Backyard Chickens

Raising chickens in your backyard is pretty easy to do and having fresh eggs each day for your family is so rewarding. There are a number of varieties of chickens ranging in size, color, and temperment. Every breed has a smaller version known as a Batam. Batams, being smaller than regular chickens are easier to take care of. They don't eat as much, they don't require such a large space and the coop is easier to keep clean. The drawbacks are that their eggs are smaller, 3 batam eggs equal about 2 regular eggs, and if you butcher them, they are very small once the feathers are gone. (Not meat chickens by any means!)

I raise Buff Cochins and Buff Brahmas, both Batams. I've gotten used to the smaller eggs and really enjoy these two breeds. They're not at all aggressive, very pretty to look at, and are excellent setters and layers. This isn't true for all breeds and if you want to have them hatch eggs to increase your flock, having hens that will sit on eggs til they hatch is necessary. Some breeds are great egg layers, but will never sit on eggs and others are great sitters, but don't lay many eggs.

Chickens are great at scratching the ground and finding bugs to eat, but you won't want them in your garden. They will scratch away any beds planted with seeds as well as tender saplings. It's nice to be able to have them free range, but this isn't always possible especially if you live in the suburbs or have close neighbors. A fenced in area works fine, just be sure to bury the base of your fence so other animals won't be tempted to invade the pen. Also, a 4 ft. fence is fine if you are planning on clipping their wings so they won't fly, otherwise you will need a much taller fence or you can buy netting that goes over the top of the fenced in chicken pen.

The chicken coup doesn't need to be huge, but it does need to be well ventilated. A vent opposite a window or two windows work fine. Also, the more southern exposure your coup gets, the more light in the coup which will encourage your hens to lay eggs into the winter. If you have plenty of land, having a coup on wheels is a great way to move your flock around.


As far as food, they love my daily food scraps for the compost. Just don't give it to them near the coop or you will attract other animals besides your chickens, and the other animals will be sure to find your chicken grain as well. Besides food scraps, I feed my chickens organic layer crumble. During the winter I mix it with whole corn. It's harder to digest and tends to generate heat during the cold winter months. If the egg shells seem thin or a bit fragile, I add crushed oyster shells to their feed.

How many chickens should you get? Depending on where you live, there may be zoning laws that restrict the the number of chickens you may have or in some places may not allow any chickens, so it is a good idea to check before investing time or money. I have seven hens and together they lay about 5-6 eggs a day. More than plenty for our family and the extra are used by the summer camp. If it was just our family eating them, I would probably only have about three hens. If you want to increase your flock, just leave the nest filled with eggs for a few days and they will begin sitting.

I enjoy my chickens. The eggs are so much better than anything I can buy in the store and they are so much fun to watch!