Raising Backyard Chickens In The City

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I hope you enjoy my story and are inspired in raising your own backyard chickens.

Every Spring, around April, your local farm store carries baby chicks, ducks and game fowl for you to adopt and raise.

My Story On Raising Backyard Chickens

In the Spring of 2012 we spontaneously picked up three baby chicks. We didn’t know the first thing about baby chicks let alone raising chickens.

When it came time to pick out the ones we wanted to adopt we just pointed to the farm trough and said, “We will take three of those”.

The farm store personnel carefully picked out three baby chicks, placed them in a cute little cardboard box.

We grabbed a bag of chick feed, feed tray, a water bottle and away we went.

We were now the proud owners of three of the cutest baby chicks.

Mind you, we didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing but we did know these three baby chicks couldn’t live in that little cardboard box forever so, we headed to our local store.

We picked up a medium-sized clear plastic tote, a utility lamp with a clamp, and a huge bag of pine shavings. We made this their home for the time being. In our bathroom no doubt.

In the meantime, we were in the process of building a chicken coop to house these little chicks.

By the time they were eight weeks old they outgrew the plastic tote and we moved them into their new permanent home, in our fenced in backyard.

I wish you could see the chicken shirt I’m wearing! It’s similar to this one here.

Surprise

When the chickens reached sixteen weeks old we surprisingly discovered one of the chicks that we adopted was a rooster.

We live in a residential neighborhood and having a rooster really was not part of the equation. It was NOT going to work. I seriously don’t think our neighbors would appreciate being woke up every morning by the sound of Mr. Rooster and his “cock-a-doodle-do” so, we found that little guy a nice foster home.

Something we learned, if you plan on raising your own chickens and don’t want a rooster, be sure to purchase pullets. A pullet is a young hen under 1-year-old. Lesson learned!

Chicken Eggs

Chickens don’t start laying eggs until they are around six months old.

We eagerly waited and counted the days for the “now” ladies to lay their first egg which we finally got that year in September!

We were so excited yet disappointed at the same time. The first egg produced was very small which much to our surprise is not uncommon. But, overall we were very pleased.

Nearly every spring we head to our local farm store to see the new arrival of baby chicks. Sometimes we adopt at least two to add to our flock and start the process all over.

Bringing the ladies into our life has been so therapeutic and rewarding. We supply them with food, shelter and love and they supply us with the most delicious organic eggs.

The Chicken Coop

Raising chickens is fairly an easy task. We are very committed to our ladies.

Since we built our own chicken coop it seems every year we make some kind of upgrade. If I had the chance to do it all over I would prefer to get a coop like one of these. The only reason I say that is because when gathering eggs we have to bend over. With these coops you don’t have to do that.

This year we remodeled the inside and added a new roof. I really think the ladies like it as we can often find them roosting in the rafters.

Winter Coop

In the fall we prepare the coop for the winter months. As crazy as it may sound we like to decorate the coop. We recently added Christmas lights and check out that rooster picture! I suppose all of this home decorating is for us but the ladies don’t seem to mind. I think they even like it.

Check out that rooster picture! If you look real close you can see a present on the wall. It is covering up where we have a fan during the summer months. Oh, yeah…a xylophone! We really don’t know if the ladies have been making music yet or not. LOL

And every woman needs a mirror! Yes, this cute little mirror gets used all the time.

Free Range Chickens

We tend to our chickens every day by letting them free range in the back yard and put them to bed every night.

When we are out-of-town we make arrangements for a sitter to help with these tasks while we are away.

We are very protective of our chickens and try our best to make a safe environment for them.

Nutrition For Chickens

By allowing chickens to free range in the backyard during the warm seasons they will add to their diet by finding insects, grubs and greens.

We also provide our ladies Layer Pellets feed, oyster shell and their favorite treat, dried mealworms. During the hot summers we provide them with a nice cold watermelon. They really love that!

Free range chickens egg yolks are a much deeper yellow to orange in color.

Chicken Hygiene

Chickens take dust baths instead of water baths. This keeps them clean and free of parasites.

Therefore, we provide a dirt box for the ladies as they like to dust themselves on hot days.

Chicken Proofing The Garden

Since having chickens we have learned to “chicken proof” our vegetable garden because if we don’t….then we won’t have a garden. They will eat everything! And I mean Everything!

We put chicken wire around our entire raised garden with entry access on both ends. This system has worked very well.

In the spring after we plant our garden we keep the access doors closed and when the season is over we will open the doors and allow the chickens to forage in the garden.

Finally, we have won the battle with the chickens. Our garden is now a success! Want to know a little secret? Chicken poop makes excellent fertilizer. Just saying.

Winter Time

In the winter months when the ladies don’t have access to bugs and greens you will find us making special treats for them like nice warm oatmeal with cinnamon and cranberries.