Raising Chickens

Have you ever wanted a pet that would fetch a tennis ball, go running with you in the morning, learn to roll over, and hop up in your lap and cuddle you while you’re sitting in a chair reading your favorite book?  If that is your checklist for what type of pet you want then, well, chickens may not be the right pet for you.

However, if you want pets that are mostly independent, can provide fresh eggs for you, and can teach the children some responsibility, then chickens may be just what you need!

Three years ago, we bought ten baby chicks, and raising these hens has turned out to be both a delightful and educational experience for the kids and a lot of fun for the family.

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Why chickens?

Our family had discussed this for a while before deciding to move forward with it, and my wife and I felt that having a few chickens would be a good learning experience for the kids.  Similar in some respects to having a garden, it would demonstrate to the kids that we can provide some things for ourselves and that not everything we eat has to come from a store.

For the first two and one half years of having the chickens, we rarely had to buy eggs at the grocery store.  We were collecting nearly one egg per chicken per day during spring and summer months, although in colder weather the egg production slows down quite a bit.

The eggs from our chickens are delicious!  They have a richer flavor than grocery store eggs.

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Raising chickens also gives the kids some responsibility.  These are their chickens.  My wife and I rarely do any of the feeding, and the kids do all of the cleanup around the chicken coop as well.

When we first got the chickens, the kids were quick to name each bird with names such as Siena, Sunshine, and Amber.  Why did they name the chickens, you may ask?  Well, let’s put it this way.  Would you ever consider killing and eating a chicken named Amber?  I didn’t think so.  Neither would I.

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These birds are pets, and although they aren’t very good at chasing after frisbees or obeying commands like, “Sit” and “Stay,” they’re sweet birds who do show affection and who greet you in the morning with happy clucks.

Chickens will not save you money

One thing we learned early on was this: you don’t raise chickens to make money.  Though all our egg needs were met for a couple of years, we pay approximately eight dollars each month for chicken food (available at the local hardware store, too).  In addition to that, we bought a chicken coop from some friends who had raised chickens, and we also purchased fencing to go around the coop.

We thought briefly about letting these be “free range” chickens with no pen, but we have hawks and foxes in our neck of the woods, and the chickens would not have survived such predators.

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The coop, basically a little shed for chickens, is large enough to hold a dozen chickens comfortably.  We built a two-layer nest box on the front of the coop so that the chickens could lay eggs with some privacy.  The chickens can climb into the nest box from inside the coop, but we have hinged access doors on the outside of the next box for easy retrieval of the eggs.

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We have a large water container and a feeder with a homemade umbrella, and that’s about all the equipment you need.

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Does your town allow chickens?

We live in Apex, North Carolina, a relatively small town not too far from Raleigh.  The town originally allowed chickens and other livestock, but when one town citizen abused the right to keep animals by having over seventy sheep in his house (perhaps you heard this story on the news in 2007), the Town Council banned all livestock.

My youngest daughter, then age ten and the primary caretaker of the chickens, by herself wrote a speech and appeared before the Town Council.  She was the first town resident to speak, asking for the decision to be reversed.  She wrote a beautiful speech defending her right to keep and raise chickens; local television news reporters came out to our house and interviewed her; and the Town Council showed a lot of class and integrity by reversing their decision for particular kinds of livestock, including chickens.  That educational experience itself was valuable for my daughter.

Do you want just hens, or roosters too?

First, let me answer a common question we receive.  Hens do not need roosters in order to lay eggs.  This should be obvious, but I guess it’s not.  You only need a rooster around if you want to end up with fertilized eggs.

Hens tend to be much more gentle and less territorial than the roosters, too.  A hen will not attack your child when he / she goes out in the morning to feed it. Roosters are significantly louder than hens, too.

What do the neighbors think?

Getting neighborhood agreement, at least neighbors adjoining your property, is important.  Even if you do not get roosters, there will be some noise.  Hens do squawk, especially when laying eggs. You will want to give each of your neighbors some eggs, and that may help you avoid potential conflicts.

Chickens are independent

Unlike dogs and cats, chickens really do not need much attention from people.  They enjoy coming out of the coop, so any time we are outside doing yardwork or playing in the back yard, we let them run around.  As soon as it starts getting dark, though, they go on their own back into the pen and into the coop.

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My personal favorite is Amber.  She steps up to me and rubs herself against my legs, and she loves it when I pet her.  She was the “runt” of the chickens initially, and the other chickens tended to shun her at first.  That taught Amber to be more independent, though, and now she’s the bravest and most willing of all our birds to go exploring.

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These are sweet chickens!  I never would have imagined that raising chickens could be so fun.

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If your neighborhood allows it, consider getting some chickens.  It’s a great way to teach responsibility to the young ones and to get some great eggs while you’re at it!