🐔 Stuff Every Backyard Chicken Owner Should Know: Training Guide

Check the rules first

Before you buy any birds, find out if chickens are legal where you live. Call your city or county animal control or zoning office. In many cities and suburbs chickens are not allowed, or the rules limit them.

Even if your city allows hens, your subdivision or homeowners association may still say no. Some rules also require a minimum amount of land. Check every layer of rules before ordering chicks.

Your city may require a permit even when chickens are allowed. Each town can have different requirements, so ask your own city.

Cities that allow chickens often limit how many birds you can keep. Many also restrict roosters. Check the number before you buy chicks.

In North Carolina, modern city ordinances that allow garden hens usually prohibit roosters. Roosters are not needed for eggs. They can be loud and aggressive.

Selling backyard eggs may have local and state rules. Some places prohibit egg sales, and states may add requirements. Check both before you sell.

Know the real costs and work

Backyard eggs usually cost more to produce than store eggs. Small flocks are not a money saver. People keep hens for fresh eggs and fun, not savings.

Feed is the greatest cost of raising chickens. Coop, bedding, and possible vet care also add up. Budget for all of these before you start.

Chickens need fresh food, water, and egg collection every day. They are a lot more work than a vegetable garden.

If you go away for a week, someone must care for the chickens every day. Plan who will look after them on weekends, vacations, and holidays.

In most small backyard flocks chickens live about 8 years, and some reach 12 to 15. That is a long commitment.

An older hen may stop laying permanently but still live for years and need feed and care. Plan for that before you buy.

Choose your first flock carefully

Decide how many hens to get based on your coop and run space and how many eggs your family eats. Small city coops may fit only two or three birds.

Start small. Do not begin with 10 to 20 birds. Think seriously before you get chicks.

Day-old chicks cost the least but are the riskiest and most work. New chicks need a heat source for at least six weeks. Older pullets cost more but skip the brooding stage.

Straight run means a mix of male and female chicks. Avoid it unless you have a good home for unwanted roosters.

A chicken should never be left alone. Chickens need other chickens. But more is not always better because overcrowding causes stress.

Talk to your neighbors about your plan before you start. Good neighbor relations matter.

Space and fresh air

Each laying hen needs at least 1.5 to 2 square feet inside the coop. Crowding causes stress, pecking, and dirty coops.

Each hen needs about 8 to 10 square feet in an outside run. This room lets hens walk, scratch, and dust bathe without fighting.

A coop needs ventilation because chicken breath and droppings release moisture, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Without airflow the coop becomes damp, smelly, and unhealthy.

Put coop vents up high so stale, damp air can leave. Do not let vents blow right on roosting birds, because that chills sleeping chickens.

In winter, an ammonia smell or wet windows means the coop needs more ventilation. Open vents more and clean up manure.

Roosts and nest boxes

A wooden 2 by 4 board with the flat side up makes a good roost. A hen can sit down and cover her feet with warm feathers. Metal or plastic pipes pull heat from the feet and can cause frostbite.

Each standard hen needs 8 to 10 inches of linear roost space. Crowded roosts cause squabbling and dirty feathers.

Place roosts 18 to 24 inches above the coop floor. Leave room underneath to clean up droppings.

Keep roosts higher than nest boxes. Hens roost on the highest spot in the coop, so higher roosts keep them out of nests.

One nest box per 4 to 5 hens is enough. A flock of 10 laying hens can use 2 to 3 boxes.

A nest box about 12 by 12 inches suits most standard laying hens. A box that is too big lets several hens crowd in and break eggs.

Bedding and safe warmth

Pine shavings soak up moisture best. Straw and ground corncobs absorb poorly and often get moldy.

Coop bedding must stay dry. Wet bedding grows germs and causes foot sores. Remove wet bedding right away and add fresh bedding.

A heat lamp in a coop can start a fire because coops are full of dry bedding, dust, and feathers. Healthy adult hens kept dry and out of the wind usually handle cold well.

Feed through the life stages

Newly hatched chicks eat starter feed. Starter has extra protein for fast growth. Layer feed has too much calcium for chicks and can hurt their kidneys.

Most pullets switch to layer feed at 18 to 20 weeks or when the first egg appears. Layer feed has the extra calcium laying hens need.

Layer feed usually has about 16 percent protein. It also has about 3 to 4 percent calcium for strong eggshells.

Feed is the greatest cost of raising chickens. Still buy quality commercial feed because an unbalanced diet does not pay off.

Calcium, grit, and safe treats

Offer oyster shell in its own feeder. Each hen eats the calcium she needs. Oyster shell cannot replace grit because it is too soft to grind food.

Chickens need grit to grind feed in the gizzard because they have no teeth. Birds on the ground often find small stones, but confined birds need grit offered.

Give scratch and table scraps only in small amounts, about what they eat in 20 minutes. Too many treats fill chickens without balanced nutrition.

Limit scratch grains because they are low in protein and high in energy. Too much dilutes the balanced layer feed.

Do not feed green potato peels or sprouting potato parts. They contain solanine, which can poison chickens.

Water and feed storage

Change drinking water every day. Dirty water spreads germs and chickens drink less of it.

Chickens drink the most in hot weather. Check and refill waterers more often during heat waves.

Store opened feed in a rodent proof container. A metal can with a tight lid keeps out rats and mice and keeps feed dry.

Never feed moldy feed. Molds can make toxins that stay even after you scrape off the mold. Throw moldy feed out.

How and when hens lay

Hens lay eggs without a rooster. Without a rooster, the eggs are not fertile, which is the kind most people eat.

Young hens start laying around 16 to 24 weeks old. Chicks bought in spring will not give eggs for months.

During her first laying year, a hen may lay about two eggs every three days. Some commercial sex-linked hybrids lay 240 to 280 eggs a year.

Egg numbers go down each year as a hen gets older. If you buy grown hens, make sure they are no more than about a year old because older hens lay less.

Laying often slows or stops in the darker months of fall and winter. Steady laying needs 14 to 16 hours of light a day, but do not light adult birds more than 16 hours.

Eggshell color comes from the hen's breed. Brown, white, or other colors make no difference in nutrition or taste.

Collect and clean eggs safely

Collect eggs at least once a day, and twice is better. Eggs left in the nest get dirty, stepped on, and broken.

Fresh eggs have a natural bloom that seals the shell's pores. Brushing, washing, and rough handling can remove this protective coating.

For a little dirt, dry clean the shell with fine sandpaper or a brush. Do not use rags or sponges.

If you wash a fresh egg, use water at least 20°F warmer than the egg. Cold water pulls germs through the shell.

Store, cook, and freeze eggs

Refrigerate eggs at 40°F or colder. This slows freshness loss and stops germs like Salmonella from growing.

Covered eggs in their carton can be safely kept in the refrigerator for at least one month. Keep them in the carton so they do not pick up smells.

Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, or to 160°F. This kills Salmonella, which can be in raw or undercooked eggs.

Do not water glass eggs, which means storing unwashed eggs in a liquid. It is not recommended because germs can pass through the shell and Salmonella can grow.

To freeze extra eggs, crack them out of the shell first. Freezing whole eggs in the shell makes the shell crack.

Normal flock behavior

Chickens are social and should never be left alone. Keep them in groups, but avoid overcrowding because it causes stress.

Every flock has a pecking order, usually with a dominant hen and a ranking below her. Watch that timid birds still get food.

Do not keep a rooster in a flock smaller than ten hens. A small flock without a rooster is best for most residential settings.

Roosters crow, but hens are not always quiet. Hens can be loud after laying an egg, so think about neighbors.

Chickens naturally spend 35 to 50 percent of their day scratching and pecking for food. Without room to forage, they may peck objects or each other.

Molting, picking, and broodiness

Each year chickens molt and replace old feathers. Growing feathers takes so much energy that most hens stop laying until the molt is over.

A molt causes all-over feather loss, not small bare spots. Bare spots are almost always caused by picking from other chickens.

A broody hen sits in the nest all day and stops laying. To stop broodiness, collect eggs daily and remove her from the nest for a few days.

If a broody hen sits on fertile eggs, chicks hatch in about 21 days.

Helping chickens in heat and cold

Chickens start to feel heat stress above about 75°F. Their bodies run hot and they cannot sweat.

Signs of heat stress include panting and wings held away from the body. Severe heat stress can cause a pale comb and weakness.

In a heat wave, provide shade and cool clean water. Keep drinkers out of direct sun because water gets hot fast.

The comb and wattles are most at risk of frostbite. Damp air in a poorly ventilated coop makes frostbite more likely.

In mild winter areas, chicks started in October or November lay more in their first year than chicks started in March or April.

Daily safety and hygiene

Let chickens out each morning and shut them inside a secure coop at dusk. An enclosed space at night is essential to protect them.

Clean the coop and pen weekly, or as needed. Weekly cleaning controls odor and germs.

At least once a year, usually in spring, do a thorough cleaning of the coop and yard. Wear a dust mask because dried manure can be harmful if breathed in.

About 40 percent of the feed a hen eats comes back out as manure. Plan for it, such as composting for a garden.

An adult in the household is ultimately responsible for the flock. Always supervise children around poultry.

Do not give chicks or ducklings to young children as gifts. The CDC says not to because of health risks.

Predator-proofing your flock

Most predation happens at night. Raccoons, foxes, and owls hunt mostly after dark, so lock up before dark.

A raccoon can reach through wire and grab birds or eggs even if it cannot get inside. Use small mesh and keep birds away from fence sides.

Use 1/2 inch hardware cloth to keep out raccoons, rats, and weasels. A least weasel can squeeze through a hole only 1/4 inch wide.

Stop digging predators by burying hardware cloth or extending an apron outward. Diggers hit more wire when they start at the fence base.

Hawks attack from above in daytime. Cover outside runs with mesh or netting.

Red foxes are a common predator, and dogs can chase and attack chickens. Never leave chickens loose with a dog you do not know well.

Bird flu and reporting

Locate a poultry vet or diagnostic lab before a chicken gets sick. It can be hard to find a vet who treats chickens. A drop in egg production is often the first sign of disease.

Wild birds can carry bird flu without looking sick. Cover the run and keep feed and water away from wild birds.

Bird flu signs include sudden death, no energy, gasping, and a swollen purple comb, wattles, or legs. Report these right away.

Report sick or dying chickens to your State veterinarian or USDA. Fast reporting helps stop bird flu from spreading.

There is no treatment for highly pathogenic bird flu. Antibiotics do not help because it is a virus, so prevention matters.

Bird flu rarely infects people, usually after close contact with infected birds. Still avoid touching sick birds.

Other diseases and parasites

Poultry red mites feed at night and hide in cracks by day. Check roost ends and nest boxes, or look at birds at night.

Lice treatments need repeating after about 10 days because the treatment does not kill louse eggs. Eggs are glued to feather bases.

A chicken with Mycoplasma gallisepticum stays infected and can spread it for life. Medicine eases signs but does not cure it.

Infectious bronchitis is a contagious respiratory disease that can cause fewer eggs with thin, wrinkled, or misshapen shells.

Protect chicks against Marek's disease with a vaccine given at hatch. Ask for vaccinated chicks.

Some antibiotics that used to be over the counter now need a veterinarian's prescription. Obtain them through a licensed veterinarian with a valid relationship.