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Read everything you can get your hands on, about chickens.
Visit as many coops as you can (go on a tour).
If you've never been around chickens (or birds) go to the county fair and hang with the chickens. See if you like being with them.
Go to the feed store in March, hear the sound of peeping chicks, and take some home.
Keep them warm for a while, give them a fun place to play in, and they will do the rest.
Chuckle, smile, grin, and laugh out loud at their wonderful ways.
Eat eggs.

The best advice I can give for raising Back Yard Chickens is first and foremost Have Fun!
Chickens will thrive with basic care. Offer a safe draft free coop. It can be as simple as a remodeled dog
house or as large as a garden shed. Feed your birds a healthy diet. High quality layer feed and treats like greens and black oil sunflower seeds. Keep your coop and run areas clean and always provide plenty of fresh water. I started out just last may with my first chickens. I followed the advice of experienced chicken keepers, and have used the Backyard Chicken web site as my Chicken Bible. I am rewarded with beautiful fresh eggs and healthy, friendly chickens, as well as a compost pile to enrich my garden. Best of all, I enjoy caring for my chickens and watching their behaviors. I wish I had started keeping chicken years ago. My advice, if you don't yet have chickens is to say What are you waiting for?

Will my chickens get along with other animals?

When it comes to cats and dogs, the answer is that frequently it depends on the age of the chickens and the age of the other animals.

Baby chicks are, unfortunately, very enticing for cats and dogs. Everything about them at that age screams "Prey! Come 'n git it!! " You have to make sure that their brooder is very secure until they get big enough to defend themselves

The good news is that chickens get very good at holding their own as they get closer to adult size. Any cat that tries to take on an adult chicken is going have its butt handed to it. Once a cat of mine tried to sneak up on one of my hens - she responded by whipping around and pecking him right between the eyes. Another time my other cat was playing with a mouse he just caught. One of my hens walked right up to him, snatched the mouse right out of his mouth and proceeded to eat it in front of him. My late dog was quite the old man (14) and never tried to attack the hens; in fact the hens bullied him so mercilessly that he avoided being out in the yard at the same time as them.

Dog breeds are a big factor too. If your dog is a hunting, game or guard breed you probably want to keep them separated from chickens at all times - their predator/prey drive is really high. Herding dogs can do quite well around hens. However, their tendency to try to herd anything and everything is a quality that can annoy the heck out of chickens.

Hope that helps!

My advice is simple. Be prepared.
We thought we'd go ahead and get our chicks and build the run as they grew. Such a dumb idea. Those chicks grow SO unbelievably fast. Which of course left us with five gigantic pullets ready to hit the coop. We were not ready! We had to rush to get the run built for the girls.It worked out fine in the end but we were lucky to pull it together. And furthermore...don't wait until they "get closer to laying" to get nest boxes in, don't ask me how I know.

Oh and also; they will bring you joy.
<3 them.

Best advice...make friends with your chickens by giving them their favorite snacks. Mine love snails and it really helps with my organic gardening plan. I go out early in the morning, snail hunting. Then dump the container of snails in the coop...boy do I have happy chickens for the day. The other advice I would give is to make sure they have a very secure coop if you live in predator country. We have coyotes and opossums that we've kept away from our chickens by putting a top over the yard along with an inside coop for night.

My best advice is to be a responsible chicken owner. That means that a living, breathing thing should never be treated as a fad to be put away when you're bored with it. While chickens are relatively low maintenance when compared to other animals, they still have needs and can feel pain. They need food, water, a flock, and a safe and relatively comfortable environment. They need to be free of pests and parasites as well as diseases.

Being responsible also means being a good neighbor. That means following the laws and not being a nuisance. Many municipalities are open to people owning chickens in the city, which means if you can be a model chicken owner, you're more likely to have your neighbors be positive towards chicken ownership. Don't like the law? Get it changed. Many people have changed the laws successfully.

I hear many people say "do your research." Research is important, but I feel that if you can cover the basics, you're a good chicken owner, whether you plan on owning chickens as pets, for eggs, for meat, or for breeding and show. Whether you have an expensive chicken from a rare breed or a lowly mutt chicken, it doesn't matter. Both can give you pleasure in ownership and can provide wonderful eggs.

Your can keep your chickens more comfortable in winter while they still live in your tractor.
We moved our homemade tractor into the far end of our unheated garage, built a breezeway and cut-out a door through the side of the garage.
We then built a run along the side of our garage.
So the chickens can be outside or enter/exit through the breezeway for more shelter and to roost at night.
Another tractor would mean we could have 3 or so more chickens - sounds good to me!

make sure that the gaps in your pool fence not only keep your dog out but your chickens in

Worried that your neighbors will complain about your new hobby? Reach out to them before you bring home your new flock. Educate them on the virtues of chicken keeping and let them know you will keep a clean coop, and only hens if you are on limited acreage where roosters are not welcome (re the noise factor). Butter them up with fresh eggs and you will have fans for life. Good luck! For more information and fun stories about chicken keeping, feel free to read my blog: simplychicks.blogspot.com

Before you even contemplate taking on chickens WARNING a chicken will totally change your life. They are a long-term commitment they can live over 6 years.


Do your homework first. Still interested. Ok the 3 basics.


First their housing should be outside in a coop or shed. You can buy chicken coops or you could build your own 250centimetres sq floor per bird and a perches to sleep. A nesting box supplied with clean bedding per 4 birds and an exercise run 4sq ft per bird.


The run and coop need to be safe to keep the predator out. Enclose the run with wire mesh around and above the coop. Fix wooden boards to the base of the fence. Shut your chickens into their coop at night, but don’t forget you have to get up early to let them out.


Feeding your birds is easy by buying ready-made chicken feed, which has everything your chicken needs to keep them healthy. Grit is important to help digestion and calcium to make the eggs strong. Chickens need a constant supply of drinking water so remember in the winter you will have to get up to break ice.


Still fancy being a backyard chicken owner?


Remember these are OUTSIDE so you have to be prepared to get wet, muddy and really cold and get up early to let them out and have family prepared to hen sit when you go on holiday.



If that hasn’t put you off then happy chicken keeping.