Chickens

Chickens, cluck, cluck and cock-o-doodle-do. So, you're interested in owning and raising chickens. Maybe you're just curious at this point to what all it entails to owning or raising chickens. Which ever the case, we hope we can help with some information all about chickens. Make sure you're ready to commit before buying your chickens no matter who you may get them from. Just remember, if you ever have any questions you can always contact us and we will be willing to try and help answer them for you.

Why Should You Raise Chickens?

Now, whether you're raising chickens in your backyard, on your farm or homestead, there's a lot of benefits to doing so. Firstly, their eggs are fresher and tastier than any egg that you have ever had in a restaurant or have bought from a supermarket. They are better for baking, which is an added plus. Secondly, if you compost, you can use their egg shells and their nitrogen rich poo in your compost pile. Thirdly, chickens tend to entertain themselves for most of the daylight hours during your day. They love to pick at grass, eat worms, beetles, ticks, ants, grubs and much more. Fourthly, they make great gardening companions. And if nothing else, they all have unique personalities and can make you laugh at the drop of a cock-o-doodle-do. Just keep in mind, that when it comes to owning and raising chickens or anything else for that matter, that nothing comes easy.

Here Are Some Things To Consider Before Getting Chickens

The first thing to do is to make sure you check your town, county or city's ordinances/regulations to make sure that you're actually allowed to own or raise chickens where you live. You would also need to check to see if there is a limit in the number of chickens you're allowed have as well. You really wouldn't want to waste your time, energy and money in preparing to raise and own chickens and the find out that you can't even have them.

You will need to make sure that you have enough room or space. You will need a hen house or a full size chicken coop. They need to be able to accommodate your chickens. You will need a feeder and water containers, a roosting area, and nesting box for every 3 - 4 hens. You could have a hen house or coop that is large enough for you to stand in or you could have one a bit smaller. The hen houses or coops you can stand in make it easier for you to collect eggs, and clean out their poo. But, you can effectively do that in smaller ones as well. Most smaller ones have outside accessible nesting boxes and a rear door to access their roosts and poo clean up. Which ever you choose, your hen house, coop and run need to be sturdy enough to keep out predators and keep your chickens safe.

Your chickens are going to need food and water on a daily basis. A 50 pound bag of feed can run you about $20.00 a bag. Prices will vary depending on your location and the quality of feed you choose. Depending on the number of chickens you have will directly affect how fast or slow you will use one 50 pound bag of feed.

You will need to collect eggs from your hens on daily or twice a day basis as well. They can lay eggs all year around in some localities. This will depend on the seasons, temperature and sunlight/daylight. Most hens will continue to lay eggs as long as they have between 12 - 14 hours of daylight.

Now, you will need to clean up their nitrogen rich poo all year round. But, hey what goes in must come out. Not only that but it makes a great addition to your compost pile.

If you decide to go away for any extended period of time, or on vacation, your going to need a chicken sitter.

Flock Size, Spacing and Start-Up Cost

Chickens are very sociable birds. You will need to plan on owning and raising 3 - 6 or more birds. You will always have a steady supply of eggs if you 3 - 4 hens per member of your family.

The first two years of a hens' life is her most productive egg laying years. Each year after that her egg laying will decrease/slow down. So, if you are owning or raising chickens for eggs, you would need to consider getting some younger hens to mix in your flock when you notice that the egg production is slowing down with your current hens.

Depending on which breed and size of your chickens, will determine the space you will need to provide in their coops, hen house and runs. The rule of thumb is, each bird needs at least 3 square feet of floor space in their coop or hen house and between 8 - 10 square feet of floor space in their run. Now, the more space that your chickens have the more happier and healthier they will be. Which is why free ranging is a great idea. Keep in mind that overcrowding will cause disease and a lot of feather picking in your flock.

As we all know nothing in this life comes for free. Even if someone gave you chickens for free it is going to cost you money to house, feed, water, and clean up after them. If you chose to make a 20x5 foot run it would most likely cost you around $300.00 this including the wood, fencing and hardware. Hopefully your handy at building things or you may have o even hire someone else to build it for you. Which will cost you even more money.

When it comes to chickens and owning them and raising, just starting out, bank on at least $500.00 to $700.00 depending on the size of your flock, hen house, coop or run. Unless you are able to find recycled wood and building materials. That would drastically cut down on your up front cost.