I began by reading advice here, learning as much as I could from two books I bought on
Amazon (Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens was the most informative; Chickens in Your Backyard was good for quick information and something my younger kids are reading so they know what to expect.)
I gave him all the advantages that I knew of, and general plans, and also the drawbacks as well (because this is how his whole family debate) We both like being able to grow our own food (we have fruit trees and I made fruit sauces and jams this year, and we planted more fruit plants and trees.) He has had farm fresh eggs before, and helped an elderly friend when he was a teen in fixing her henhouse and it was the potential odor problem that had him stuck on 'probably not' along with the notion that they might be expensive to feed.
We went to the
Tractor Supply Store and priced food, got estimates on what a full grown layer eats & got general ideas of costs. I worked out a good place for a coop, and then gave him the general plans for a coop that fit in that area which we could easily build.
Then I talked to people we both know that have laying hens and asked if they would please talk to the TWO of us together about the good & the bad of raising laying hens.
They did way more convincing than I did! There was a ton of enthusiasm and very little in the 'bad' column. This list of happy chicken owners also included his sister, who has had hens for about 3 years now. She and her husband had a lot of real good things to say about it, and also gave us a ton of good advice. They told him how the deep litter method works, gave a lot of tips on odor and insect control (like DE under the litter). Other friends showed us how kitchen scraps, moving the hens around in a chicken tractor, giving them lawn clippings and things like that decrease the amount of food they have to be given in summertime. He could ask them questions and get answers right away. He could also see their happiness when they talked about their hens.
I'd say, get other chicken owners you know to discuss it with him and to offer advice. If you don't know anyone you could ask personally, send him over here & have him ask his questions. You'd be hard pressed to find more knowledge on chickens in a book as you will find in the years & years of practical knowledge here.
Our first batch of chicks is due to be shipped up from Texas on March 25....and my husband is happily helping me get ready for them.
edited to remove repeated redundancies.
