Raising backyard chickens

 Last fall, we decided to raisebackyard chickens that were two days old and raise them for their eggs. We selected 7 chickens. As a family, we decided to raise them like pets. Our children held the chickens and played with them from the day they came to live with us.

The chicken's first home, once we got them, was in the garage inside a wading pool we bought from a local store. Our neighbors, who also have chickens, told us that this home wouldn't last for long. They were spot on. The chicken's second home was in a box with tree branch perches by night and by day an old play pen that was no longer suitable for babies to use due to a hole that was created in the netting. We sewed it up so the chickens couldn't escape.

The box with perches

The playpen

Eventually, it was time to finish our plans for the chicken coop. My husband's work place manufactures products that have parts that arrive in large crates. He was able to bring home some of the wood from one or more of the crates and made a chicken coop. One side was for storing the food so that it would be nearby. The other side was where the chickens lived.

We decided it would be good to have a chicken run attached to it so that when the chickens were little, they would have a safe place to live. We looked on Craig's List for used dog and chicken runs. My husband found one made of chain link fencing that was being sold by a family who was downsizing their flock of chickens. He had to disassemble it at the seller's house. He attached it to the chicken coop he made and applied chicken wire under the dirt and at the bottom of the chain link fence.

You can find more chicken coop plans online.

The chicken coop and chicken run

A view of the storage side of the chicken coop

We started off letting them wander the yard most of the day once they were old enough to go outside. However, we had to limit their free-range time to when we were outside because our Golden Retriever, Tigger, killed one of the chickens. My kids were devastated that a chicken had died. I thought about finding a way to use the dead chicken for food because the dog didn't mangle the chicken. Its feathers were ruffled, but that was about it. I figured that Tigger broke its neck and was bringing us his kill the way retrievers were bread to hundreds of years ago.

When our chickens were old enough to eat adult chicken food, we decided to feed them Layena Plus Omega-3. Our chickens have been laying eggs for more than a month. I decided to test Purena's claim that their eggs had richer, more golden yolks compared to eggs without the marigold extract and found that the eggs were more golden.

We are having fun with our chickens. My kids ask to go outside to play with the chickens several times a week.

The first egg

Our remaining 6 chickens are doing well. Just yesterday, 3/15/12, our 6 chickens laid 8 eggs. Today, we paid our neighbor in eggs for aerating our yard. Soon, we hope to sell the eggs we don't need because the chickens produce the eggs faster than we can eat them. I think that raising chickens at home was a wonderful choice for our family.

Would I recommend raising chickens in your backyard? Yes, but first check your neighborhood's covenants, city and county laws about raising chickens and erecting a chicken coop.

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