Laying hens in Torontario

[ross]

Lol Andy , in my case "where there's a free meal there's a relative " so I make um do work around here BEFORE being fed , hahahaha

[thejonesboy]

Hahahahaha!

[going quackers]

That's the plan plus no noise .

It's funny, the main reason that suburban areas don't want roosters is because of the "noise", but I have and have had, hens that are much louder than most of the cockerels that come of age here, and they can carry on for quite a while with their egg songs. I do get it about roosters and noise levels, but IMHO they're no louder than barking dogs or lawn tractors or snowmobiles. Personally, I'd much rather hear a rooster crow than any of the aforementioned noises.

So true, i have had a few here that could wake the dead, one in particular which is still here a silkie loud little sucker!! Mind you the roo's that crow at 3AM are pretty annoying

[going quackers]

@valegal I agree about the raccoons. One got in my neighbors coop last week and killed 4 birds in the time it took her to hear the commotion and run out there. I'm interested in hearing about what it's like to keep birds in your situation. I imagine many of the issues you will face will be similar to those in a more rural setting but some might be vastly different! Keep us posted as you dive into your new endeavor. Have you determined what breed(s) you want?

Ouch. I have been lucky, the only thing coons get around here are the scovies that go nest somewhere in the fields or in the round bales.

[going quackers]

We actually have a surprising number of predators here (I live near the Humber River). Besides the raccoons, there are hawks, cats, opossums, and I've seen the odd coyote. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons that the city isn't allowing the chickens here to be "at large" at any point.

As far as breeds, I was thinking one each of Chantecler, RIR, and Cochin. I think I've sourced out the Chantecler, but if anyone has any RIR and/or Cochin pullets available and are in southern Ontario, feel free to PM me.

I agree with @Epona, there will likely be a huge demand for pullets very soon. I've done some Google'ing myself and it seems tough to find anything other than chicks, especially in southern Ontario.

I have no doubt and the more that is there for them to eat the more that come around, i know my feed mill girl was commenting demand was high already. I bet Frey's will be over run this year with RTL orders.

[going quackers]

The other urban predator you may have to deal with is neighbouring dogs...I lost several rabbits complements of the neighbours large dogs, even though they were in a decent outdoor hutch.

That's to bad! our neighbours dog came over one day, never lost so many birds so quickly(other than the minks) from call ducks, Muscovy, silkies and so forth... he was EVERYWHERE .. it was awful. I had dead, dying and injured all over, honestly didn't know where to run to first.

[going quackers]

We actually have a surprising number of predators here (I live near the Humber River). Besides the raccoons, there are hawks, cats, opossums, and I've seen the odd coyote. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons that the city isn't allowing the chickens here to be "at large" at any point.

As far as breeds, I was thinking one each of Chantecler, RIR, and Cochin. I think I've sourced out the Chantecler, but if anyone has any RIR and/or Cochin pullets available and are in southern Ontario, feel free to PM me.

I agree with @Epona, there will likely be a huge demand for pullets very soon. I've done some Google'ing myself and it seems tough to find anything other than chicks, especially in southern Ontario.

I have Cochin and although they are pretty and gentle they aren't great egg producers so that may or may not be a consideration for you. The other two that you mention are traditionally better layers. My almost 2 year old Cochins still haven't resumed laying since starting their "vacation" last Sept/Oct. On the flip side my 6 year old Barred Rocks have started back up and they are laying at least every other day. Depends how important eggs are to you

Interesting, i had banty Cochin mine laid very well, but they were not friendly mink eventually finished the whole flock off though...

[Killerbunny]

The other urban predator you may have to deal with is neighbouring dogs...I lost several rabbits complements of the neighbours large dogs, even though they were in a decent outdoor hutch.

That's to bad! our neighbours dog came over one day, never lost so many birds so quickly(other than the minks) from call ducks, Muscovy, silkies and so forth... he was EVERYWHERE .. it was awful. I had dead, dying and injured all over, honestly didn't know where to run to first.

Yes the same here. I ended up losing 12 hens either right then or ones I had to put down from injuries. Even the ones with only "small" injuries took a long time to recover. He got right into the coops with my older girls mostly. He'd already had a go at some heifers, another ladies chickens a pug on a leash and the other neighbours pigs. We were only gone for 20 minutes! Anyway SSS worked.