Raising Backyard Chickens, Sarah Zabek

Raising Backyard Chickens

Sarah Zabek, Director of Marketing - The Cheshire Horse in Swanzey, NH

Maintaining a backyard flock the weather and protection from predais an affordable and enjoyable way to source your own food. If you’ve ever had truly fresh eggs – that is, eggs that were laid that morning – you know you can taste the difference. They taste better and are more nutritious than store-bought eggs. In addition, if the eggs come from your own backyard chickens, you also know exactly what went into that omelet you’re frying up.

Most people raise chickens for their fresh, delicious, and nutritious eggs, but there are many other benefits of raising your own flock, one of which is companionship. Backyard birds make fun and friendly pets that are relatively easy and inexpensive to maintain. In fact, the entire family can get involved with their care. This is a great way to teach children about responsibility and compassion for animals. Poultry also provide a natural lawn fertilizer, as well as chemical-free bug and weed control. You may be surprised at just how much you grow to love your birds once you start your own flock.

Is free ranging all it’s cracked up to be? It can be great for chickens if you have the space available, but shelter from tors are critical for healthy birds. You also want to make sure your birds don’t wander off! They require minimal space; a good general guideline is two square feet per bird for the coop and four square feet per bird for the run. Before you set up your chickens’ new home, it is good practice to also check your local laws and ordinances. Want to see shades of brown, white, blue, and green in your egg carton? A wide variety of chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, guinea hens, laying hens, meat birds, and bantams are available – all of which provide their own unique benefits and personalities. When you bring home your baby birds, you’ll need to have everything in place for them. You’ll need a brooder, a feeder and waterer, at least one heat lamp and bulb, bedding, and feed. Chicks will need to stay in a 95° environment for the first week of their life, and then 5 degrees cooler each subsequent week. Your chicks will live in a brooder with a heat lamp for a couple months before they move to the coop. The brooder can be fashioned from a small children’s swimming pool, a stock tank, a box, or anything else that provides proper ventilation and at least two square feet per chick. You might be surprised at just how well baby chicks can fly, so the walls of your brooder should be at least two feet tall. The bedding needs to be absorbent, and it must be changed frequently. Pine shavings work well for young birds. Healthy birds are happy birds! Allnatural chicken products are available with odor neutralizing ingredients to help keep your coop fresh and dry. Nesting herbs have natural antibacterial and anti-parasitic properties, making a wonderfully aromatic and healthy addition to coops and living areas. And did you know that chickens go crazy for treats? Give them some dried mealworms as a special treat, and they’ll come running to you each time you come to the coop! The Cheshire Horse has everything you’ll need to develop and maintain your own backyard chickens. Visit The Cheshire Horse, on the corner of Whittemore Farm Road and Route 10 South in Swanzey, and online at www. cheshirehorse.com.