a haircut and cutting off the heads of the weeds (catchy, huh?) Now if someone would just come up with some ideas to motivate the man of the house to mow more frequently. I got nothin' on that.

Last resort
WIth noxious weeds like poison ivy, I admit that I use a little Round-up herbicide. My neighbor is so allergic to poison ivy that if she walks by it she is infected. It's created some tension let me tell ya. I'm not always aware of where it has taken root but she lets me know! I certainly don't blame her! If anyone knows of another way to get rid of this pest, please let me know!

Iowa City and Cedar Rapids chicken lovers unite!

I am pleased to say that Iowa City Friends of Urban Chickens and the Cedar Rapids Chicken Chat groups are both bringing the film "Mad City Chickens" to their respective areas next month. Please mark your calendars and tell your friends. It's important that the council members from both communities see that there is genuine and enthusiastic support for raising hens in our urban gardens.

Mad City Chickensis a sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical look at the people who keep urban chickens in their backyards. From chicken experts and authors to a rescued landfill hen or an inexperienced family that decides to take the poultry plunge—and even a mad scientist and giant hen taking to the streets—it’s a humorous and heartfelt trip through the world of backyard chickendom.

You can view movie trailers and find out more about the film's producers at http://www.tarazod.com/filmsmadchicks.html.

For Iowa City folks:

IC Friends of Urban Chickens and Iowa City Environmental Film Festival presents
Mad City Chickens
Saturday, June 27, 2009
2 p.m screening with film maker Q&A to follow
Robert A Lee Recreation Center
220 S Gilbert St Iowa City (downtown)

www.iowacityurbanchickens.ning.com

For Cedar Rapids folks:

Indian Creek Nature Center presents
Mad City Chickens
Sunday, June 28, 2009
2 p.m. screening with film maker Q&A to follow
Indian Creek Nature Center
6665 Otis Road S.E. 52403
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

To join our little group in Cedar Rapids, email me at greenat50@yahoo.com.

 

Chicken scratchings...

The chooks are almost 9 weeks old now and are beginning to round out in a wonderfully matronly way. Now that the chicken tractor is complete, the girls spend all of their time outside rotating to a new patch of fresh green grass every day. They are a constant form of entertainment...either because of their fowlish antics or because they constantly come up in conversation. Everyone wants to know how it is going with the chickens. They are my grandson's favorite thing when he comes to visit. He appreciates the "chichen" play as much as I do.

We are getting closer to legalizing my little friends. The Cedar Rapids Chicken Chat group will be bringing the film "Mad City Chickens" to Cedar Rapids on June 28th at 2 p.m. The film is a light hearted documentary about legalizing chickens in Madison, WI http://www.tarazod.com/filmsmadchicks.html. We are working on the details (like location...augh!) but should have the specifics soon. In the meantime, SAVE THE DATE!

I promise to write about something else, soon. I have posts rattling around in my head but it's spring, guys! I spend as much time as possible outside in the garden. Speaking of which, there are weeds calling my name out there. Have a wonderful day!

Chickens in Cedar Rapids

It has begun. The movement to allow a few laying hens in urban communities has arrived in Cedar Rapids. A few weeks ago, the Indian Creek Nature Center held a class called "Raising Chickens in your Backyard" and a surprising 29 people attended...all interested in raising a few hens for eggs in their backyards. So, the Cedar Rapids ChickenChat group was formed. We had our first meeting Saturday night and we formed an action plan to request an ordinance change from the city council. It is our hope that Cedar Rapids will soon become one of the progressive communities, like New York, Seattle and Madison, WI that allows folks to raise a few hens at home. In these difficult economic times, it's comforting to have some control over our food source and know that it is healthy for our families. We know that raising chickens isn't for everyone, but for those that have the time and desire, it's a matter of personal choice and freedom.

To join our little group to help raise awareness and interest in raising urban chickens, send me an email at rebecca@greenat50.com.

Chicken cha-ching

The chicks are no longer the soft downy cuddle-balls that they were a few weeks ago. At four weeks, I think it is safe to say they are now in full adolescence. They have big feet, squawky voices and the feather/down combination looks like a bad haircut. The weather was nice over the weekend, so they spent quite a bit of time in our courtyard, scratching and pecking away at a whole new world. It was peaceful drinking coffee in the warm afternoon sun while my own little flock explored yet another aspect of what it means to be Chicken.

Of course, raising chickens does cost money...and being the budget conscious one in the family, I try to balance the costs with the benefits of any new project. Some of the benefits of chickens are hard to attach a dollar amount to...like eating more heathfully and being more self-sufficient. Other things are more concrete. Below I've taken a stab at a figuring the cost/benefit of raising chickens at my house:

COSTS: $346 for first year

Chicken tractor:    $140 for wood, hardware and wire (You could do this for much less, or much more. We wanted something that we could move around the yard while still keeping the chickens confined. I also wanted something that looked good in the yard.)

Chickens:             $35 for 5 female Red Star chicks and shipping from Connecticut. (Next time I hope to be able to go in with several folks to buy chicks locally so that we don't have to pay for shipping. Most hatcheries will only sell chicks if you buy a 25 chick minimum.)

Supplies:              $40 for chick and chicken feeders/waterers (This includes the small mason jar screw-on feeder and waterer for the chicks and two-gallon size for the grown chickens.)

Bedding:              $50/year for wood shavings/straw. I am going to try shredded newspaper to save money.

Feed:                   $9/40 lb. bag. According to Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, a laying hen eats a little under two pounds/week. Multiply that times 5 chickens and subtract about 30% that they'll get from free-ranging and kitchen scraps and that's about 9-40 lb. bags per year or $81/year.

BENEFITS: $338/year

Eggs:                    $208/year of large brown eggs after they begin laying (200 eggs/year/chicken at $2.50/dozen in value - somewhere between the cost of commercially grown and organic brown eggs)

Manure:                $30/year savings over purchasing commercial compost/manure. A laying hen produces about 45 pounds of manure a  year.

Grass care:           $100/year in aeration, fertilizing and pest consumption. We are hoping that they only chemical application we have to make to our grass this summer is some lime and/or gypsum.

After figuring in the 4-5 months that it will take the hens to begin laying, we should break even in about 1-1/2 years...after that the cost of replacement chicks, feed and bedding will be our only expenses. I'm not in this to save money, it's really about having more control over what we eat and creating a more self-sustaining lifestyle. What has your experience with chickens been like? Have you had cost savings that you hadn't considered?

To be or not to be....

The chicks are growing like weeds. I had no idea how quickly they grew and developed, or how independent they are. Chick seems to indistinctly know how to peck, scratch, preen and fly...they amaze and delight me every day. I'm starting to relax with them now. The first few days were nerve wracking. This is a different adventure than I've ever tried before and I was sure they were all going to die. Somehow after 3 weeks they are still alive and we are developing a daily routine. Raising chicks is a lot of fun and a lot of work. I'm glad that I did my research before I started this venture...I would highly recommend it to anyone who thinks that they might like to keep urban chickens. Like anything else, there are pros and cons to raising your own food. Here's the list my husband and I made during the "pre-chicken planning process."

PROS:

1. Fresh, healthy eggs from happy chickens. Not from chickens that are raised in a small cage with processed food and artificial light.
2. Fertilize/aerate the yard in the summer by using a chicken tractor (a chicken tractor is a portable coop/run that is moved around the yard.) The tractor confines the chickens while still allowing them to forage for some of their own food. Good for the yard and good for reducing feed costs.
3. Bug control: chickens love bugs, worms and grubs. We have plenty in our yard.
4. Garden aeration in the spring. The chickens will "fluff up" the soil in the garden before it is planted so we don't have to. We'll have to wait until next spring to see how this works out for us.
5. Kitchen scraps turned into food. When the chicks are older, they will eat a good share of our kitchen scraps, reducing what goes into the garbage and our feed costs.
6. Fertilizer for our garden. We have several beds in the yard for flowers and fresh vegetables. Chicken manure is super rich in nitrogen and excellent for the garden - after it is composted. Chicken manure is so high in nitrogen that it will burn growing plants. Composting not only transforms the nitrogen into a form that can be used by the plants, but it also destroys any bacteria, viruses or parasite eggs that might be present.

CONS:

1. Chickens require daily care. They must be locked in their coops at night to prevent predators from picking off a free meal while the chooks snooze. The chicken tractor will need to be moved to allow for new foraging ground and they'll need to be kept in feed and fresh clean water. I'm lucky that my daughter who lives in town likes the chicks and wants to help take care of them. She will be my "chicken sitter" when my husband and I need a little vacation.
2. Not all cities allow chickens. And, don't rely on your city website for good information. Cedar Rapids doesn't mention chickens at all on the animal ordinances web page, but there is a law prohibiting livestock. I hope to work with others interested in raising chickens to persuade the city to get the ordinance changed as so many cities have done across the country (even New York city allows chickens!) We are fortunate that we are pretty isolated on our acre lot. We have neighbors with several acres on either side of us so only 2 or 3 people will ever even have the opportunity to notice we have chickens. We plan to keep them very clean and have an attractive home for them to minimize the opportunity for neighbor complaints.
3. Chickens are messy. An adult hen will produce about 45 pounds of manure every year...and they don't care where they doo it. The chicks produce an amazing number of droppings and I clean their cage out every day. If you can't handle a little (or a lot) of chicken manure, then better stick to buying eggs from someone who can.
4. Raising chickens costs money. I've found that we've had to be pretty careful during our planning process so that we don't spend more on our chickens than we can ever recover. There are some pretty fancy dancy coops our there for several hundred to over one thousand dollars. We are making our own chicken tractor using new materials because we wanted it to be attractive enough to not irritate our neighbors. To save money, you could build the coop out of recycled wood or purchase something used. We figured that we will recoup our expenses, including the coop and the equipment costs in about 2 years. After that we'll just need to take into consideration the cost of replacement chicks, feed and bedding.

Add more green with backyard chickens

  Keeping chickens in an urban setting isn't a new thing. When I visited the early American settlement in Plymouth a couple of summers ago they had a garden and a chicken house in every yard...OK, that was a while ago...and they didn't have a handy grocery store just around the corner. However, it does demonstrate  that Americans started keeping chickens at home a long time ago.  Fast forward to the late 1990s. The movement to keep chickens in the city was revived in London largely because of an ingenious chicken house design called the eglu that was produced and promoted by the Omlet company. The movement rapidly spread to west coast cities in the U.S. like Seattle and Portland, where keeping chickens in the city was already legal. In the last five years, keeping backyard chickens has continued to become popular across the country...including my backyard here in Iowa. Actually, it's in my garage right now...5 adorable 2-week old chicks that hopefully will grow up to keep my immediate and extended family in eggs for quite a while. We are making our own coop (I can hear my husband drilling as we speak) and plan to have them in the yard in another 4 weeks or so...provided it warms up around here (sounds like snow tomorrow...augh!)  I think that raising pet chickens appeals to me because it makes so much sense from an environmental and health perspective. The chickens will be moved around the yard in a portable coop while fertilizing the yard and eating pesky bugs and grubs. Manure that accumulates during the winter will be composted into the garden to produce as many vegetables that I can produce...ensuring a healthy food supply that is locally grown. And eggs are a superior source of protein...and I like 'em! Now that's a whole lot more than I get from my cat...sorry, Maggie. I'll give you the blow-by-blow as we go through this adventure including the costs/savings involved...happy clucking!

Dialing down the electric bill

We've had our share of natural disasters lately in Eastern Iowa. The winter of 2008 was brutal and ice storms caused massive power outages and damage to power lines and poles. The next spring, record floods invaded the local power plant in Cedar Rapids causing severe damage. It was nasty. To recover their losses, Alliant energy has proposed an 18.1% rate hike...adding insult to injury to consumers trying to recover from these disasters and on top of a struggling economy. I understand it but it still stinks. But take heart, there are still things we can do to lower our energy bills. My family and I have been reducing our energy consumption for nearly a year, now, and the savings are really beginning to show on our electric bill...here's a few things that have helped us:

1. Reduce usage: Use fluorescent bulbs, air dry dishes in your dishwasher, install (and use) power strips on your computers/TVs and radios, turn down your hot water heater, purchase energy efficient appliances, use battery operated clocks, hang out your clothes, unplug chargers when not in use (see more ideas in my Energy Leeches post.)
2. Insulate, insulate, insulate: Stop air leaks and insulate walls, floors and ceilings. Check in your local area for rebates for the purchase of energy efficient window, appliances and insulation for your home.
3. Try "Time of Day" program with your local utility company: Electric companies produce energy to meet their maximum need 24 hours a day...so a lot of that energy is wasted in off-peak times such as nights and weekends. Alliant energy offers a "Time of Day" program that allows customers to purchase night time and weekend electricity for 50% of the regular rate. Of course, the rate during the weekday is 140% of the regular rate - so it does take a little thought. When we went on the program, we monitored our usage for a week to see if the program would work for us. We decided that if we used 70% of our power off-peak that we would save money. So far, we use 82% of our power off-peak and save about 17% a month...and that's with me working from home.
4. Cycle your air conditioning:  Alliant also has an "Appliance Cycling Program." When the demand for energy reaches a critical point for the electric provider, they can activate a cycling of your air conditioner (usually 15 minutes on/15 minutes off) while your fan still runs to circulate the air. They guarantee this will only happen during the week and never on weekends or holidays. The savings is around $7 a month.
5. Results:  We've been very pleased with our electric usage and bill. Electricity usage seems to be easier to impact than natural gas. We have gas heat, hot water heater and stove and an electric dryer. Since last year, we have reduced our usage by 42%. With the Time of Day program, we have further reduced our bill by 17% per month. The end result is we have reduced our total electric bill (including standard monthly fees) in February from $90 per month last year to $50 this last February. We also plan to sign up for the Appliance Cycling Program this summer. We aren't looking forward to the 18% increase, but 18% of $50 is a whole lot less than 18% of $90!

Putting the Green toilet paper debate behind me....

My family thinks I'm getting a little obsessive about using toilet tissue in an eco-friendly way...let's get to the down and dirty of the issue. Americans (and Canadians so I hear) are the only folks on earth that insist on having multi-ply, lotion infused, super bleached paper to wipe their buttocks with...a dirty job I realize, but do we really need next-to-cashmere to get through our day? According to the Guardian, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council in the U.K. believes that the Americans' insistence on using luxury toilet papers is causing more ecological devastation than driving Hummers.

"This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution." Making toilet paper has a significant impact because of chemicals used in pulp manufacture and cutting down forests."

In the U.S. 98% of our toilet tissue is made from trees. And to exacerbate the problem, the sale of luxury brands that are infused with lotions has increased 40% in some markets according to the New York Times. We are definitely not heading in the right direction. I'm not sure why Americans are so addicted to luxury papers, except that perhaps we believe that the only alternative is to use sandpaper. I must admit that some of the papers I've used in Europe were pretty coarse and an ugly brown, but in this country we do have recycled, soft and safely bleached alternatives (see my post on "Eco-friendly budget bargains." I use them and I assure you they are gentle, white and civilized.

In addition to buying recycled toilet tissue, there are also things we can do to reduce the amount that we use. The folks at Current Configuration have put a lot of thought into the over/under debate and have determined that over is better if you want to use less (check out the diagrams - more thought than I would have put into it, but someone has to...)

Planet Green has also put together some tips about how to make your toilet tissue use more earth-friendly. They include buying bulk toilet tissue and purchasing more sheets/per roll to decrease waste, switching to one-ply and recycling your left-over toilet paper tubes.