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    In My Garden: John Bannon in Olde Towne East

    John Bannon with one of his chickens

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    Backyard chickens? YES! You’ve been reading a lot about raising chickens in your own backyard the past couple of years. It’s a part of the local foods movement that has been gaining ground here and across the nation as people have been looking for ways to get closer to the source of their food.

    John Bannon was wanting to do just that. Working at Trader Joe’s exposed him to several other friends raising chickens and his interest was piqued. After speaking with his friend Craig Castro, who runs a hobby farm with his wife in Sunbury called Porter Central Produce, he thought raising chickens would be a fun way to add to his garden.

    Bannon has lived in Olde Towne East for over ten years. He wanted to invest in a home that needed some work done, but wasn’t a complete overhaul. His backyard is a nice size, about 26 feet wide and nearly 90 feet deep. With his patio space and several garden beds, there was plenty of space available to house a chicken coop.

    To get ideas on the type of coop he wanted to build, Bannon headed to the Columbus Metropolitan Library and checked out the book “Chicken Coops. 45 building plans for housing your flock” by Judy Pangman. He wanted to build the coop himself, because he likes building things and also wanted to save some money. His entire investment in materials for the coop was about $250. After looking through the book’s designs, he settled on “The Cat House” and then made a couple of modifications to it.

    The roof lifts up in the back so you are able to easily reach in to collect eggs out of the nest boxes and the floor is made like a sled to be able to easily move it around the yard.

    The entire buildout took him about three weeks – a bit longer than expected because the rainy spring this year made it a bit difficult to find the time to work on it. He’d still like to paint the coop white with green trim.

    In April he went to the Tractor Supply Store in Pickerington to buy his chickens, feed, poultry feeder and drinker. Those supplies were about $30 and the chickens were $2.49 each. You had to mail-order six at a time and he decided to get White Leghorns. They mature at about 25 weeks and so far he has gotten two eggs. But soon he expects to have more eggs than he knows what to do with!

    His gardens are filled with tomatoes, swiss chard, bell peppers, habanero peppers, melons, a grapevine and an herb garden with cilantro and other herbs and lettuces.

    He started all of his plants from seed from seedsofchange.com. All of the tomatoes he will can into sauce and he plans to make some spicy hot sauce from the habaneros.

    Keeping cool in the shade

    What do you need to do to legally raise chickens in Columbus?

    • First, you need to contact the Public Health Veterinarian, currently Aaron K. Messer, DVM, RS, and fill out a request for an official ‘Animal Possessor Permit.’
    • File an application showing your plans and photographs, a schedule for cleaning and disinfecting, and a report to demonstrate your knowledge on the subject.
    • The property owner of the address requesting the permit must be on record as in favor of having the chickens. You must also have your chickens certified as healthy by a veterinarian. (Bannon used Fred Lindsey of Altizer Vet Clinic in Centerburg, Ohio. The cost for this was approximately $35).
    • Then you need to have the city veterinarian come and inspect everything. The permit is free and lasts for one year. An annual re-inspection must be done within 90 days prior to the permit expiration date.

    Read the Standards Relative to Animals document that fully outlines the permit process in complete detail here.

    Contact Information for City of Columbus Public Health Veterinarian:
    Aaron K. Messer DVM, RS
    Columbus Public Health
    240 Parsons Avenue
    Columbus, Ohio 43215-5331
    Phone: (614) 645-6748
    Fax: (614) 645-7155
    E-mail: [email protected]

    Contact Information for Altizer Vet Clinic:
    Fred O. Altizer DVM
    4972 Columbus Road
    Centerburg, OH 43011-9402
    Phone: (740) 625-6748

    If you have a garden you’d like featured in In My Garden, contact me at [email protected].

    John Bannon also does in home/event wine tastings. If you’d like more info on that, visit columbuswinetastings.com.

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    Anne Evans
    Anne Evanshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-evans/
    Anne Evans is the Co-Founder and Director of Operations for The Metropreneur and Columbus Underground. She regularly contributes feature stories on both sites, as well as Mega Weekend each week. She has started and grown businesses, created experiences, forged community partnerships, and worked to create opportunities for others. She loves meeting new neighbors and those making an impact in our community. Want to connect?
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