Just over one year ago, the urbanchickens.org website was officially launched!   Here are some quick facts from year 1:

• We've had over 63,000 hits on our homepage
• We have over 700 members with profiles, and many more guests who have used our site this year
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Many chicken keepers swear by diatomaceous earth (DE), as it provides a variety of positive benefits for both your flock and your household.  Our flock has benefited from DE, and it has helped cut down the cockroach population in our house and yard.  

Food grade diatomaceous earth:  read more »

Mark found a really great post over on BoingBoing about roosters that have unusually long crows. The video post is short and worth watching. Follow this link.

Does anyone out there have one of these long crowing breeds? They are pretty unique.

We've had a huge rush of emails lately from people who are trying to get their city's ordinances changed. Keep them coming - and here is how we can help.

I wrote a research paper on urban chicken ordinances for a class last semester, which many have found helpful. The paper is an evaluation of chicken ordinances from 25 cities around the US, which draws out the common themes and exceptions found in the ordinances. The paper is attached below as a pdf.  read more »

Backyard chickens were recently legalized in Brainerd Minnesota. Yeah!

Here is the breakdown with my comments:  read more »

This week in the world of chickens...

• Countdown to State College chicken ordinance decision, vote to happen on the 20th of October.
• City dwellers flock to raising urban chickens. (Great article- and we are quoted in it!)
• Thomas K's picks: Top 9 books for newbie chicken keepers.
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Wow! Who would have thought our urban chicken keeping initiative would be so well received by the public and the press. So far I think we have been featured in 5 articles, and we were even interviewed for the evening news.

Check out the most recent article, Student: City well suited for urban chickens, project provides know-how on raising fowl at home, that appeared today in the University of New Mexico Daily Lobo.  read more »

Thanks to the hard work of Dan Brown and other Ft. Collins chicken supporters, residents of the city will now be allowed to keep hens in residential backyards. The city council passed the ordinance 5 to 1, which allows up to 6 hens per household.  Roosters and slaughtering are not permitted, and hens must be housed 15 feet from your property line.  read more »

This week in the world of chicken news...

Switters, one of my Rhode Island Reds, has had a round scab on the bottom of her right foot for a few weeks now. I soaked and cleaned her feet many times, but the scab showed no signs of clearing up, and a slight pink color had now developed around the edges. I then noticed a very tiny round scab on the bottom of her other foot, and decided that I needed to get her feet healthy right away before it got serious.  read more »