Raising Backyard Chickens Right - Is Keeping Yardbirds All It’s Cracked Up to Be?!?!

[April 23, 2015]  It doesn’t get much better than frying up a couple of farm-fresh eggs that you just collected yourself. Maybe that is why so many people, whether they are on a rural acreage or an urban homestead, are becoming increasingly interested in raising chickens in their backyards.

Whether motivated by extremely local food, or simply having a showy pet to decorate the yard, there are a number of things you need to know about raising chickens so that your family and your birds can live happy and healthy together.

This class on home-scale poultry production will be held on May 4 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the University of Illinois Extension Office located at 700 S. Airport Drive in Springfield.

Participants will discuss:

• Choosing chicken breeds and starting your chicks
• Considerations for building a coop and designing a chicken run
• Overcoming winter weather and pressure from predators
• Handling and selling eggs in Illinois safely and legally

The program fee is $5, payable in advance or at the door. Pre-registration is preferred to ensure adequate space and materials. Register at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lms.  For more information contact Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant at the University of Illinois Extension office at 217-782-4617, [e-mail]

[Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, University of Illinois Extension Educator]