If you’re interested in homesteading, raising urban chickens might be on your list of things to try. But what if you live in an urban area? Can you still keep chickens? The answer is yes! In this blog, we’ll cover everything you need to know about raising urban chickens, including the benefits and challenges of keeping them in a city environment. We’ll discuss the different types of chickens that are best suited for urban living, as well as the equipment and supplies you’ll need to get started. Whether you’re looking to raise chickens for their eggs or simply want a fun and unique addition to your backyard, this guide has all the information you need to get started.
O.K. I saw one of the latest catalogs for Williams- Sonoma that featured everything from bee keeping, canning, to raising urban chickens. Here’s a peek at what they are offering.
Raising Urban Chickens
Yes, they are selling chicken coops. I had to laugh at this one. I know raising your own chickens is getting more popular, but I didn’t realize it was this popular. So, I decided I was going to an informative post about raising urban chickens that may help you decide whether or not to start raising your own chickens in an urban/suburban setting.
I remember having chickens when I was younger. However, our barn wasn’t where our house was. It was several miles away. So, I was very removed from having to care for the chickens on a daily basis. My Dad took care of all of it. When my husband and I decided to get chickens, we didn’t really know a whole lot or what to expect even though my husband and I both had a little experience with them as kids. This was pretty much new territory for both of us. I hope this post is helpful to anyone who is looking to own raising urban chickens.
Here are some important things about deciding to raising urban chickens:
1.) Research What Type Of Chickens You Want: Just like any pet you would purchase say cat or dog, you will want to do some research. This initial cost of buying baby chicks is very reasonable. We payed about $2.00 a chick. I’m sure that depending on where you live will affect the price of your chicks. Do some research and decide what type of chickens you want. You can base your decision on many factors such as size, markings of the chicken, or color of the eggs. After you have done your research, visit your local feed store to see if they have those baby chicks or you may need to special order them. You should be able to do this through your local feed store or even online. You would be surprised how easy it is to find a feed store near you. We have one just a couples miles away from even though we live in a very populated area of Southern California without a lot of farms close by. We have found the people at the feed store are very informative, very helpful and extremely friendly.
2.) Purchase a Baby Chick Starter Kit or Necessary Materials: Once you have your chicks, you will have to have a temporary home for them. We purchased a kit that included a medium sized cage, a heat lamp, feeder, a small 5 lb. bag of chick starter mash, a few packets of vitamins for their water and a water dispenser. The cost was $81.34. Looking at some of the prices now, this is somewhat high. Here is a picture similar to what we had.
Photo courtesy of backyardchickens.com
3.) Start Building A Chicken Coop or Purchase One: O.K. The sooner you get your chicks transitioned into the coop the better. For us, we should’ve done this a lot sooner. However, with my husband and I both working full time it was very difficult to fit this in. So our chickens, have the night time habit of perching on my mosaic table and chairs that is next to the house where they can see inside. My girls think they just like to watch t.v. I’m not too happy about this habit. So, be careful. The sooner you get them into the coop the better. You have to decide if the chickens will be limited to only their coop or not. We wanted the chickens to have a little more freedom and be free range. They have the ability to roam in two parts of the backyard. If they are going to be limited to just the coop, consider having a large enough enclosed area for the chickens to roam/run.
After looking at various coops online and doing some research, my architect husband decided he was going to design ours. They do have some decent chicken coops out there for purchase. But my husband wanted to design one that was going to fit our needs a little better for what we wanted and had the modern look. Plus, for the size of the coop we built, it did save us some money.
We have a small run for our chickens that is enclosed and protected for when we are away.
Ginger eating.
We built three boxes for each of our chickens and it has a shelf up above. If you notice, we put corrugated clear acrylic on the top of the coop. This allows for natural lighting and for ventilation of the heat through the holes. When the chickens are on the shelf, they can actually see out. It’s their penthouse view.
The overall cost for us for the chicken coop was $294.86. This did not include the paint. We already had that. It cost a lot more than what I wanted to spend, but overall it’s really nice. All of the other premade coops for sale from the feed store were upwards of $300 anyways. My husband did a great job building it, and it became the family project to paint it too.
4.)Daily Care of Chickens: As with any pet, there is the daily responsibility of taking care of the animal. The more you have the bigger the responsibility. Every morning, if they are free range chickens, you have to let them out of the coop. We close both doors on our coop up at night to protect them, So each morning someone needs open one of the doors to let them out. We don’t want any problems with neighborhood cats or the occasional coyote to get them. I have also heard of raccoons hunting in the neighborhood that have eaten chicken. So, they are closed up tight at night.
In the morning, the water needs to be filled up and food is topped off if needed. They have automatic feeders that do this, but we do not own one. Scratch is given to the chickens. During hot summer months, we have extra water out for the chickens and it has to be filled up during the day. At night, we have to walk the chickens back to the coop that is under the avocado tree. Like I said before, at dusk they like to perch on my mosaic table and do not go back to their coop on their own. If yours chickens stay exclusively in their coop, you will definitely not have this problem. We give the chickens more scratch. It’s like a treat for them. We make sure all the girls are in the coop and they have food and fresh water.
This entire experience has been great for my oldest daughter, Emma. It has given her (and still does) a lot of responsibility which she has been great with.
Lily will go after school and collect the eggs. She loves to do this. If she doesn’t, we collect them at night. We average 18 to 20 eggs a week for the three chickens. This is plenty for our family and some weeks we have enough to give to the neighbors and friends which the kids love doing.
5.) Your Chicken Is What…?
Broody? Yes. We had no idea this could happen. This is when there is no rooster. We did not want to introduce a rooster to our mix of chickens. Roosters can be very mean and can even come after you because they are territorial over their hens. My husband had a rooster attack his younger brother when he was little. It was not a good situation. With our two girls, we didn’t want to take the chance of this happening. Not too mention, you don’t want the neighbors calling the police because the rooster is crowing at dawn.
Hens however, want to sit on eggs and raise baby chicks. We found Blackie in the coop making these crazy noises and wasn’t getting out of the coop. After some research, we found that she was broody. Chicken depression is what I call it. We had to isolate Blackie in her own pen that my husband had to build. We put down astro turf so she couldn’t dig a nest. The web is full of informative posts about this. We isolated her for 7 days. She paced and paced. But, this seemed to do the trick. If she were to return to the coop immediately, she would go back to the pen for 4 more days. Not long ago, Brownie also went broody on us.
6.)Chickens Can Become Family Members: Just like any other pet you may have had growing up your kids will become very attached. Keep this in mind if you have to move frequently.
Ginger is the favorite of the girls. She is the sweetest thing ever if a chicken can be sweet. Ginger can be picked up by all of us. She has even rode in the girls play shopping cart. Emma will go and pick Ginger up and carry her around the yard. Ginger loves to be right at our side if we are doing anything in the backyard. She is a funny and quirky chicken which makes her our favorite. Ginger is also the lowest on the pecking order and you can tell by looking at her. She definitely has a soft spot in my heart which I didn’t ever think would happen.
7.) Chicken Babysitters: Yes. If you go out of town as a family, you will have to have someone watch the chickens. Lol! Or at least make sure they have plenty of fresh water, food, eggs are collected, and the chicken are locked up safely at night. Fortunately, our neighbors across the street volunteer to watch the chickens. We let them have all the eggs which is a very nice trade. We have also offered to pay them, but they have said that the eggs are plenty enough. So, if you are a family that travels a lot. You will want to consider this too.
8.) Everyone or Every Chicken Poops: This is also on my list of cons. I know this is a given for any animal. However, don’t forget the more chickens you have the more poop you will have too. You will have to frequently clean out the chicken coop. We put the chicken poop in the compost bin. I never thought chicken poop could be so big though. I know…I’m talking in depth about chicken poop which I never though I would be blogging about. Except beware that chickens poop can be the size of a small dog. This might be an important deciding factor for some of you.
9.) Chicken Cons:
- One again…chicken poop.
- Chickens can be loud at times. This is especially true when they are laying an egg. If you have neighbors that are very particular about noise, this will not work.
- They like to dig. If you have any gardening in you backyard, you will have to fence it off and protect it from the chickens if you decide to let them roam in your backyard. So, if you have wonderful flower garden, the free range approach may not work well for you. You will have to keep them strictly in a run or figure out a fencing method.
- Chickens are curious. They will be all over and into everything. Nothing is off limits to them.
- They can also hop walls. We have had to chase Ginger down in the neighbors backyard. Luckily are neighbors are really nice about this and actually like the chickens. I’m sure it also helps that we give them plenty of eggs too.
- You will have cats attracted to them. We have had out the broom to chase the neighborhood cats away which seem to come out the wood work. Our chickens are large and I think any cat that tries to mess with them is in for some trouble, but we don’t want to take the chance.
10.) Benefits To Having Chickens:
- Fresh eggs. Can I say any more. We wanted our girls to have fresh eggs. Did you know fresh eggs, if not washed don’t have to be refrigerated? We refrigerate them though. There is really no comparison. The yolks contain more nutrients and are such a dark yellow and almost orangish in color. It took a while to get used to the look of scrambled eggs because they were such a deep yellow color they looked strange, but that’s the way scrambled eggs SHOULD look. Did you also know when you get eggs at the grocery store, they are already weeks old.
- Entertainment. They make us laugh…alot!
- Teach responsibility. Very low maintenance way to begin teaching kids responsibility. You don’t have to take chickens on walks or take them to the park. Our girls just let them out of the coop in the AM, make sure they have food or water, help put them away at night, and of course collect eggs. They enjoy the last two so much that they often argue about who gets to do what.
Raising urban chickens can be a fun and rewarding experience for those who are willing to put in the time and effort. With the right preparation and care, you can enjoy fresh eggs, organic fertilizer, and even some feathered friends. However, it is important to keep in mind that raising chickens in an urban setting comes with its own unique challenges and responsibilities. By following the tips outlined in this blog, you can ensure that your Raising Urban Chickens experience is a success. If you have any questions or additional insights about raising urban chickens, feel free to share them with us in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!
