Chickens living in your own backyard means Fresh Organic Eggs daily!
Have you gone to the store recently and noticed the price of Organic Eggs through the roof. It is hard these days to afford buying quality Organic Eggs, without breaking the budget. Rather than giving up Organic Eggs for the factory farmed un-Organic and less healthy eggs because of price, build your own backyard Chicken Coop, it is easy AND affordable! Best of all, once you start getting your own eggs from your backyard daily, you can make lots of recipes with your "free" eggs, essentially saving you money when you grocery shopping! All you need is a large enough open plot to house your chickens with enough space for them to roam freely, which is the only humane way to keep chickens. At our home, we have a 10 by 10 foot space that includes the chicken coop, nesting boxes and perching decks. During the morning, we let them out to roam along our sloping backyard, and then put them back in the coop when we leave during the day.
Where to start
Find a space to build the coop, and get started. All you need is to build a well ventilated house that has nesting boxes for laying eggs and space to perch and rest at night. Remember that the coop must be well protected with chicken wire or other fencing to protect against predators at night. Go to your local Hardware store and chances are you will find everything you need. Next you need to acquire the birds. You can find birds at your local farm, and it is a good idea to buy chickens at around 18 weeks old because they are ready to start laying! You can also look in poultry magazines (backyard poultry magazine) for more ideas and information on getting birds. Start out with just 3 or 4 hens to see how you like it, and then you can increase your flock as you get used to having them around. We currently have 8 chickens and we get around 8 eggs a day from our chickens. It is important to keep in mind that healthy free-range chickens with live around 10 years old, but they stop laying eggs around 5 years old. Feeding your chickens organic grain in addition to allowing them to forage for greens and insects is the best way to go. You can also feed them foods from your kitchen composter, such as grains, rice, discarded greens and veggies.
You must supply your chickens with fresh water daily to keep them happy, healthy and alive. Gather up your chickens poop and compost it to later add to your garden! Have your kids be in charge of the coop; feeding them, watering them, collecting the eggs; this teaches them responsibility and helps them to learn about taking care of animals, and best of all gets them counting, adding (and subtracting when they drop an egg) daily! Go to your local city's website to find out laws about having an urban chicken coop.
Resources:
US state laws regarding chickens
Mother Earth News, "How to raise chickens in your backyard!"