Backyard Chickens & Bees

I was at home this morning (after having gone to the opening day for the Portland Farmer’s Market and working on various chores) and Matt came by to say that they were heading over to The Urban Farm Store on SE Morrison and wondered if I was interested in joining them. Of course I was! [...]

We worked on the hen house again today, this time installing a few bells and whistles and putting up all of the chicken wire to keep out the raccoons and other varmints. And, in typical Pacific Northwest weather, it was pouring the entire time. At least I got in a hot shower afterwards, and don’t [...]

Well, this past weekend was dedicated to the March CHIC (Community Home Improvement Collective) and additional work on building the new chicken coop. We worked at Matt and Kristin’s place this month (they are my immediate neighbors to the South), with a long laundry-list of tasks to complete, including a full remodel of the chicken [...]

We had a dog vs. chicken attack this past weekend on my property. Veronica and I came home from running errands and noticed a dog standing by the raised beds with his back to us. As soon as we got out of the car, he turned around and we saw that there was one of [...]

Yesterday we had our first official CHIC workday of 2009. CHIC is a micro-local Community Home Improvement Collective (I pronounce it ‘chick’, not ‘sheek’) that is composed of several neighbors from my block in the Sabin Neighborhood of NE Portland. Ten people, total. This was started last year by (I think) Carol, up the block, [...]

I went down to Ruhl’s Bee Supply place yesterday with the neighbors to pick up the assembled hives. So, there is no turning back at this point. Each of the hives we bought has two deep frames for the brood and three supers for honey production. All told, the hive stands about 47″ tall (right [...]

There’s an old tom-cat that has been living in the neighbourhood for a few years, mostly hanging out in our backyard and the surrounding yards. He’s kind of goofy looking, with a huge head, raccoon face, and crossed blue eyes. I would say that he’s a Snowshoe Siamese, given the markings on his face and [...]

My wife, Veronica, and I have decided to join our neighbors in raising chickens in the backyard. Alongside the birds, we have also been considering having one to several bee hives. Honey bees, that is. I guess the intent of this site is to maintain a journal of the effort and work, as well as the benefits and rewards, of raising chickens and bees in an urban setting.

For some background, we have a standard size plot of land that contains our house and several gardens. The plot is about 50′ by 100′. There are two large trees out back, a deck, and a small vineyard on the side. So where the hell are chickens and bees going to fit in?!?