All About Chickens

For a couple of years now I have been dabbling with the idea of keeping a few backyard chickens. Which is a curious sort of yearning for someone raised with both feet firmly entrenched in the the suburbs. Inertia or common sense has in the past been what prevented me from carrying this niggling idea into reality.

Until now. Now, of course, I am looking for ways to expand my life's experiences, knowledge and abilities and what better time to take the plunge and raise a few laying hens?

So I am researching how to do this. There are a surprising number of things to consider. I always thought it would be pretty simple. Throw them in the backyard, construct a simple coop and wait for the eggs to be laid. I pictured snipping a few chives from the garden and gathering a few eggs, and I was minutes from a scrambled egg breakfast.

Which may be the case somewhere down the road. Seems you order day old baby chicks and pick them up from the post office, then hurry them home to a prewarmed brooder, teach them how to drink and nurture them like a mother hen (now I see where that phrase came from) until they are able to scratch around on their own.

For those of you concerned about chickens having a free range lifestyle you also must consider keeping them safe from predators. Wily ones like raccoons that can undo latches, and soaring ones like hawks that can snatch them up. I am not entirely sure I can provide that level of safety, but I'm game to try. I am busy studying books, and coop designs, and websites full of information. And with a little luck I will have my first eggs in late summer. I'll keep you posted.