Over the last five years I’ve learned a few things about keeping chickens in the back yard. And while, for the most part, chickens are really fun and the positives far outweigh the negatives, it’s not all roses. No, they are not noisy. No they don’t stink. But there are a few lessons we have learned about the urban homestead’s favorite creature feature:
Don’t name them. Chickens are so far down on the food-chain that they are pretty much dinner for everything except insects. Naming them is just setting yourself up for heart-break. We named our first five chicks. But the tears when Daisy was killed by a fox were enough to cure us of this. The next two rounds of chicks were nameless. While we still knew them as “the red one” or “the big one,” it kinda kept our feelings a bit more protected. And we were able to eat the ones without names when the time came.- Every one will ask if you need a rooster to get eggs. I’m not really sure why this is a question? If there is no rooster, the eggs will never become chicks. Eggs are not baby chickens. Eggs are just eggs. At some point you will find yourself, once again, explaining that eggs are basically like a tasty chicken period that happens daily. Yum, right?
- Baby chicks are messy. Very, very messy. Our first chicks were raised in a box in our office. They were so cute. When they finally moved outside, the office was completely covered in a very thick layer of dust. It was awful. The next chicks got the luxury of a heat lamp in the garage instead.
- Chickens dig deep holes. Like, to China. We used to let them free-range through the whole back yard. Our yard is small, but they never ate all the grass. They pooped everywhere, but we could hose off the patio. The real bummer were these gigantic, deep holes. They use them for dust baths. Later, we moved the coop to one area of the yard. The hens still free-range, within their area, and they’ve eaten all the grass back there and dig to their hearts’ content. And we are no longer breaking ankles in the giant holes. Bonus: the kids can now roll a ball in the remaining grass, poo-free.
- You will be spoiled by the eggs. If, for some reason you need to buy eggs from the store, you will scowl at their sickly, yellow insides and scoff at their bland taste. They literally pale in comparison to your awesome, dark-yolked, delicious, home-grown eggs.
So while others continue to extol the merits of the back yard flock, don’t come to me saying you weren’t warned. 
We really want to have chickens once we have bought a home. This is a great list of things I didn’t know, or I never would have thought of! Well, except the rooster thing
Thanks!
Thanks – I poked around your blog a bit – I love all the pinterest projects you’ve done… what a fun idea!
oh thank you!
oh – chicken question? how loud are they?
Hens do make lots of noises, but they are not particularly loud. They sing a sort of egg song (I think to look for the flock after laying), which I was always worried about the neighbors hearing, but I’ve asked and they all say they’ve never heard them.
Will they still dig holes if you equip them with man made dust baths?
I’m not sure – they do love to scratch and dig. I’ve heard of people providing boxes for dust baths. My guess is that they’ll dig around in the boxes quite a bit… probably they’ll throw the dirt in them out and the boxes will have to be replenished?
We clearly violate #1, but I totally agree with the rest of the list!
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I wish someone had told me 4 weeks ago just how messy chicks are. And told me how seriousy fast they grow, and outgrow, their brooder box! Seven crapping, scratching, litter kicking sweeties are currently housed in a lovely brooder in my kitchen. (I know, gross). Being unprepared I am praying that coop gets finished this weekend! Maybe too late to heed this advice but plan on putting to use other info from your experiences!
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I would add, at least where we are…some of your chickens will get eaten by predators. It might be a bobcat, raccoon, or coyote (we have had all three) or it might be your neighbor’s dog. Prepare yourself for it as the predators are amazing at finding weak spots in a coop or ambushing when you’re not prepared.
We let our chickens free range until we plant the garden then they get locked up,, other wise they go crazy eating everything,, they love my rose beds they dig and dust in those I place pretty rocks and such in my beds to keep them from getting to the dirt and dusting,, we like to let them free range all we can really cuts down on ticks and bugs around our yard, if we ever get a good chicken fence all around our garden ,, we have a huge garden,, we can let them free range more often,, we grow them their own garden kids are in charge of it,, then what ever they pick out of their garden goes to the chickens ,, chickens love their fresh garden veggies every day