How to Raise Chickens for Eggs in Suburbia

This past winter my family and I acquired day old chicks. After a rocky start we have 4 that are simply thriving. This week, after months of tending to them, they have finally started to lay their eggs!

What could be better than fresh eggs? Many people, even in cities, are raising their own laying hens. Chicken's are very friendly, forgiving animals and very low maintenance. Not to mention very cheap raise! In no time your chicken's will pay for themselves.

To get started you will want to find out if there are any laws in your town or city regarding poultry. Your county's agriculture extension office should be able to provide you with this information. Most cities and towns are pretty lenient, most will allow you to keep hen's, though there may be restrictions on rooster's due to noise ordinances. There can be regulations you might need to follow to keep your chicken's as well. Some cities require the coop to be a certain distance from houses and other permanent structures.

Next, you will want to plan out where you will keep your chicken's. They will need a warm dry spot out of the elements and away from predators. There are many plans on line and in books for "chicken tractors" which are very popular. These are pretty much just movable cages you can position anywhere in your yard. You can build something primitive out of recycled scraps or get as extravagant as you want. the chicken's don't care as long as they have lots of fresh greenery and insects to nibble on. They will need a nesting box where they will nest and lay their eggs. These should be kept clean and dry as possible at all times. You will want to use hay to fill the nesting boxes. Changing these often. We change ours about once a week for 4 chickens.

How many chicken's will you need? I really depends on what you plan on doing with your eggs. Will you only need enough for your family or do you plan to sell them and share them to friends? Generally chickens lay one egg a day for several years. Heat and cold can affect how many eggs they are laying as well and they may lay less eggs during extremely cold and hot times of the year.

After you determine all of the above you will probably want to do a little research on breeds. Then you will need to find a way to acquire your chicken's. the easiest way is to find a mail order hatchery on line that sells day old chick's. You can even order them on line. Hatcheries generally use USPS to deliver day old chick's. Most hatcheries have a minimum order from $25 to of 25 birds, so you may ant to find someone to share your order with if you only want a few birds. You can also check craigslist and your newspaper classifieds or sometimes feeds stores sell chick's or will order them for you.

General Care For You Chicken's

Temperature- If you go with day old chick's you will need to have a heated brooder for them for the first few weeks. A clip on lamp with a 60 watt bulb works best. Be sure to have your brooder box set up and ready to go before you buy your chick's.

Food and water- You will want to start your chick's off on chick starter. After a couple of months you will need to switch them over to egg layer. They also need scratch, which are simply seeds and grains. Chicken's don't have teeth so they need scratch to be able to break up and digest their food.

Pasting Up & Butt Plugs-It is common for chick's to paste up and sometimes their little bottoms get plugged up. You will need to gently remove any fecal matter that is stuck. You can also give them a little oatmeal or yogurt to help them along. This is very important and if it's not done your chick's can get sick and die. This is usually only a problem during the first week or so.

Bedding- Hay is the best and most economical choice but you can also use pine shavings, be sure to avoid anything with cedar as the oil can be poisonous to small animals.

Transitioning from inside to outside- If you have had your chick's inside, you will need to transition them to outside when they are big enough. Generally around 4-6 weeks depending on temperatures in your area. They are still very tiny and vulnerable at this point so you will need to keep them in a secured area and probably will want to bring them back in at night time.

Following these steps is important in getting your chicken's off to a good start. In no time at they will laying and providing your family with fresh eggs.