The Things You Can Do to Improve Your Likelihood of Home-Fresh Eggs
Though many municipalities still prohibit ownership of backyard chickens, the trend is rapidly changing, with the majority of cities and towns now allowing some form of at-home poultry, though often with fairly well-established guidelines, often addressing the number of chickens, where chicken coops may be placed and what types of chickens may be raised (some ban roosters altogether because of the noise). If you’ve checked and learned that you can have a flock, what are some of the things you can do to ensure you’ll have a good experience.
The Most Important Factors for Raising Backyard Chickens
The three essential components of successfully raising backyard chickens are:
- Making certain you have a safe and secure coop
- Ensuring that the chickens get adequate nutrition
- Provide proper care to the chickens
Even if your backyard chickens are technically “free-range” chickens, they’ll still need a coop or chicken house of some sort. It’s essential if you want to keep them safe from predators at night. The hens will also need a dark, quiet place to lay eggs. Inside the coop, there should be about 4 square feet of floor space per chicken. Make sure that there’s good airflow through the coop and, if possible, have vents at the top to allow the release of fumes and gases. The floor and any nest should be covered with pine shavings, which should be replenished or replaced on a regular basis.
Chickens spend a significant part of their day foraging for food, eating insects, greens (grasses included) and vegetables. This is generally not enough, though, to ensure adequate nutrition. You should supplement with a complete layer feed, available at most farm and many hardware stores. Adult hens need about a quarter of a pound (1/2 cup) of layer feed every day. It’s best to put the food in small bowls or feed boxes, rather than on the ground, as doing so discourages other animals, including predators, from coming to the chicken coop.
It’s important to remember, if you want eggs from your chickens, that they need regular access to water.
Proper care involves not only safe coops and adequate nutrition/hydration, but may necessitate an occasional dust bath. Though it may sound counterintuitive, chickens clean themselves with dirt, sand and wood ash. Have a small tub filled with sand or dirt available to the chickens at all times.
Take the Time to Treat Your Chickens Well
As a general rule, backyard chickens are relatively low maintenance. Give them a safe place to spend their days and nights, provide adequate food and water, and you should do just fine.
