There are a few simple things to consider if you are thinking about raising chickens in the backyard. This is somewhat a belated post, but the following is a list of things I recommend.
Do you really want chickens?
This is what I consider a “personal” decision. We all have certain characteristics or personalities, so this is probably the most important question to ask yourself if you are thinking about this hobby, project, or whatever you wish to call it.
Things to consider are simple things like how to take care of the chickens. By this I merely mean, what if you want to go somewhere for a few days, do you have someone available to care for your flock.
Are you prepared for the possible odors, roosters crowing, or other noise produced by the flock. It is good to remember that a flock of hens will make much noise at certain times. Generally when an egg is laid, the whole flock will make much more noise than a rooster crowing. Roosters crow anytime of the day or night, it isn’t just a daylight or early morning ritual.
As good as the droppings are for the garden or lawn, they are still messy to handle. This can be somewhat nauseating to people, I know it is the first thing people mention if they hear the word “chickens” in that they relate immediately to the large chicken farms where the odor can be quite overpowering.
To eliminate odors it is necessary to keep the coop quite clean. I don’t mean wash, but droppings removed and fresh litter added. I do know that sawdust is one of the common litters. At one time it was free at some places, or was available for a very small price. With the development of wood pellets, bricks, and other compressed wood products, even litter can be a fairly large expense.
The cost of a coop, if you don’t have some sort of building you can modify to house the flock can be expensive. Then there is fencing for the flock. Once established, this is nothing but some normal maintenance that needs to be done on any building, but starting out can be relatively expensive for some of us.
The actual financial return on investment is minimal. Generally on a large egg farm this can be only pennies per bird. In general, a small flock will never pay back what it costs for the coop, fencing, and the equipment needed.
The real gain is the freshness of the products produced.
How will you process your chickens? Most people will kill them themselves, but if this is not something you can or wish to do, it is not a bad idea to find out if there is a slaughter house, or just someone local that performs this for a nominal fee. You can run a coop for the geriatric chickens, but they will in time stop laying completely and just be an expense.
Now that the hobby or project of raising chickens is getting popular it is spreading to less and less rural areas. You must check local ordinances before you get chickens.
In all honesty, it really takes only a few minutes daily to feed the flock and gather eggs. More time is involved when you need to remove or add litter and things of that nature.
There are rewards beyond fresh eggs and meat. This won’t be true with some of us, but my greatest reward from raising chickens is just having them around. Letting them run free around the house and just watching their interaction. I do love the insect control they provide. This does lead to minor problems in that the droppings always seem to be deposited in places that are less than desirable and very often will end up getting carried into the house.
For me, they have provided many hours of entertainment as I enjoy watching them as I work around the yard. Moving leaves, possibly firewood, or any object that has been sitting for a while uncovers new ground which immediately attracts the chickens. The eat the bugs and insects that have gathered under these things which provides “free” food and excellent protein for the chickens. Not to mention the eggs taste so much better if they are fed something besides a diet of just mash.
I feel I get an excellent return on the costs because I basically just like having them. In real dollars, a small flock is not a money maker, it is more often an expense. My opinion is that you really need to enjoy them or enjoy spending more for eggs and meat than you can buy it for.
I did sort of stress the “negatives” but I think it is important so that people don’t get them, then suddenly decide it was a bad decision and the birds are mistreated just destroyed to get rid of them. A chicken past it’s prime will lay few eggs and is close to useless for meat.
Once you have decided to get some chickens, know what the ordinances are for your town, city, or area you will know how many to get, or how many you can have, whatever applies. Many of us can have all we wish, but in many areas you are severely limited.
Now that the decision as to whether or not to get them has been made, you need to consider the coop, housing, and associated equipment.
The Coop and Equipment.
A coop or chicken house has few requirements. If you care about the chickens and one assumes one does or they wouldn’t get any, you really need to know how many you are planning on getting.
The real requirements of a coop are that it is dry, can be enclosed in such a way as to be relatively draft free, and should have a reasonable amount of window area to allow some solar heating. I base this on having chickens in the northern climate so draft free is very important.
The dryness requirement simply means, no leaky roof or windows that permit rain, snow, or other water to soak the litter. It isn’t so much because it is unpleasant as it is that wet litter holds bacteria which can breed disease. For some reason it seems that birds are more likely than some animals to get different diseases.
Feathers, by design hold a thermal blanket of air against their skin. If there are drafts, this blanket can be disrupted making the chickens uncomfortable and believe it or not, lay fewer eggs. If you think about it, a contented cow gives more milk, it works the same way with happy hens and more eggs.
Sunlight is important in that it affects or can affect the egg laying capabilities of the flock, as well as the more obvious fact that it provides some heat in the coop.
Windows should open to provide ventilation. Generally it is recommended that they open from the top. Even in very cold weather some ventilation is required. Droppings build or develop ammonia which should be vented out. In warm weather is it obviously much more critical than in the winter, but even in winter it should be reduced with at least a small amount of fresh air.
Once you have the dry, wind resistant, ventilated coop you need to think about the equipment needed.
Equipment for the coop consists of feeders, waterers, and roosts.
I prefer to make all but the waterer myself. I like the vacuum waterer with a heated base so it doesn’t freeze in the winter. A small amount of research is required to see the massive amount of different types of each of these on the internet.
If you are handy enough to make some of this, the cost is very minimal.
Once you have a coop with a waterer, feeder, and a roost it is necessary to provide nests. I have a reasonably detailed post about dimensions and things of this nature on this site, so I won’t repeat them here.
What kind of chickens?
This isn’t extremely important and I think the trend is to get a “pretty” variety.
One assumes that by this point, you know what you want them for so this narrows the selection.
Generally people want eggs and meat, but others want them for show, or just for eggs, or just to have a few around the premises.
The popular breeds for home flocks are “dual purpose” which simply means they lay a decent amount of eggs while still providing a substantial amount of meat.
The Rhode Island Red and Plymouth Barred Rock are the most popular for the home flock. However, I don’t feel as confident in saying this now, as I did 20 years ago because I think with small flocks there is a drift toward more exotic varieties. That however, is just my opinion. The “Araucanas/Americanas” are very popular because they lay colored eggs. The Rhode Island Red and the Plymouth Barred Rock are most popular because of their favorable productive characteristics.
I won’t go deeper into breeds, I will just recommend going to a site like Murray Murray Hatchery, and looking at their selection. They seem to have one of the best going. I do know it is my favorite place to get chicks.
Chickens can be bought in all stages of development. Young but close to laying age, baby chicks, or if you know someone you can sometimes get older birds. I don’t know where, but I do know you can often by adult birds in pairs, ready to breed. The most common way to start is with day old chicks from a reputable hatchery.
Once you have decided to get chickens, you need to decide how to brood them.
Day old chicks need to be brooded, as the mother hen does, after they hatch. It simply something set up to provide heat, water, and food.
Most people will have “Laying Hens” so it is good to research feed, but any grain dealer can tell you what you need. The modern mashes are fine although I don’t use the all mash method.
Broilers and meat birds are fed differently, but again, the grain dealer is the best source of information. I mention this here, only to make people aware that the feed requirements are different. Meat birds can be more difficult to raise and require a higher protein diet.
Health requirements of the flock need to be considered, but I have never had any real problems in over 30 years of raising chickens. Just as with humans, hygiene is important, so keep the coop clean and this will minimize the problems. I don’t recommend any outside bird feeders. Wild birds carry all sorts of things so don’t encourage them near your flock.
Those are the basic requirements.
I will add that once you get your birds you should do some homework on how to tell the layers and how to prepare and preserve the eggs and meat.