2017 Spring Home & Garden
Video Magazine

Backyard chickens
By Jan Youngquist

Send a link to a friend  Share

[October 10, 2017] 

You've always had a little country in you.
You lead a fast paced life that can get stressful.
You want more control over the food you consume.

These are all indications that you might find raising backyard chickens a valuable addition to your life. Observing and caring for chickens has become a popular leisure activity - and it comes with dividends.

However, before you set your heart on acquiring any of these delightful creatures and making investments in supplies and shelter, you will want to check with your local zoning office to see if chickens are permitted where you live. There may be restrictions or requirements - the number of hens or roosters, noise, odor, structures, fencing.

Checking in with Lincoln's Building and Safety Office, Officer Wes Woodhall was quick to respond that keeping chickens/poultry is not permitted based on Lincoln City Code 6-2-32.

Not sure what it might be like to raise chickens in your backyard? The following videos will give you a glimpse:

What aged chicks do you want to start?

Chickens have become popular in some small communities and rural home settings as they take relatively little space, less expense than other animals or birds; are easy to care for and can be lots of fun.

Easy, cheap, fun - let's get started with urban farm expert Naomi Montacre in Raising backyard chickens  video as she provides some basics such as what age chicken might be best to purchase to get you started.

New hatchlings or teenager 'pullets' are most often available in the spring.

If you love the idea of watching fuzzy newly hatched chicks develop, be prepared to take a little extra time to monitor your chicks health, temperature, food and water, and keep everything clean a minimum of twice a day for several weeks. It is a labor of love that has its rewards, but takes time.

If you do not have a lot of time, you can purchase pullets. Still young, charming and impressionable, but more stable and less time to care for, these birds will also give you a head start to when you might expect to get eggs for your breakfast.

Either pullets or newly hatched chicks can be purchased from hatcheries, farm supply outlets, or online. Depending on where you order, chicks can be mail ordered for post office pick up or home delivery, or may be picked up at hatcheries or farm supply locations.

As a leisure activity, you likely want to select sociable, gentle chicken breeds that are not aggressive with other chickens or people. Breeds can be chosen for personality traits, as well as size, color and appearances.

While every hen is said to have about 4,000 eggs, most chickens are done laying after a few years. As chickens typically have a life-span of six to 12 years, and you likely will want to keep your non-laying girlfriends around past their prime, you may manage your flock for eggs by adding a couple hens in future years.

Some chickens are considered better layers, laying more eggs per week. There are also many colors and sizes of eggs. If you are feeding a family, the size and number of eggs per week may be a factor in your choices; also be aware, in central Illinois production typically falls off during winter months.

No one claims that one egg is better tasting than another, though what you feed a chicken could influence taste. They say that when chickens eat asparagus the eggs pick up the flavor. You'll have to test that for yourself.

Choosing your breeds

What kind of chickens should you get? shows you a few selections of breeds.

In this Picking chickens video, Cochins are said to be the top choice as pets. They are typically sweet and docile, quieter, and the roosters are known to crow less. The hens lay fewer eggs per week. Orpingtons are another favorite breed known for their gentleness. And the little puff ball Silkies are a favorite of children for their size and gentle nature.

Where can you buy a chicken?

My Pet Chicken offers products and chickens. The company acts like a brokerage and puts orders together from a range of sources and hatcheries to give you what you want when you want it. The company has a good reputation for customer satisfaction.

The My Pet Chicken offers a "Pick a chicken!" Breed selector tool

Daily living with chickens

Below are a couple videos that will give you more of an idea of what to expect in keeping chickens.

[to top of second column

The owner of Rivera urban homestead gives five points on how chickens have become a beneficial part of their family's daily living:

  • The family of five has nearly no food waste, chickens get meat, vegetable and fruit leftovers. While chickens need to be fed a regular diet high in grains protein that is formulated for chickens, they also enjoy treats of meats, vegetables and fruits. It is quicker to list what is not good to feed chickens - citrus, onion or avocado. One thing left out of his no-no list, tomatoes and any raw green skins on potatoes are toxic to chickens.
     
  • Chickens love to eat bugs. So you have pest control.
     
  • Chicken droppings added to other organic matter such as vegetable scrapes and leaves, make great compost, beneficial for next year's garden production.
     
  • Chickens provide unending entertainment with their curious, playful personalities.
     
  • And of course, you get plenty of healthy organic eggs to eat.

Simple sustainable living

Jaime at Guildbrook Farm takes you through her average day of caring for chickens. When set up well, you will see just how quick and easy it is to care for a few chickens.
The entertainment never ends with chickens, whether it is the daily chase for a treat or a bug, or some other playful chicken game, especially morning just after being let out into the fresh air and a new day.

End of day rituals are just as pleasant. As the sun begins setting, the chicks get in some last bug hunting and socializing. Then as the street lights come on, so to speak, there is always one gal in every flock who takes the responsibility to round all the others up for bedtime. She'll circle the other chickens and walk into the coop incessantly uttering an elongated low croon, sending a clear message, "It's time for bed girls, dark is coming," and repeat the pattern until all are safely tucked away.

This coop has been enclosed by a 100-foot solar powered electric fence like the one in Jaime's video, which will keep out ground predators such as coyotes and racoons that would destroy or eat chickens. The area was also covered with bird netting clamped to the fencing with plastic clamps. It provides ample foraging space for a small flock of birds to free range while being protected from ground and airborne predators.

The first two nights these three birds felt so safe in their new setting they decided it was time for a sleep out under the stars, on top of the coop. However, chickens don't think once the lights go out, the lights really do go out inside their heads. For their safety the birds were moved to the inside for the night.

 

There is much more to learn as you go and plenty of resources about raising chickens that can be found on the Net or in books from your local library.

In a coupe of hours you learn most everything you'd need and soon be sliding a coop door open saying, "Good morning chickens!" as they tumble and fly out, and later in the day, "Good night chickens."

-----

You will find chicken supplies at most local farm supply outlets. Big R in Lincoln carries feeders, waterers, feed, small coops and other supplies.

Read all the articles in our new
2017 Fall Home & Garden Video Magazine

Title
CLICK ON TITLES TO GO TO PAGES
Page
Trellises and Arches for your yard and garden 4
Getting your vegetable and flower gardens ready for winter 8
Best methods for bringing down a tree 11
Simple steps for pouring a concrete walk and pad DIY 15
New windows for your old house 18
How to re-roof your house 22
To dream the impossible dream: The quest for alternative energy 25
Turning that tired piece of furniture into something new and exciting 30
Backyard Chickens 33
Backyard beekeeping 38

< Recent features

Back to top