The Truth about Raising Backyard Chickens: Everything You Need to Know Before You Start

Stop reading this if you want a generic post about the joys of raising backyard chickens and enjoying fresh eggs. I’m here to share the reality of life with backyard chickens, what it really takes (and costs!) to do it right.

My first chicken was a Rhode Island Red named “Layer” back in the late 70’s. Don’t laugh, I was probably 8 years old and not very creative when it came to chicken names. However, I was optimistic and she did lay plenty of eggs!

Since those days, I’ve had numerous backyard chickens in multiple neighborhoods and I’ve learned what it really takes to have chickens…chickens who get sick, chickens who get broody, chickens who come when they’re called and sit on my shoulder. I have spent hours cleaning up poop, extracting snakes from the nesting boxes, bathing egg-bound chickens, training chicks and so much more.

Truth#1: It’s cheaper to buy eggs than it is to raise chickens. So don’t do it solely for the eggs. Do it for the experience.

Teach your kids where their food comes from and how to care for animals even when it’s freezing cold outside or blazing hot and the poop stinks. Be prepared to handle dead (sometimes massacred) chickens. Animal husbandry, chores, responsibility and connection to nature-that’s what it’s all about.

If you’re still reading, join the rest of the brave (or crazy!) chicken owners out there and get some rubber gloves. You’re going to need them.

Understanding Local Laws and Regulations

Before you do anything, check with your local city/county zoning laws and ordinances. It always amazes me how varied the laws can be about backyard chickens. Some cities will allow them, but limit the number or prohibit roosters. Whereas some counties out in the countryside do not permit raising backyard chickens at all, but down the road is a poultry farm. Go figure!

Usually HOA’s are fairly restrictive about raising backyard chickens and have clear language in their covenants and restrictions. I’m not encouraging you to break those covenants. Even if you live on 8 acres, surrounded by trees and no one can see them-eventually a neighbor who lives a mile away might complain. Ask me how I know…

It’s your responsibility to do your due diligence. Find out what’s permitted, flock size, roosters or not, visibility from neighbors, structure requirements, etc. It’s better to know the regulations now before you get knee deep in chicken (well-you-know-what).

Raising backyard chickens as a hobby has been around for ages, but it gained some serious ground during the pandemic. More and more families joined the bandwagon in pursuit of fresh eggs, and I love it! Those of us who have been called crazy chicken ladies didn’t seem quite so crazy anymore!

Please be a considerate neighbor when you have chickens.

Truth #2 Neighbors might complain about your chickens. So many of us ahead of you have been breaking down barriers to make raising backyard chickens more accepted. Let’s keep them broken down by not giving neighbors a reason to despise us.

Keep your coop secure so your chickens don’t trample into other people’s yards and gardens.
Stick to hens if roosters are not allowed.
Keep the coop as clean as possible and away from immediate neighbors’ noses.
Share your eggs! Neighbors are always more amenable when a carton of eggs arrives.

Choosing the Right Chickens for Beginners

When it comes to choosing your chickens, keep in mind a few facts:

Chickens are bred to be egg producers, raised for meat, and/or to exhibit as show-birds (yes, there are chicken competitions just like dog shows).
Different chicken breeds have different attributes like friendliness, noisiness, broodiness (the motherly urge to sit on eggs to hatch them), heat and cold tolerance, and more.
Hybrid chickens (a cross between two purebreds) will be more productive in terms of eggs or meat, but have a shorter lifespan.
Different Breeds lay different colored eggs.

For our purposes, I am focusing on egg producing friendly chickens that are great for families; only breeds that I (or my immediate family members) have personally raised. I suggest looking at Murray McMurray Hatchery for additional breeds, photos and information.

For more detailed breed descriptions, read my post Best Backyard Chicken Breeds for Beginners.

Purebred Hens for Raising Backyard Chickens

Consider Rhode Island Reds, Australorps and Buff Orpingtons. They are all reliable egg producers with calm friendly personalities. I’m including the Buffs because they are such classic beautiful chickens, but they do have a tendency to go broody. Skip this breed if you don’t want to deal with that part.

Hybrid Hens for Raising Backyard Chickens

Consider Red Stars (aka: ISA Browns) or Gold Comets when raising backyard chickens. Remember that hybrids are prolific egg producers, but have a shorter life span. I have found these breeds to be curious, goofy and kid friendly chickens. They are also readily available at local farm stores.

Chicken Coop Requirements

The chicken coop is for mature chickens. When starting with chicks, you will need a brooder. A brooder is the ‘nursery’ for baby chicks that provides safety, warmth and easy monitoring. We will go into this in the next section!

Chicken coops typically have two spaces: the hen house and the run. The hen house is the enclosed sheltered area where the nesting boxes and roosts for sleeping are located. The run is the outdoor play area where chickens hang out during the day. A ramp leads from the run to the coop to connect both spaces.

There are several factors to keep in mind when choosing your chicken coop.

Size to accommodate your flock
Cost to purchase vs. build
Ability to clean easily
Predator Proofing
Protection from the elements

For more details, read my post Creating the Perfect Chicken Coop.

What size coop should I have?

I recommend 10 square feet per chicken when raising backyard chickens. I’m referring to the run’s footprint, not the hen house. Oftentimes the run includes space under the hen house which is a nice spot for shade and dust bathing (more on that later).

Truth #3: Chickens need some space to roam. There are small coops for sale that claim to accommodate several chickens. However, I think they need more space to prevent bickering and cleanliness issues.

How many chickens do I need?

Chickens lay one egg per day on average. However, this will vary depending on the breed, time of year, if they’re molting, if they’ve been traumatized, if you look at them funny, if they don’t like their friends. Chickens are animals- not machines.

Estimate five eggs per week from each chicken during peak performance. How many eggs does your family consume in a week? A dozen? Then 2-3 chickens would provide enough eggs. As a family of five, three chickens supplied us with plenty of eggs.

With three chickens, a coop that has 1-2 nesting boxes and a run space of 30 square feet should suffice.

How much does a coop cost?

Sit down for this part. You can spend thousands of dollars on really nice chicken coops. Again, eggs are so much cheaper at the grocery store! But if you want to have some fun and your wallet allows, check out Carolina Coops to see my dream chicken coops…they are gorgeous!

Another option is by a company called Omlet. Their Eglu Chicken Coops are also on the more expensive end, but wow are they amazing! In 2020, I spent over $2000 for the coop, extra walk-in run space, accessories and automatic door. That’s a lot more than what people were spending to buy eggs during the pandemic!

I love it because it’s sooooo easy to clean. You just hose it down or better yet-pressure wash it! Also, look at the predator proof no-dig apron around the perimeter. I’ve watched a fox try to dig under with no luck.

This is the Eglu Cube after putting it together and before setting it in the yard. Later, I added the walk-in run.

Fortunately, there are cheaper options on sites like Wayfair and at local farm stores. However, you definitely need to shop around and read the reviews for safety and durability, though.

I would also look on places like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for local custom built coops.

My husband and I built my first chicken coop and saved quite a bit of money. Look on sites like Etsy for easy to build Chicken Coop Plans like this one. Between the digital download and materials, your costs should be in the hundreds, not thousands.

Here’s the coop my husband and I built together. I loved the storage area under the hen house.

Chicken Coop Features

Some basic features to look for when building or purchasing a chicken coop include:

Roosts
Ventilation (hardware cloth screened window) and/or vents near roof
Nesting box(es)
Cleaning access (Sliding trays under roosts and/or access big enough for you to reach in completely)
Predator proof (hardware cloth, lockable doors/windows, no-dig aprons around the run)
Electricity (not absolutely necessary, but super handy for preventing frozen water)

Raising and Caring for Baby Chicks

Although you can purchase mature chickens, starting your flock with chicks is the most common route for beginner chicken keepers. I recommend starting with chicks because there are some bonding and training opportunities at this stage that are much more difficult to attain with a mature hen. Besides, baby chicks are so stinking cute!

Speaking of stinking, let’s get down to the truth about raising backyard chickens. They are messy! They poop everywhere; no discretion at all-in their food, in the water, on their friends, on you-everywhere. For that matter, the adult chickens do, too.

The key is to have absorbent bedding and consistent clean ups. My experience with chicks has always been to set up a brooder inside the laundry room, garage, or shed- somewhere away from pets and with access to electricity to keep them warm.

Besides access to food and water, WARMTH is essential. Provide a heat source (lamp or radiant plate) to maintain a 95°F temperature in one area of the brooder. Decrease the temperature by 5 degrees each week until they are completely feathered out and not at risk of chilling. They will DIE if they get too cold! Be vigilant.

The chicks will huddle together under the light or heat plate to keep warm. If it’s too warm, they will seek cooler temperatures in a different area of the brooder. Follow their lead and adjust as necessary.

What to Use for a Brooder?

There are plenty of tutorials online about making a brooder out of household items like large storage tubs or kiddie pools. You can also purchase brooders online like this All-in-One Brooder with Supplies from Amazon.

My favorite method so far has been to use a wire dog crate. I wrap the bottom 12 inches with plastic bubble wrap to keep the chicks (and the litter!) from going through the wire panels. You could also use screen material or foam board.

Equipment Needed for the Brooder:

brooder
thermometer
feeder
waterer
pine shavings
heat lamp or heat table
starter feed (specially formulated for chicks)
chick grit (for when they start foraging/eating mealworm snacks)
paper towels
cleaning wipes
(optional) nanny cam

You can also use the empty hen house of your new coop as a brooder as long as you have electricity for the heat source. Remember to block any doors, the ramp to the run and the nesting boxes to avoid falls and entrapment.

Interested in cute names for your chickens? Read my post How to Choose Chicken Names for Your Backyard Flock.

How to Train Chickens to Come When You Call Them

Having chickens come running to you on command is a great party trick, but it’s also essential for getting them back inside the coop. More than once, I’ve had the girls free ranging around the garden while I’m working only to see a predatory hawk overhead. There’s not much time to get them back to safety, but a quick call and they come running!

Start this training when they are chicks. It’s just like teaching a dog to come to you.

Make your call (mine is CHEEP cheep cheep cheep!)
Feed them a treat like crumbled meal worms (aka: crack for chickens)
Repeat A LOT

When they are grown chickens, I use a bag of treats or a plate with kitchen garden scraps and lure them into the coop while making my ‘call’ for them to come running. Raising backyard chickens is much easier once they learn this!

When Do You Move Chicks into the Coop?

There are two very important requirements for making the move out of the brooder and into the main chicken coop.

The chicks have to be fully feathered out and look like a small bird. That means no fuzzy fluffy chick feathers left on them.
The weather has to be warm enough for them to be on their own without a heat source. That means over 60-65°F at night.

Look below. Are they ready? Not yet!

If these two requirements are not met yet, keep them in the brooder. If you are using the hen house as a brooder, keep the run blocked off until they’re ready.

This usually occurs around 6-8 weeks, but varies upon chicken breeds. This is why you see chicks for sale in the springtime. After 6-8 weeks, the weather in most places is warm enough for them to be outside.

What Do Chickens Need to Thrive?

It’s not that difficult raising backyard chickens and helping them thrive, but there are some important tasks that need to be completed consistently.

Clean Water: I like hanging waterers, especially when the chickens are younger. As they get older, I tend to use buckets and refill them daily. I’ve tried watering systems with the pvc pipe and red nipples, but had unhappy chickens. There are many chicken owners who swear by them, though.
Fresh Feed: Feed needs to be stored in sealed containers to maintain freshness and prevent pests/rodents from contaminating it. I love my plastic Vault Storage Container. I think they’re made for dog food, but I use it for the chickens.
Grit: Chickens do not have teeth; they have gizzards. You provide the grit so that they can ‘mash’ their feed in their gizzards with it.
Oyster Shell: This is separate from the grit and it provides an extra source of calcium for laying hens. This is for mature chickens (16+ weeks), not chicks.
Snacks: I like to give my chickens snacks from the farm store and from the garden. They love meal worms, cracked corn, fresh vegetables, etc.
Clean Bedding: Chickens poop. A LOT. The ammonia in their poop builds up in the coop if it’s not absorbed by the bedding and will create serious health problems. Plus, it just stinks. So keep it clean! I use pine shavings when the chickens are first starting out and then switch to Hemp Bedding.
Roosts: Chickens are birds and birds feel safe up on a roost. You need them for sleeping in the hen house and also in the run.
Dust Bath Area: It seems counterintuitive, but chickens bathe themselves in dry dirt to get clean. Your job is to provide a spot where they can do this. I use a heavy duty Rubber Feed Pan filled with a mix of sand, ashes, soil and diatomaceous earth and place it in the run where it is not affected by rain.
Nesting Pads: I discovered these recently and they are a game changer when it comes to coop cleanliness in the nesting boxes. Chickens, just like any other bird, want a nest to lay their eggs. Pine shavings or hemp bedding will provide an absorbent and comfortable spot, but they are difficult to clean out when the time comes. These Nesting Pads have a paper backing and keep the nesting material intact.

How to Clean the Chicken Coop

I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is that chickens poop all the time and all over the place, even in their sleep. The good news is that their poop is black gold for your garden.

Chicken poop needs to break down before adding it to the garden. The high nitrogen levels can actually burn your plants.

If you do not have a compost system, I highly recommend setting one up. Adding used chicken litter to the compost bin is free fertilizer. They also love to help turn it over for you!

Daily Housekeeping Chores:

Check and clean the water if needed
Check and clean the feeders if needed
Collect the eggs

Weekly Housekeeping Chores:

Remove excess poop under roosts in hen house
Add hemp bedding to hen house if needed
Sanitize food and water containers with cleanser and dry
Replace nesting pads
Sift poop out of dusting bath area

Seasonal Housekeeping Chores:

Remove all of the bedding from the hen house and add to compost or dispose of it.
Wipe down surfaces with sanitizing agents and dry
Sprinkle diatomaceous earth or First Saturday Lime around coop surfaces to prevent mites
Add fresh hemp bedding to hen house
Refresh dust bath area

Keeping your chicken coop clean will help keep your chickens healthy and happy which means more eggs, less odor, less flies and less neighbor complaints.

*Ginger Tip: Always wash your hands after handling chickens and chicken material. I know it should go without saying, but as a former teacher-I’m saying it anyway “WASH YOUR HANDS!”

When Bad Things Happen

Truth #5: Whether they get sick, injured or killed; they eventually will die. It’s part of life, and chickens usually have short ones. It’s part of raising backyard chickens and it’s difficult.

I’m not trying to be morbid or insensitive, but you need to be prepared to handle what’s coming. If a chicken falls ill or gets injured, take action immediately. And if they die, have a plan to bury them somewhere or dispose of them.

What to keep on hand for emergencies:

An isolation space (cat carrier, the old brooder, dog crate) so the other chickens don’t make it worse with pecking or attacking and/or contracting anything that’s contagious.
Antiseptic/Fungicide for wounds like Blu-Kote or Vetericyn.
Epsom salts for egg-bound hens
Petroleum jelly and rubber gloves (yes you might have to check inside their vent)
Vitamins/electrolytes
Phone number for vet that handles exotic animals

Chicken Coop Security:

Latching handles and sliding locks on coop doors/windows. Raccoons might look cute, but they are murderous butchers with fine motor skills.
Hardware cloth apron around the coop to prevent dogs or foxes from digging under.
Automatic door between the hen house and the run that opens and closes on a timer. This helps to prevent predators at night if they manage to gain access. We are human; doors get left unlocked and sometimes left wide open. It happens.

Euthanasia Options:

Avian veterinarians can perform lethal injections that are quick and painless. There are also at home methods that (thankfully) I’ve never had to do, but are detailed online if you need to perform such a duty. Search for humane euthanasia for chickens.

Eggs: the Reward of Raising Backyard Chickens

The most obvious perk of raising backyard chickens is the production of eggs. After months of raising these lovely creatures, you finally find the first egg!

More than likely, you will find it in a random spot like under the waterer, behind the dust bath, in the middle of the run…because the truth is: chickens lay eggs in weird places.

This one wins the blue ribbon! How in the world did she do this??

Hopefully, they figure this out on their own, but sometimes you need to put ‘fake’ eggs or even golf balls in the nesting box to show them how it’s done.

Don’t be shocked if the first egg is very small or doesn’t contain a yolk. Sometimes the shell is soft and fragile. Remember to make sure there is oyster shell for extra calcium and the feed is layer feed.

Eggs come out with a natural wet coating that immediately dries and protects the shell. This is called the ‘bloom‘ and it means you can leave your unwashed eggs on the counter for a couple of weeks. If they have a little poop on them, I wash them gently and store in the fridge. Usually this happens when the nesting pad needs to be replaced or they laid it in a weird place.

This Spiral Egg Holder is my favorite way to store fresh eggs. It keeps them in order of freshness safely on the counter.

It’s important to know that chickens often live longer than they actually lay eggs. Even hybrid chickens that are strong egg producers will eventually slow down and stop altogether.

Healthy purebred chickens can live 5-10 years, but will only lay eggs consistently for the first few years. What does that mean for you as a backyard chicken owner? Your chicken is your responsibility that needs food, water and care even when all they offer in return is fertilizer.

Take the time to enjoy your fresh eggs! They are so much better than mass produced store bought ones. Marvel at the depth of color in the yolks and enjoy the rich flavor when you cook them.

Looking for some recipes for your fresh eggs? Head over to Recipes and search eggs.

For now, start with my favorite Savory Eggs Cups in my post about using fresh thyme from the herb garden.

Final Truths about Raising Backyard Chickens

Raising backyard chickens is so much more rewarding than simply collecting and enjoying fresh eggs. It’s about caring for them and truly connecting with the land through your chickens.

The truth is: chickens are fun, beautiful and beneficial to your kitchen garden. Enjoy this new adventure of raising backyard chickens!

Please ask questions and leave comments below!