On the Fourth of July, make sure to stop by The Natural Step Monona’s booth at the Monona Community Festival (opening at 10:00 a.m.) and purchase some tickets for the “All Things Monona” raffle. The drawing is at 4:00 and, although one need not be present to win, you might want to be there to hear your name called if you win one of these valuable prizes:

Grand Prize: Gary Fisher “Monona” Bicycle ($890). This is the perfect bicycle for fitness, commuting, or riding to the Monona Farmers’ Market. The “Monona” hybrid works on paved surfaces, hard-packed dirt trails, and even gravel. “Doing the Loop” or riding to the coffee shop – this bike is for you. Donated by Monona’s Mead family, with accessories from Trek Bicycles. (http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/monona/detail)

Second Prize: Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 kayak ($525). The Pamlico series offers excellent stability while the soft-chinned, flat-bottom hull gives the paddler outstanding control. It’s the perfect kayak for children and smaller adults for navigating currents and calm waters. 10’ long, 42 pounds. Donated by Rutabaga. (http://www.rutabaga.com/product.asp?pid=1016437)

Third Prize: Weekly Autumn Share (September and October) CSA ($210). Chris & Juli McGuire’s vegetables are raised under the best conditions, harvested at the peak of ripeness, handled carefully, and not touched by chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Pick up is on Tuesdays from 4:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Rutabaga, 220 W. Broadway, Monona. Donated by Two Onion Farm, Belmont, WI. (http://www.twoonionfarm.com/)

Other Green Prizes:

Willy Street Co-op recycled cotton grocery tote filled with a bunch of locally produced products. Worth $120.

Five subscriptions to the Herald-Independent. Read local news and The Natural Step columns on recycled paper. Five separate prizes, worth $37 each.

A “Garden Family” Membership from Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Enjoy, learn, & grow. Worth $50.

Madison Gas & Electric Energy Conservation Package. CLFs, hot water gauge, water-saving faucet aerator, window insulator kit, outlet caps, and thermometer strip in a reusable bag. Worth $35.

Monona Motors gift certificate. A regularly-serviced car reduces fuel use and emissions. Get quality care from a highly regarded local auto repair shop. Worth $50.

Party Platter from Cousins Subs. Feed a crowd with great sub sandwiches from a locally-owned and operated business. Worth $50.

Signed copy of Living Like Ed, by Ed Begley, Jr. Get tips & tricks for living lightly on the earth. Worth $20.

Earth Machine Compost  Bin. Recycle your yard waste and kitchen scraps into a valuable soil amendment. Worth $45.

Crema Cafe gift card. Enjoy creative foods made largely with local, organic ingredients. Worth $50.

Four shares of MGEE stock. Own a piece (four pieces!) of our local energy provider. Worth fluctuates.

One-hour garden consultation from Permaculturist Kate Heiber-Cobb of Sustainability on Stilts, LLC. Worth $45.

Sustain Dane Dual-Flush Toilet Converter Kit. Help save precious water resources with this simple DIY dual-flush kit. Worth $55.

Savings Bond from locally-owned and operated Monona State Bank. Worth $50.

Monona Public Library “Get out of Jail Free” card. Waive up to $10 in overdue fines with this “magic” card. Worth $10.

Mad City Chickens DVD. Wisconsin filmmakers take a sometimes wacky, sometimes serious look at backyard chicken-keeping. Worth $21.95.

Energy Star 3-Way CFL Torchiere Lamp from Madison Gas and Electric. This floor lamp uses 70 watts to give the equivalent of 300 watts of light. Worth $60.

Thank you to the prize donors — business owners, individuals, and organizations — who gave twenty-three items for this raffle, for a total prize value of over $2,500. Without their generosity this raffle would not have been possible. Thanks also to everyone who purchased (or will purchase!) tickets — you’re supporting the continued good works of The Natural Step Monona and its volunteer members!

If you cannot make it to the Monona Community Festival, but want to buy a ticket or two, email us at info@tnsmonona.org by Thursday, July 2 and we’ll work to get some tickets in your hands.

Gorgeous weather, a good team effort in publicizing and staffing, and interesting green projects and exhibits helped create a well-attended and successful inaugural Green Monona Tour on Sunday, June 14.

The free, four-hour event was organized by the City of Monona Sustainability Committee to showcase a variety of ways Mononans conserve resources, save money, and care for the natural environment and their community. Fifteen sites – nine homes, four businesses, a church, and a city building – were presented. The hope was that seeing the green steps up close and speaking with those who have taken them would make it easier for tour-goers to implement green practices.

Committee Chair Doug Wood was at Ahuska Park, guiding people to the Exhibitor Site where they could learn from and visit with representatives of Focus on Energy, The Natural Step Monona, the Madison Area Permaculture Guild, and Habitat ReStore. They could also see the Monona Police Department’s Honda Element and Patrol Bicycle—both of which save the city on fuel costs. A display prepared by the Public Works Department about the Lake Edge Sedimentation Basin explained how the facility, which turns drivers’ heads daily on Monona Drive, improves stormwater quality. MG&E literature was available, also.

Nichole North Hester, who generated the idea for the tour, and Pat Howell assisted at the Exhibitor Site, too. Said Howell, “We had a steady stream of people… There seems to be a lot of interest in finding ideas to be more green.”

Committee members also had homes on the tour. Peter McKeever and his wife, Marena Kehl, displayed their porous paver driveway.

Suzanne Wade and her husband, Larry, showed their many water-saving features and also hosted an exhibit from Sustain Dane. Wade reported “lots of interest in the in-line pump (for their rain barrel watering system), the tank-less water heater, and dual flush toilet.”

Heather Gates’ home was visited by over forty people, many of whom were interested in seeing her crushed granite driveway and rain garden.

Bob Miller, former chair of the committee and now a citizen member, acted as tour guide for those that took the Wal-Mart-sponsored bus. The bus stopped at three notable sites: Wal-Mart, for a behind-the-scenes look at its sustainability measures; the yurt that houses 4Pillars4Health EcoSpace and its composting toilet; and the Paprocki residence to see parts of a home energy audit – a blower door test and infrared camera – in action.

While some tour-goers took the bus or drove cars, many tour-goers implemented their own green transportation – riding their bikes.

Committee member Wade helped create site signage; George Kinsler posted signs at area businesses; Bert Slinde collected guides from city buildings the night before the tour so they could be shared with tour-goers on Sunday. Local restaurants, Pizza Oven and Papa Murphy’s, helped by putting quarter-page flyers about the tour on their pizza delivery boxes the week before the event.

The Green Monona Tour included exhibitors at sites on the tour, as well as at the Ahuska Exhibitor Site. Brighter Concepts, Full Spectrum Solar, and MPowering were represented at the Speight/Carr residence, the DeVore residence, and the Meyer residence, respectively.

WKOW (http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10544033), WISC (http://www.channel3000.com/news/19752268/detail.html), and WMTV covered the event. Also, the Herald-Independent printed the site list and map — part of the official Site/Exhibitor Guide – augmenting the number of citizens who had the most pertinent information about the tour.

The Green Monona Tour will prove truly successful if visitors to the sites are inspired enough to take green steps of their own and lessen their impact on the earth. According to Wade, the most rewarding part of having taken green measures is “knowing that when we sit and watch a sunset over Lake Monona, we have contributed in a small way to its health and the health of the community.”

Green Monona Tour on the community sign

Subject: The Green Monona Tour

When: Sunday June 14, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: All around Monona

Who:You.

Would you like to see a blower door test and an infrared camera in action, a composting toilet (Umm, not in action), regular composting, rain barrels, rain gardens, organic gardens, a solar lawn mower, Solatubes, permeable driveway pavers, not to mention a yurt? Would you like to turn green with envy? All right here in beautiful green Monona? For free?

Would you like to take a behind-the-scenes peak at how Wal-Mart has incorporated energy-saving features into its local Wal-Mart Superstore’s operation?

Well, you are out of luck, UNLESS you take the Green Monona Tour on Sunday, June 14 between 9 .am. and 1 p.m. (Rain or shine). The tour is self-guiding. Look for the Green Monona Tour signs. There will also be a guided bus tour leaving from Ahuska Park at 9:20 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. The bus will only stop at selected sites. And it’s all FREE.

Stop anywhere that you see a Green Monona Tour “Site” sign. However, a trip to Ahuska Park is pretty near mandatory to view exhibits and talk to exhibitors (and while you’re there, scarf some tasty treats and buy your organic meats and produce at the Monona Farmers Market).

Nine homes, four businesses (Wal-Mart, Rutabaga Paddlesports, Aldo Leopold Nature Center, and 4Pillars4Health EcoSpace LLC), one church, and one city building are on the tour. Exhibitors present at specific sites on the tour and at Ahuska Park are: Focus on Energy, ReStore, The Natural Step Monona, Madison Area Permaculture Guild, Madison Gas & Electric, Full Spectrum Solar, Sustain Dane, Brighter Concepts, and MPowering.

The Green Monona Tour gives you a chance to see some sustainable practices up close and speak with your neighbors who have implemented them (this is the part where you turn green from envy). You will also have a chance to talk to vendors of many of these products. Get some ideas, learn from their experiences, and maybe you will want to try one or more of these practices at your home or business.

The city of Monona’s Sustainability Committee is sponsoring the tour with generous support from Wal-Mart. Special thanks to Heather Gates, Nicole North Hester, and the former chair of the committee, old what’s-his-name.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime experience (unless we decide to do it again next year): The Green Monona Tour, Sunday June 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Do the Green Monona Tour on your own in any old order you like or adhere to our rigid schedule and ride the bus at 9:20 a.m. and 11 a.m. And did I mention that it’s FREE?

More information is available at the city’s website, mymonona.com.

This area near the sign was not all we planted. Next time you’re near the Community Center, stop and check out the terraced slope at the south end of the building. Dwarf fruit and nut trees, grasses, perennials, and even a few nasturtiums were planted and will be filling out to be an incredibly beautiful Permaculture garden. A seed harvesting class will be held in the fall, and next year these plants will provide more plants for new beds in other areas of our community. Nature is renewing and recycling and we are helping her!

(The Community Center is part of the Green Monona Tour on June 14. See the listing under Events.)

To illustrate our society’s upstream approach to waste, in a previous column I asked you to imagine trash floating down a stream. In another, to show how human activity depends upon fossil fuels and finite resources, I asked you to picture emitting a putrid red gas each time you used non-renewable or threatened resources.

Now, please dream boldly again, and imagine a framework for a sustainable society. Envision a framework consistent with the laws of thermodynamics, peer-reviewed, tested over time, and adopted and used by successful businesses and municipalities worldwide. Let’s say the framework is even used and endorsed by the American Planning Association, is compatible with all the best tools for sustainability, has four robust principles for decision-making, and is generic enough for any activity at any scale.

Are you picturing what that might be like? If such a framework existed, we would have a shared model for cooperation to help us make pragmatic decisions to move toward sustainability. If we all learned this framework, like learning a language, we would be on the same page – able to see the gaps between sustainable and unsustainable development and activities. A framework like this would be immensely helpful as we struggle to align ourselves with the increasingly unsustainable human systems of the world.

That’s what The Natural Step is.

The Natural Step is an organization and framework started twenty years ago to address the growing gap between human consumption of resources and the ecological limits of the planet to both supply those resources and reabsorb our resulting wastes. It encompasses everything mentioned above. The Natural Step Monona is a two-year-old community group founded to help our community initiate positive changes using this framework.

The Natural Step (TNS) was created by Swedish oncologist Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt. Believing a broad understanding of the relationship between science and sustainability was essential to the continuation of life, Dr. Robèrt created a statement and asked fifty ecologists, chemists, physicists, and medical doctors to review and critique it. After twenty-one revisions, he achieved his goal of scientific consensus on the conditions for sustainability.

The TNS framework is used in businesses such as IKEA and Interface. It is used in eleven countries, including more than 25% of the municipalities in Sweden. Wisconsin leads the nation in the number of municipalities to have adopted it – at last count, twenty-two.

The framework should be institutionalized in our municipalities, integrated in our policies and procedures to last over time, so advances don’t disappear with a new administration. Ideally, the framework would become second nature for everyone, not just those in our city government.

Talk of this kind often scares some people, as they are fearful of an agenda. I was wary when it was new to me, too. But I did some research, asked some probing questions, and learned that the TNS agenda is to “guide organizations to act according to the principles for sustainability, now.” Hard to disagree with saving humanity from self-destruction, and doing it sooner rather than later.

TNS encourages citizen participation. It encourages you to be part of the discussion, debate, creativity, ethics, aesthetics, group dynamics, and common sense surrounding the steps that our community should take to move toward sustainability. It is inclusionary to the max. Citizen engagement fails when based on misunderstandings and/or poor knowledge. So, having a shared understanding of the principles of sustainability is crucial to moving forward comprehensively.

What TNS is not: a religion or spiritual movement, a framework only concerned with the environment, negative for business, a top-down framework, or just a Monona community group.

Moving toward sustainability is not easy. Learning a “new language” is difficult. But on an individual level, it will help you distinguish between truly “green” measures and “greenwashing.” For an egregious example, see the recent Wal-Mart commercial stating that if all two million of their customers bought the new vacuum they were promoting, they would save resources and wouldn’t that be a good thing for the planet? (Answer: Since when did buying two million of anything save resources? And, no; it wouldn’t.)

On the municipal level, learning the language of sustainability will empower all city workers to look at processes and policies with a new awareness for spotting gaps between what is sustainable and unsustainable. Rather than dictates from above, everyone can be looking to find ways to save our resources, our money, our future, and the next generation’s future, too.

There could be many benefits to a sustainable Monona: lowering our taxes, being a competitive base for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, having reliable and local sources for non-polluting renewable energy, living in non-toxic homes, being healthier citizens, having green jobs, having an economic advantage over unsustainable communities, connecting with our food sources, creating zero waste… And did I say, “Do our part to keep humans from going extinct?” Yeah, that little item, too.

Individuals can make a meaningful difference in reversing our unsustainable ways. Dream boldly and imagine what your sustainable Monona might look like. And if you don’t know enough to know where to begin to dream, consider joining a study circle on the TNS framework or learning about TNS with the many great resources at the Monona Public Library’s Sustainability Section.

(Next time: “So, enough already! What is this framework?)

Butts Out

At previous clean ups we’ve found hundreds and hundreds of cigarette filters. Surely not everyone who tosses cigarette butts does so with indifference to the environment or to the cleanliness of our city. It could mean people don’t understand what happens to those butts. Some must believe they are made of cotton and will naturally decompose. But cigarette filters are made of around 12,000 fibers of cellulose acetate (a plastic) and are not bio-degradable. They take ten to fifteen years to break down. The butts pose a hazard to birds and other wildlife when they are mistaken for food. And cigarette butts contain chemicals that can kill some critical, tiny animals in aquatic communities.

According to the Ocean Conservancy, during their 2006 Annual International Coastal Cleanup, cigarette butts were the most littered item on roadways, beaches, and sidewalks, representing 35% of items collected.

Litter Happens

Would you throw trash directly into Lake Monona? In effect that’s what people are doing if they toss something on the sidewalk or out the car window. Everything that lands on pavement – leaves, cigarette butts, sticks, dog poop, cups, candy wrappers – ends up in our lakes unless someone picks it up before the next rain. When the rains come they wash all that debris into the storm sewers and the storm sewers feed directly into our lakes.

My home is not too far from the high school. The darling Hansels and Gretels heading to and from school are leaving a trail as they pass. In the spring, it is a special gift of ugliness. As the snow melts and the snow piles shrink, each day brings a new discovery of plastic straws, lids, candy wrappers, fast food cups, and those ubiquitous cigarette butts. Revealed to have been deposited and held over the course of the winter, the trash presents itself like an Antarctic archeological dig.

I doubt many youngsters and teens read this column, but parents and grandparents do, and I urge them to educate the younger people about this. They’re probably not getting anti-littering public-service announcements like the Iron Eyes Cody “Keep America Beautiful” message that so impressed earlier generations, including mine.

Blue Cart Recycling

At the request of Helen Hift, here is a reminder of what can and cannot be put in our recycling carts (from the Green Valley website):

• Aluminum
Cans and foil - rinse clean
NO LICENSE PLATES

• Glass
Clear, green, brown - bottles and jars, rinse clean
NO LIDS, NO WINDOW GLASS

• Plastic
All plastic containers marked #1 through #7; 5 gal pails, wire handles removed; rinse clean; drain automotive containers well
NO PLASTIC BAGS OR STYROFOAM

• Cardboard and Mixed Paper
Corrugated cardboard - flattened; newspapers, paper-board, phone books, post-it notes, typing paper, white letterhead, writing paper, beverage cases, adding machine tape, carbonless forms, cereal boxes, colored paper, computer paper, copy paper, envelopes, windowed envelopes, fax paper, file folders, magazines, manila folders.
NO NAPKINS, PAPER TOWELS, TISSUE, PAPER PLATES OR WAXED MATERIAL

Recycling Non-Cart Items

Ideally, plastic shopping bags cease to exist as everyone shifts to reusable bags. But until everyone does, shopping bags and other thin films can be taken to Copps grocery for recycling. There is a container to the east of the doors.

Styrofoam is really bad stuff. The packaging peanuts can be saved and reused. Larger pieces, such as those that often come with appliance packaging and the like, can be taken to Home Concepts where they have a device that turns big pieces into smaller ones that are used for packaging. (Home Concepts is at 2134 W. Beltline Hwy.; 271-4663; Go around to the back.) Be an extra good steward of the environment and when you buy a product packaged in Styrofoam, call the company and ask them to please change that practice.

Paper napkins, towels, tissue, and plates are wasteful and unnecessary. Reusable cloth napkins and towels, hankies, and ceramic or metal plates are the better alternatives. But if you do use paper items, look for unbleached and bio-degradable varieties that you can put in your home composter when you’re through.

Remember that while recycling is important, it is a downstream approach and not a perfect solution. A better way is reducing waste upstream—significantly lessening our consumption of resources and goods, especially those that are packaged.

The number of bins available will be capped at 100, so get your order in soon. With distribution on Mothers Day, a bin makes an environmentally- and economically-friendly Mothers Day gift.

The price is $45 each, which includes tax. This is the same composter available at the Dane County/City of Madison sale, only we conveniently provide your pre-ordered composters to you at the Monona Farmers’ Market and you don’t have to stand in a long line hoping they have some left by the time you reach the front of the line!

Planned around the compost bin distribution, the topic for the Green Tuesday presentation on May 12 will be Composting and Vermiculture presented by the Madison Area Permaculture Guild (MAPG). Master Composter and member of the MAPG, Brad Kaellner, will be one of the presenters. (See the Green Tuesday events on this site for details about the series.)

Composting is a simple, practical, and effective way to recycle yard waste and kitchen scraps. Not only does composting keep useable materials from having to be hauled away and from filling up precious landfill space, it turns those materials into an enriching soil amendment.

Monona residents bought thirty bins during The Natural Step Monona’s 2007 sale. With estimates that the average household diverts 500 pounds of organic matter from the waste stream per year by using a compost bin, this means those thirty bins have kept fifteen tons of waste out of our landfill in the last two years!

The Monona Farmers’ Market is at Ahuska Park, on Broadway between Monona Drive and Stoughton Road.

For questions about the sale, please email info@tnsmonona.org or call 663-2459. For more information about the Earth Machine compost bins, please visit www.earthmachine.com.

To order, email info@tnsmonona.org or call 663-2459 with the following information: name, address, phone number(s), e-mail address, and number of bins desired. You will receive confirmation of your order, and then a reminder email closer to the distribution date. 

More Details about the Earth Machine:

The Earth Machine™ is the most successful product of its type in the world. Since its introduction, more than 2,500,000 Earth Machines have been put in use in over 3,500 communities.

The Earth Machine is designed for easy, passive composting – just start filling the bin, water it, and occasionally stir or poke it – or easy, active composting – turning and aerating weekly.

Ventilation is controlled through the alignment of the lid.

The Earth Machine secures to the ground with sturdy twist pegs, has a secure access door, locking lid, and air vents too small to allow rodent entry, creating a nearly rodent-proof bin.

 
Its two-piece assembly snaps together without the use of any tools. 

It is made of high-density, injection-molded polyethylene with a minimum 50% post-consumer recycled materials. It has UV stabilizers for all season strength and resistance to all kinds of weather.

The Earth Machine comes in two halves which nest inside each other and fits into any automobile. 

 
The Earth Machine has a ten-year warranty against cracking, deterioration, warping, or any other defect that would diminish its effectiveness or appearance.

 
It comes with assembly/replacement instructions and a comprehensive twenty-page “Home Composting Handbook.”

 
Unit dimensions when assembled: 33″ diameter by 33″ high.
Weight: 15 lbs
Volume: 10.5 cubic feet (80 Imperial gallons or 300 litres)

We want to let everyone know about the Monona Community Landscaping Project and welcome you to our team! This project was initiated by our Parks & Recreation Director, Jake Anderson, coming to The Natural Step Monona and asking us if we could help the community with possible landscaping solutions for the community center. There had been designs drawn up previously and the plants alone totaled many thousands of dollars, and then many more dollars for the labor to plant them. So, a couple of us TNS Monona members met with Jake and walked the land and brainstormed about a possible community solution that would cost very little.

We came up with a community project of education possibilities, community labor, and donation of native plants by residents. Thus, The Monona Community Landscaping Project was born. Jake was very interested in, and willing to work with us on, sustainable landscaping and planting. He kindly took instructions on how to sheet mulch the plant beds to build soil fertility and have them ready for planting in the spring. Sheet Mulching or Lasagna Beds, are basically a technique of layering compostable materials of carbon and nitrogen that builds active, living soil. Usually it begins with a layer of newspaper and/or cardboard, a layer of leaves, possibly some organic kitchen scraps or aged manure, and then a layer of straw or shredded bark mulch. When done in the fall, and layered deeply enough, it creates soil ready to be planted in the spring. The combination of nitrogen and carbon breaks it down into soil. You’d be surprised how quickly it breaks down - even throughout the winter months. This saved the city money that it would have otherwise had to spend on topsoil being trucked in and spread on the beds, and possible tilling. Besides creating healthy, living soil, it protects the ground from weed seeds and from erosion. It’s cheap and it works!! Start saving those materials for your own yard!!!

So, thanks to Jake there are three growing areas sheet mulched for spring planting. We have a date for a community planting set for Saturday, May 30 from 9 a.m. until noon or until the job’s finished. The rain date is Sunday, May 31, same times. We are asking our area gardeners (and we know there are many of them in Monona by the beautiful yards all over the city) when separating their native perennials in the spring to think about our project and check out the plant list on line, or call Jake at the Parks Department, and donate some of their plants to us. The link to the project information and plant list page is on our city web site. The link to the page on our city web site for the project information and plant list is:

http://www.monona.wi.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={045400A4-E412-427B-BAA6-49BBADCD713F}

We are also hoping that some people will peruse our plant list and decide to purchase a small tree or berry bush for our community planting. This project is about creating community around stewardship of our city land and teaching sustainable practices of gardening.

We will be mulching our growing beds deeply to keep moisture in and use less water, feed the soil with its organic content, and keep the weeds at bay. We will be arranging plants in such a way that it creates a plant guild, which consists of plants that feed and aerate the soil, attract beneficial insects, needing less care, and no chemical treatments because of the biodiversity created. We are mimicking nature (biomimicry).

We are also hoping that rain barrels will be installed at the community center and plan on offering a free class for people to watch and participate in that process when it happens. We will let you know details on that as we know.

Later in the season we will have a seed collecting educational event and work day at the bed. We will also be mulching it heavily for the winter months using materials gathered and created in our city parks to do it. (Leaves, shredded bark mulch, etc.)

Maybe you have a class, an organization, or group that wants to participate or donate to this project. If so, please contact Kate Heiber-Cobb from TNS Monona at 224-1462. Our goal is for this to be a broader community project and an educational model of sustainable gardening and land use.

As a city girl, I knew little about chickens, but in 1980 I was given a few Bantam (miniature) hens and purchased a box-full of Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, and White Leghorn chicks. The chicks were raised by the hens in our California backyard, eventually dwarfing their surrogate mothers.

Thirteen years later we moved to Monona and put chicken-raising behind us. But when we moved to Blooming Grove four years ago, I began thinking about chickens again.

Northern California is perfect for raising chickens, but Dane County’s frigid winters and hot summers required figuring out how to care for chickens in such a climate.

Chickens, like all domesticated animals, require food, water, and shelter. Food consists of chicken feed, chicken scratch, kitchen scraps, and fresh produce. Lots of clean water should be provided in a container above the floor level to keep debris out of it. The container should be cleaned and sanitized regularly. 

Providing shelter is more complicated. First and foremost, the coop must be dry and draft-free. A cold, wet chicken will die quickly. Equally dangerous to a chicken’s health is a hot, unventilated coop.  

Chickens thrive in seventy-degree temperatures, yet they will tolerate cold, even down to freezing, much better than heat.  Providing a double-walled, insulated home will help moderate temperatures year round. In winter, a heat source may be necessary, controlled by a thermostat. Certain types of light bulbs or a ceramic reptile heater, which does not emit light, are effective.

Ventilating the space prevents moisture buildup and releases hot air. The building needs at least one window for ventilation and natural light. The window opening should be covered with heavy screen to prevent predator access.

Predators such as raccoons, foxes, and opossums are attracted to chickens and must not be allowed access. A properly constructed chicken coop with a solid floor and tightly closing doors will deter predators, as well as rodents.

The floor of the chicken coop can be covered with straw or shavings. Bedding absorbs the moisture from the droppings, helps to insulate the floor and also gives the chickens something to scratch in. It should be completely removed at least twice a year and disposed of by composting.

The coop size is determined by the number and size of the chickens. Bantams need two square feet per bird; mid-sized chickens, three; and large chickens, four. Chicken coops also need nest boxes, roosts, and a roost pit. One nest box is needed for every four chickens. The roost should be long enough to provide eight to ten inches per bird. A roost pit is a wire-covered frame placed under the roost to allow droppings to fall through into the bedding. The wire keeps the chickens from walking in the droppings and the frame is easily removed to clean the pit once per week.

Chickens love to be outside, even in the winter. A run adjacent to the chicken coop should resist predators and restrict access from wild birds. Chicken wire, stapled to a wood frame, works well. This run should also be covered, if at all possible, to keep chickens safe from hawks, shade the space to reduce heat, and keep out rain so the ground doesn’t become muddy.

With dry ground, the chickens will be able to dust in any weather. Dusting is how chickens bathe. They scratch the soil with their strong feet and then work the dust through their feathers.

In winter, heavy plastic stapled to the wood frame keeps out snow and wind. A thick layer of straw can be added, to help insulate. The chickens will scratch through this, down to the dirt, to dust themselves.

The chicken run will not have any vegetation in it. Chickens scratch the soil and eat all the grass and weeds that attempt to grow. For this reason, a portable pen is recommended. It allows chickens to eat grass, weeds, and bugs before being moved to another spot. The pen should be sturdy and covered with chicken wire to keep predators out, but light enough to move around the yard.

I have barely “scratched the surface” about chickens. If you think chickens are for you, I would suggest reading Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, and looking at chicken coop plans and pictures online. Let your city leaders know that you want ordinances that allow chickens where you live. And be sure to attend the Green Tuesdays showing of the film Mad City Chickens on March 10 at the Monona Public Library.