Basement chickens? Yes!

[jtl977]

Hi there.

For anyone who is or has wondered if keeping chickens in your basement is feasible, YES, it can be done! - and my wife and I have started a blog of our experiences. Although a proper chicken coop is strictly "verboten" in our slice of suburbia, we figured out a way to keep our own clandestine micro-flock, and are now enjoying the company of 3 wonderful pets and a daily supply of fresh eggs! Since we learneed so much from the BYC forum, we wanted to pass along some of what we learned.

www.clandestinechickens.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

 

[allieloveschickens]

I love your blog, very nice layout- and very informative!

 

[LizaBlue]

blog coolness

we're fortunate enough to live in the county on a few acres, so basement critter keeping and growing our veg in containers isn't necessary, lol. keep up the good work, and most of all...

congratulations on your marriage!

 

[HorizonSon]

There are a few others on this board doing similar. My take on the whole thing is as such: there are laws that enslave man and laws that set man free. This country was founded on the latter of the two; but in more recent years has overwhelmed us with the former... I say, "More power to you!"

 

[SparksNV]

HorizonSon
Yesterday 9:40 pm There are a few others on this board doing similar. My take on the whole thing is as such: there are laws that enslave man and laws that set man free. This country was founded on the latter of the two; but in more recent years has overwhelmed us with the former... I say, "More power to you!"

totally agree....

carol​

 

[shadowman]

Enjoyed the blog, but, I would have liked more information on the chestnuts. How do you cook or roast them? (or whatever you do to them?)
I would like to try the indoor gardening as well,but, here in Ontario Canada, you pay for electricity with your firt born child! Doesn't it cost a lot in hydro?

 

[jtl977]

Shadowman,

Thanks for reading the blog and glad you liked it. Here is a little more info...

When preparing chestnuts the most important thing to be sure to do is to cut an x in the shell so as the nut doesn't blow up in the microwave (believe me -it can happen!). Chestnut shells are not very hard or thick like other nuts, so its easy to do w/ a kitchen knife. Cook them on high power for about 30 seconds. Let them cool than peel them and eat. We ate them with a little salt and butter. They have a slightly sweet taste, but we thought it was a little rubbery.

This is great cookbook of recipes to make once you cook nuts- http://shop.acf.org/chestnutcookbook.aspx

As for the electric bill, to be honest we aren't sure about that as we haven't gotten a bill since setting the aquaponic system. Last year we did just the AeroGarden and we didn't see any change in the bill. Should the aquaponic system be really expensive I do have a plan. I saw an ad for LED grow light systems which were advertised as "low thermal footprint" which of course was to entice the pot growers not me a salad green grower but I did infer that it would have a low energy use. When I started pricing the LED lights I was shocked by how expensive the systems are. I ended up finding one on ebay for $30 bucks. I have read that the reason some people are able to sell them so cheap is that they are basically the light diodes out of old street lights which are not quite as good as the official systems but for what I am trying to do they should work just fine. Be sure to check back to see how the plants grow and how bad our next electric bill is! PS- the LED lights are red which is a great wavelength for plants but makes my living room look like a cheap nightclub!

 

[Cargo]

Cool Blog.

 

[cupcakequeen]

Thanks so much for posting this! I have a wonderful, big basement and was wondering how this would work, and I am so pleased to see info from someone who is doing it successfully. Following your blog now!

 

[3chimama]

I enjoyed the video ;D