Consultations, Coops, Chickens, and Flock Maintenance

Want us to help figure out the best way to design your coop or manage your flock?  Please visit our partner company Green City Growers to schedule a consultation, and we'll take it from there!

Education

We offer Yardbirds' "Backyard Chickens 101" seminars and classes that involve a lecture overview of everything you need to know to keep your own chickens, plus a Q&A discussion AND a chance to meet a few of our Chicken Ambassadors in person where possible.  Topics include candid discussion of basic chicken info, housing and setup, feeds and daily care, illness and disease, laws and neighbors, breeds, and an endgame plan.  Seminars and classes are perfect for your organization, festival, skill-share, small group, garden club, or extended education program.  And we offer kids' programs too!  The listed times are based on our experience of what seems to work well, but are fully adjustable to fit your needs.  Please email TheChickeness at gmail dot com for availability and to schedule seminars and classes with The Chickeness and Yardbirds Backyard Chickens.

    Yardbirds Backyard Chickens 101 class 
        For 1-30 people (more directly interactive)


    Yardbirds Backyard Chickens 101 seminar 
         For 30-500 people (less directly interactive)

    YBC kids! 
        For 1-25 kids, ages 1-10. Older kids might find the YBC
        101 class a bit more interesting - if you're not sure, just             ask!

$250 for 1.5-2 hours. 
    Includes a 45 minute lecture presentation plus 30 minutes-1 hour for questions and         discussion followed by a hands-on introduction to our Chicken Ambassadors.
$350 for 2 hours. 
    Includes a 45 minute-1 hour lecture plus 30 minutes-1 hour for questions and                 discussion followed by a chance to meet our Chicken Ambassadors in person.
$125 for a half-hour program.
    Includes guidance on how to prep the kids for our visit before we get there, a 15-20     minute Q&A with their own questions, and a chance for everyone to pet one of our     Ambassadors in a controlled setting.

  
Pet sitting at your home or farm
The Chickeness, Khrysti Smyth, is an insured and bonded petsitter with over 30 years of experience (pet sitting and training was my first job at the tender age of 6 years old!), including 4 years as a veterinary technician.  She is experienced with just about any critter you may have, including dogs, cats, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, aquarium fish, exotics, horses, livestock - you name it, she's worked with it!  Many glowing references are available upon request.

The Chickeness charges $75/night* for one pet plus $15 for each additional pet (your flock of up to 10 birds counts as one additional pet).  Please schedule visits by email at The Chickeness at gmail dot com.  
 
Khrysti is happy to administer medications, care for "special needs" pets, or take care of flocks larger than 10 birds  - please include a detailed description of your setup and what care is required in your email and we can determine if a rate increase is necessary to account for the additional tasks. 
 
*Visits that don't involve an extended stay are logistically challenging for us at the moment, so we don't prefer to offer those services at this time.  If you need dog-walking or an occasional check-in for your flock or other pets while you're out of town we would be glad to give you some recommendations.