7.Come Prepared. With the information you’ve gathered about chickens and other cities’ chicken-keeping laws, put together information packets to give to the city council member(s) who are willing to help you. If no one is willing, attend town hall meetings any time chickens are on the agenda. Gather your supporters and ask them to turn out to show support. Pick a few eloquent individuals to prepare speeches on certain concerns (odor, noise, disease, and so on) and ask them to speak when the council is open to public comments. Make your voices heard but be polite and stick to the facts. Show council members that you are serious and determined to see the project through. And don’t forget to invite the media.
8.Be Patient. Some cities are able to overturn ordinances in 6 to 9 months, but many take 12 to 18 months to see results. Once you get the ball rolling, don’t give up. Remember, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” so be persistent but also compassionate and courteous. Do your research, be reasonable, and respectful, and you’ll soon have legal chickens in backyards all over town.
Being Neighborly: Proper Chicken-Keeping Etiquette
So your city’s codes check out, and you’re legally allowed to keep chickens in your town. Hooray and congratulations!
Before you start ordering chicks and building a coop, though, you may want to run your intentions by your neighbors. Those not familiar with chickens may be wary of even the mention of the barnyard animals. After all, chickens make noise (just a little) and their housing can smell (if improperly cared for). Your job is to consider your neighbors’ concerns and alleviate any unfounded fears. Assure them you’ll keep a clean coop (and follow through on that promise), because a well-maintained coop doesn’t smell. Also educate them on basic chicken behavior: Many people don’t realize that hens do not need a rooster to lay eggs, so you won’t need one around. (Most cities prohibit roosters, anyway, and roosters are the noisy ones.) Hens cluck and chirp contentedly throughout the day, but rarely do they make noise above a conversational speaking voice. Occasionally, an individual bird may sing her post–egg laying “hen song,” but it only lasts for a few minutes and is still quieter than a barking dog.
Finally, take aesthetics into account. A nicely constructed coop with attractive paint choices and window boxes or some minor landscaping can go a long way toward winning over wary neighbors. Keep it clean and tidy. Remember, your coop represents the modern chicken movement, and you are a representative of chicken keepers everywhere. Show your neighbors and prove to your town that chickens do have a place in every yard.
And when all else fails, shamelessly bribe your neighbors with the enticement of homegrown, pastured eggs with yolks so dark, they’re nearly orange. That might just be enough to win them over.
Chickens are among the easiest of animals to care for, but that doesn’t mean the birds are care free.
A Lifestyle with Chickens
Any new addition to a family requires some adjustment, and adding a flock of chickens is no different. The good news is that with a little preparation, chickens can fold neatly into nearly any lifestyle, any schedule, and any backyard or neighborhood.
Like any pet, caring for chickens requires a bit of daily attention. Whether you have a flock of 3 or 30, daily tasks include egg collecting, visual checks on all of your ladies for illness or injury, and a quick scan of the coop’s perimeter. That’s it. If you provide your flock with large water fonts and feeders, feeding and watering chores can happen every other day or so, and big cleanings can be reserved for one weekend in the spring.
One of the biggest adjustments to your lifestyle will take place in the evening, when the flock turns in for the night. Chickens instinctively seek shelter at dusk, and they’ll find it in their coop. To keep them safe from predators, they’ll need someone to lock them up in the coop each evening and open the coop door again each morning at daybreak. This chore isn’t time-consuming in itself; rather, it’s all about timing. Many predators strike right at dusk or shortly after, so it’s important to close up the coop just after the flock retires for the evening. The time for sunup and sundown will gradually shift with the seasons, though, changing the time of day you’ll need to close and open the door. For these reasons, it helps to create a system in place that works for you. Some chicken keepers install automatic coop door openers that close on a timer. These can be costly but really convenient. Some chicken keepers let their birds free-range only when they’re at home to watch them and are available to shut the door behind them each evening. Others build predator-proof outdoor runs that don’t require the daily opening and closing of the coop door at all (very helpful for those who work late or have unpredictable schedules). For those of you with families, this is a terrific responsibility to give to children and teens.
Another consideration when starting a flock of chickens is establishing their care while you are away. Unlike cats or dogs, a flock of chickens can’t be boarded with a veterinarian or kennel. Whether you travel for work or vacation, you’ll need to employ someone to come to your coop to gather eggs, feed and water the flock, and open and close the coop door while you’re away. Fortunately, as the chicken-keeping movement gains momentum in cities across the country, more and more knowledgeable chicken sitters are offering their services. For a small fee, they’ll keep an eye on your flock and know what to look out for should a problem occur.
Finally, if any of these responsibilities seem burdensome or an ill fit for your lifestyle, consider sharing the weight with others. Whole neighborhoods have been known to get in on the action of keeping chickens, with great results. Starting a flock with neighbors helps to distribute the costs and responsibilities of keeping chickens, and there will always be extra sets of eyes, ears, and hands to pick up chores, troubleshoot issues, and swap egg recipes.
You can spend as much or as little on a coop as you’d like.
Expenses
Many assume that if they keep a few chickens, they’ll get “free” eggs. But if you’re doing it right, keeping chickens is not free. While day-old chicks are rather cheap (cheep!) compared to other pets at $3 to $5 per chick, there will be start-up costs in the way of housing, equipment, bedding, feed, and supplements. The latter three items will be continuous monthly or yearly costs as well, so budget accordingly. To some degree, spending money is necessary if you want to keep healthy chickens.
By far, the coop is often the largest expense. You can spend thousands of dollars on a deluxe chicken coop with all the bells and whistles, or you can get creative and retrofit an old shed or doghouse with found or recycled materials—or something in between, of course. It’s really up to you, your budget, and your skill set. As long as the coop keeps your birds safe from predators and the elements, and it’s strong, sturdy, and gives them a place to lay eggs and roost at night, they won’t mind what the coop is made of or how much it costs.
Like any pet, chickens require a continuous supply of feed that will accrue a regular (usually monthly) cost. The thought of chickens foraging in the backyard (for free) is certainly idyllic, but it’s not realistic. Laying hens have specific nutritional needs, and if they aren’t met, their health will surely suffer. Feed costs vary widely depending on the brand of feed you choose and the number of birds you keep. (There’s much more on feed and supplements in chapter 7.)
The hard lesson that many excited, new chicken keepers learn in the first few years is that you don’t really save money on eggs by keeping chickens. If you’ve been buying pastured, local eggs from the tailgate market or nearby farms, you likely have an idea of what eggs