KEEPING A FEW HENS IN THE BACKYARD An original article by forest
Chickens are a chaotic jumble of gentleness, cannibalism, stupidity and raw cunning so it was not surprising that when I had my own children the first pet I bought for them were hens. My kids grew up looking after chickens. They fed and watered them, carried them around, collected their eggs, played with them and helped buried them when they died. My sons are two of the most gentle people you’d ever meet. The hens and I made them like that.
Have you ever thought of keeping a few hens in the backyard? Jump right in. They are a great child’s pet, they are fun to watch, they catch all sorts of bugs in the garden, their manure is a bonanza of fertility and they keep laying gifts of pure gold.
The first thing you need to consider is where you’ll keep them. You’ll need a coop/house, with a perch, for them to sleep in, some nesting boxes and some room for them to roam during the day. It’s much easier to have a cement floor in the coop because you need to be able to collect the manure to use on your garden and to hose out the coop each week. Smelly chickens will have your neighbours complaining and after a few days of rain you’ll be pulling your hair out if you decide against putting down a cement floor. The hen house will need to be surrounded by a tallish fence with a gate that can be closed every night and whenever you need the hens out of the way, like when you mow the lawn.
You’ll need shredded paper or straw for the nests, a water container - we use a bucket, and a feeder. You could scatter the hen’s food each day and have them forage for it, but unlike other animals, hens will never over eat so it’s much easier (for you) to have a feeder that you can fill up that will feed them for a week or so. These cost about $35 here but are a good investment.
You don’t need to be living on a farm to keep chickens. You can have two or three in a very small backyard or you can have a larger flock and sell the excess eggs to your neighbours who will snap up all the eggs you offer for sale. Believe me, eggs are one of the easiest things to sell as people love fresh free range eggs. Just a word of caution. Chickens are social birds and you should never have just one. They need other chickens or they will fret and not lay properly.
Each chicken will lay about 300 eggs per year. They lay best during warmer weather and will stop laying when they lose their feathers or if they are stressed. So work out how many hens you’ll need to supply your family with eggs. We have four hens now and for a family of three I have enough eggs for us and enough to barter for our milk and cream. Each hen will lay about five eggs a week so if your family eat an egg each a day you’ll need one and a bit hens per family member. So, for example, if you have four people in your family, you’ll need five or six hens and from them you’ll get around between 25 to 30 eggs per week.
Before you buy your first chickens, ring your local council authority and find out what the regulations are for raising chickens in your backyard. For instance, my local council has banned roosters and the hen house must be a certain distance from neighbourhood fences, but apart from that anything goes. In other areas they are allowed to have roosters but there is a restriction on how many chickens you can keep in a backyard. Find out what your requirements are and be guided by them.
EGGS OR MEAT Another decision you need to make before you buy is to decide if you want to keep hens for eggs or if you also want to raise your chickens for meat. Some hens are bred to maximize their egg laying potential, others are bred to have big breasts and legs so that they are best for meat chickens. Or you can do what ordinary folk have done for hundreds of years and kill the male birds for meat and keep the girls for eggs.
There are many different types of chickens but you should buy the type you find visually pleasing and those that will suit your purpose for eggs or meat. For example, I keep Rhode Island Reds, mainly because I loved my grandmother?s little red hens, and I also have Light Sussex hens because they look like hens should look. They are white with a black feather necklace and a very bright red comb. Light Sussex are a dual purpose bird as they are good layers and have a good body size for meat. When they run, they look like cartoon hens and they never fail to make me laugh at their heftiness. If you have small children, maybe you’d like to keep silkies. They are gentle and don’t mind being handled but they don’t produce a lot of eggs, so there is a downside to them.
You can buy day old chicks, young chickens or pullets. My recommendation for first timer chicken keepers is to buy pullets. These are chickens that are about 16-20 weeks old and will be ready to lay in the next couple of weeks. Buying pullets gives you a couple of weeks to get used to looking after them and then you will have the eggs to reward you. Try to buy from a local hatchery. This will give valued support to your local community, it will be easier for you to travel there and back with chickens in the car and there will be less stress on the birds.
Make sure your hen house is ready before they arrive, complete with food and fresh water. Your chickens will need high protein laying pellets or mash if you want them to lay eggs on a regular basis. Chickens are creatures of habit so start out the way you will continue to feed them, as once they are used to one thing it’s very difficult to make them change their food preference. In addition to their mash or pellets they will need access to green food. This can be grass or your food scraps. We let our chickens out of their house every morning and they forage around the backyard eating bugs and grass and we give them most of our food scraps. They love meat - yes, they are carnivores (they even eat chicken!), they love old bread, eggs, most vegetables and fruit, rice, oats, wheat and most seeds and grains. To be honest, they are will eat almost anything. WATER It’s absolutely essential for the health and well being of your chooks. And it MUST be fresh and clean. You should get into the habit of renewing their water every day or two and washing out the water container. You can add about a dessertspoon of apple cider vinegar to their water to help keep internal worms away. Adding a clove of crushed garlic to the water will also help keep your chickens healthy.
You must remember that everything you give your hens will go into producing eggs that you and your family will eat. If you give them fresh, clean water and healthy food you will be rewarded with beautiful golden eggs. You will have healthy birds that will never give you any problems. If you don’t intend to look after them like you would your dog or cat, don’t buy chickens as they deserve to be treated like loved pets and unlike cats and dogs, for their ability to produce fresh food for you and your family.
CARING FOR YOUR GIRLS The number one consideration in keeping chickens in your backyard is to keep them safe from predators. Check out what predators live in your neighbourhood. If you’re in a suburban area it may be dogs, cats and hawks. If you’re in the country or on the edge of a township you may have foxes, wild dogs and cats, owls, hawks etc. Here at my home we have huge pythons, foxes, feral cats and dogs. We have never lost a chicken to a predator. The hen house we constructed is not fancy – it’s made of recycled materials with a cement floor, but it’s strong and lockable and my girls feel safe in there. We have two large dogs, Airedale Terriers, and although one of them rounds up the chickens they have never chased or hurt them. Chickens are extremely sensitive to stress. They have been known to drop dead during thunderstorms or die a couple of days after being chased by dogs. We have wild thunderstorms here during summer and I’ve never lost any hens during one but I have had hens stop laying for weeks after they’ve been scared by visiting dogs or children.
Be aware that predators come from the sky too, they are not just lurking around corners. If you have dogs, hawks won’t be so much of a problem. Chickens have a natural tendency to sit under trees and bushes so they will be protected from sight much of the time if they free range in your backyard. After a while you’ll get used to their clucking and just like a baby you’ll learn by their various noises if something is wrong. If they are scared, they’ll let you know.
Always make sure you lock them in their hen house at night. That’s the time animals like foxes and nocturnal predators will be creeping about. If they are safe and secure in their house, even if you have a silent fox in your backyard, they’ll be out of harm’s way.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU Try to spend time with your chickens, especially when you first get them, so they accept you as part of their flock. You’ll need to be able to pick up your chickens and check them out occasionally and they will let you do this if you spend time with them and they know you are a friendly human.
Give them treats sometimes. I’ve made it my rule that whenever we take eggs from the nest the girls get a handful of seeds. They love sunflower seeds, so a handful for the eggs makes them happy and makes the yolks in the eggs a rich yellow colour.
EGGS When you collect the eggs each day they should be clean and well formed. When they first start laying they may lay a few without yolks or a couple of double yolkers. The eggs will be small and light when they first start laying. When they settle into laying, the eggs will develop a good weight, the shells will be smooth and strong and the shell colour will be consistent.
Collected eggs should be stored in the refrigerator. If you provide a clean nest the eggs should also be clean when you collect them but sometimes they might be soiled or dirty. If you find an egg like this DON’T wash it. Eggs have a protective membrane on the shell that protects the contents from becoming contaminated. Take the dirty egg inside and wipe it with dry kitchen paper. If you must wash it to remove the dirt, dry it with paper and use that egg next time you need an egg.
PECKING ORDER It is normal and natural for chickens to establish a pecking order in their flock. This means that they decide who is the boss and that chicken eats first and sit the highest on the roost. If you want to know who it the dominant chicken, go to your hen house at dusk after they’ve gone to bed and see who is the highest chicken on the roost. She is your main bird, and all the others will know it. Pecking order is re-established whenever a new chicken is introduced to the flock. The new chicken will probably be pecked and made to submit to the other chickens. Don’t interfere with this process - it’s natural hen behaviour. The only time you should step in is if a hen is being denied food and water by the others. In this case you should provide a separate area with food and water for the pecked hen and when she’s accepted by her sisters she’ll be able to feed with them.
Chickens usually like being handled, so don’t forget to talk to your chooks or you can walk around holding and talking to them. After they are used to you, you might notice them crouch down when you walk near them. This is giving you permission to pick them up and a sign that they trust you.
One of the things the hens like the most is to be thrown some grain or seeds onto the grass that they can scratch around for and eat. They also love being able to wander around the backyard. Like most creatures, chickens get bored if they’re made to stay in the same place every day. Let them out every day to find bugs and grubs and to eat grass - it boosts their intake of protein and cuts down on your feed bill. Don’t let them into your vegetable garden as they’ll eat your lettuces and around scratch small plants, exposing the roots. Having said that though, my two red hens have found their way into my veggie patch every afternoon recently and they are content to scratch in the compost heap. I live and let live, while they aren’t disturbing anything else I allow them to stay there in the hope they’ll find worms to eat. While they do all the scratching they are actually doing me a favour of turning over the compost. Rock on, sisters!
I suppose there are hundreds of things that I could still tell about chooks and eggs but my brain is drying up fast. I hope this article has helped you learn a little about keeping chickens. They are simple creatures that will give you a lot of pleasure. They are also one of the few things you can easily keep in your suburban backyard that produce food. So if you’ve been thinking about getting your first few pullets, my advice is to jump into it. You won’t be disappointed.
Posted by forest
on November 07 2005 09:43:55 ·
31 Comments ·
65535 Reads ·
Comments
Franceyneon November 16 2005 16:32:41
Thanks for this Forest.
I'm hopeing that your knowledge will come in handy for me in the not too distant future.
Cheers,
Fran.
kezpipaon October 04 2006 16:27:21
Awesome article.
HopingForChangeon October 06 2006 20:06:21
I would love to have chickens, but my 2 cats might feel that dinner has been served. So, my question is - how do I introduce my cats to new residents (so I to can enjoy fresssssh eggs).
HopingForChange
P.S. excellent article!
wormhunteron October 06 2006 20:50:03
gr8 article forest....
I have 4 isa browns and love em.
I occassionally put lavender stems in the nests as i was told the fleas don't like it.
foreston October 12 2006 07:49:47
Thanks everyone.
Hopingforchange, I think you should get pullets and not day old chicks. Pullets are chickens that will be between 16-22 weeks old and therefore old enough to handle curious cats. The chickens will peck at the cats a few times and this will teach the cats that they don't go too close. Another good thing is for you to spend time with your chickens. When the cats see you with the chickens, handling them and making them part of the family, the cats will accept them.
The other advantage of getting pullets (point of lay chickens) is that they will start laying soon after you bring them home.
I hope that helps you. Chickens are a wonderful addition to any home.
sremmahon November 16 2006 12:00:30
Great to read such an article just as I was considering launching into chook ownership myself. I'd love my kids to get used to growing up with chickens - as I did at their age.
Thanks for a fantastic article Forest!
Andreon December 06 2006 13:20:58
moving to a house with a big yard.. YAY! now perusing sites to determine the chook for me.
Good intro to chook care, forest.
ta
INAon January 08 2007 21:03:44
Love the article. So much information!!
I've been asking my MM for 3 chooks for a longgggg time. Hope he'll give in soon.
Claireon January 09 2007 03:54:01
Great article, we have 12 chooks and average 8 to 10 eggs a day. The man of the house sells the excess at work, he can't keep up with the demand....
Muzzyon January 31 2007 11:31:03
Thanks so much for this info I think its answered most of my questions Rhonda, We have seen an ad in the paper for chooks for sale and from memory they are Isa Brown, (I hope thats right). I might have a look at those, do you know about these chooks.
foreston February 10 2007 08:55:48
I have three Isa Browns at the moment, neisha, I also have four australorp crosses. The isas are bred for the caged egg market so their egg laying ability is maximised. If you want to breed your own chooks you'd be better off with a pure breed like rhode island reds or pure australorpes.
foreston May 10 2007 06:11:59
Just an update on my chooks. Two of our isa browns died and have been replaced with four rhode island red pullets from a local breeder. So we now have nine chooks - 1 isa, 4 australorp crosses and 4 RIRs.
Dyanon October 17 2007 08:10:43
Hi Forest,
Thanks for your great article on hens.I've just recently added 3 hens to the family for the kids.I don't know what type as I didn't think to ask! Anyhow our 3little brown pullets have settled in nicely and started to lay some eggs.All seemed well untill yesterday when we got 3 soft, almost transparent shelled eggs.We quickly rushed off and bought some shell grit to add to their diet.My question is,is shell grit the only (or best) way to give them calcium (I wouldn't imagine it's a naturally occuring food source ) and how much calcium do hens usually require in their diet ?Any info would be of great help to this new hen mother!
ephemeral-flameon October 23 2007 21:38:09
Dyan,
You can also used crushed up oyster shells as a source of calcium. Shell grit is normally used to help them digest their food, as they don't have teeth.
Snookson November 02 2007 00:18:56
Great article - just thought I would mention the links aren't working.
Katamoson November 21 2007 11:12:51
Hi. Great article. I lost my entire flock last year while on holidays, as my housemate let them out while it was still dark. Even though I live in the middle of the suburbs, a fox killed all 6 of my girls. We started again this year with 6 more but ive lost 2 in the last week. The first died on a 32 degree heat wave, despite water being available in the coop. The other was killed last night by my usually placid labrador which somehow locked herself in the coop with her. I just cant win. Anyone want a labrador?
Adrianon May 21 2008 15:26:34
I'll have to COMPLETELY disagree with one point, why do you NEED a concrete slab? It just sounds like more work and money to me. Leaving it as a dirt floor seems to fit better into the "Living simply" idea, you can still put mulch / sawdust / whatever down, and rake it up when you feel like it (just like you've suggested), but the chooks can also more happily scratch around in the dirt like they have been for milenia.
Aylaon June 10 2008 23:25:08
I have a couple of q's.
1. We're looking to get Australorps, are they a breed suitable for Brisbane?
2. How much do pullets cost roughly?
3. Do they have to have specially purchased pellets or mash? We're aiming for sustainability so if we can do it ourselves, that's our preference.
pixie-rainforeston June 30 2008 18:54:21
Our hen house is made of wood and is built up off the ground, so our floor is wood. We put straw and sawdust on the ground as our ducks sleep in there as well. I find it's easy to sweep out and doesn't get smelly. When I've left if for long periods (rainy days etc) I have to shovel the poo off the wood but that's an easy job.
mariebellaon July 04 2008 22:18:26
Hi Forest, your article came at the right time! Thanks for all the info - just brilliant mariebella
danilouon July 05 2008 22:42:41
i am a first time proud new chook owner and loving it
what is Lintonpair (may 11) on about?
thank u forest for your great article, it was so helpful
anneatbeckeron July 08 2008 16:37:13
Great article! Have been thinking of getting some girls for a while. I grew up in the country and we always had chooks.
anneatbeckeron July 08 2008 16:40:55
Yes, I agree with danilou. What IS Lintonpair on about?
John Lynchon July 10 2008 16:27:06
Re concrete floor, my mother had a poultry farm in the 1950's and had trouble with fleas which congregate around the eyes and comb. The answer was to concrete the floors of the fowl houses and the problem was solved. The fleas breed in the ground.
alhoaon July 28 2008 16:31:05
Hi and thanks for a great article. We have had chooks for about 8 months now,have a nice steady supply of eggs coming and my boys love them.We have them roaming around our yard and have a coop for them to lay & sleep in. They are fed scraps and laying seed/ pellet mix.
In the last few weeks they have almost destroyed the lawn area scratching and eating it. I understand that eating some grass is normal but can anyone suggest why they have suddenly taken to the lawn with a vengance?
stringerson October 20 2008 10:14:16
Thanks for that great Article, I just have some questions for other chook owners.
1) When I stand over a chook and it "hovers" are you sure its a sign or trust as they shake and seem scared and will run fast if I give them a chance to escape?
2) Any tips on how to handle the rats, people say if you have chooks then you have to have rats also, is this true as it has been for me?
3) Does anyone know how I can clip the wings of my chooks? Is it something I can do myself?
ChrisLon February 15 2009 17:06:14
thank you very much for the helpful information finally got 4 brown hens 3 days ago was wondering how long it takes for them to settle they don't seem very happy would appreciate some advice thanks
kylieluvsarton May 26 2009 19:39:43
feed them and it will take about a week or soo but after a bit of routine and love they will settle in and start talking to you when you come home from work or to feed the grain in the morning.
Alhoa mine are in a tractor which we move on a regular basis and I have found that if they see anything they like they scratch and scratch and scratch. Linda Woodrow in one of her books suggests the tractor because the are destructive and this tractor uses the destructivness to the gardeners advantage.
the digging you are talking about mine do it to and I have always thought it was just a really yummy spot to scratch in like cruly worms and worms mealy bugs and such.
hope this helps a bit
Jadeon August 29 2009 22:13:35
Thank you for this article I hope I can get some chickens as soon as we get a backyard, they sound lovely.
deedazon June 27 2010 01:01:02
Hi Forest,
First things first, a brilliant introduction to keeping chooks for someone like me, a newbie.
I do have one question though, I have a read a few articles and am still no closer to deciding which breed of chook to get. I originally thought after seeing Pekin Bantams that they were the ones, but..........
OK here's the deal, I need a few chooks 3-5 that i would like some eggs from, I love them as a pets too and for my vege patch, But I will struggle to ever give them the chop........so long life chooks, long layers.....is this possible with any breed???
Chickens are a chaotic jumble of gentleness, cannibalism, stupidity and raw cunning so it was not surprising that when I had my own children the first pet I bought for them were hens. My kids grew up looking after chickens. They fed and watered them, carried them around, collected their eggs, played with them and helped buried them when they died. My sons are two of the most gentle people you’d ever meet. The hens and I made them like that.
I just cant win. Anyone want a labrador?
