Rodolfo Riviera's blog

Favorite Kinds of Chicken

How Chicken Laws Affect You

Check with your local authorities about the local laws and ordinances surrounding chicken keeping. Chicken keeping laws vary from place to place.

 

Some will allow only a certain number of hens to be keep in town, prohibit roosters, or  make it mandatory that coops and cages be 50-100 feet away from any other structures or property, whether they are residential or business. Some areas prohibit poultry altogether unless you have a specified amount of land (often an acre or more).

 

Here are a few of the laws about chicken keeping nationally:

 

Dallas laws only specification on hen keeping is that you can’t keep roosters.

 

Coops in Austin must be 50 feet away from other buildings/properties.

 

Ft. Worth requires coops be at least fifty feet away from other buildings and limits the number of chickens allowed by property size.

 

Houston requires that you register for a permit and declare the number of chickens and whether they are for commercial or personal use.

 

Los Angeles has few regulations regulating backyard chickens.

 

Oakland, CA prohibits roosters.

 

San Diego limits residents to twenty-five birds, requires that hen feed containers be rat-proof, and that droppings be cleaned at least weekly.

 

Key West, Fl allows hens, but you must clean the coop and cages every day and dispose of the waste to their guidelines which does not allow for use as fertilizer.

 

Charlotte, NC has a 40 dollar permit registration fee, limits the number of hens and size of the coop by property size, and requires that they be a specific number of feet from other buildings.

 

Concord, NC prohibits keeping hens.

 

Columbus, OH requires a minimum of five acres to keep chickens and they must be 100 feet away from roads or other properties.

 

Huntsville, AL requires that chickens be at least 150 feet away from neighboring homes.

 

In Homewood, Al it is against the law to have chickens in the city limits unless they are three hundred feet from neighboring residences and buildings, and 100' from any roads.

 

In Denver Colorado you have to place two signs in your yard for one month to see if neighbors may object to you having chickens. You must also pay a 50 dollar application fee, a $100 permit fee, and an annual fee of 70 dollars. Then your flock will be inspected for safe and sanitary enclosures.

 

Washington, DC requires you to get written permission from your neighbors and keep hens at least 50' from other homes.

 

Chicken regulations vary widely; some cities have no laws regarding chickens, but will give citations for disturbing the peace should your hens become too loud.

 

Be sure you have checked local restrictions before you begin your own flock.

 

For much more info on the topic, view Local Chicken Laws. If you're considering building your own chicken house coop, read How to Build a Chicken Coop.

Plans for Chicken Coops

 

Chicken coop plans are usually available in your local building center as well as online. Some plans are a free download with a list of all the materials needed for building. The best hen houses are built by hand, with your specific needs in mind.

As you plan your chicken housing, be sure to account for the number of hens you plan to have and the climate you live in. Adult chickens require 4 square feet of space (Bantams require half that). This means that if you plan to keep three egg layers, you'll need twelve square feet of space to do it.

Of course, the more space you give them, the happier the hens will usually be. Larger spaces means less squabbling, more exercise, and less illness.

There are also chicken coop kits available that have all of the construction materials included. These are usually sized for about three hens and can be cost prohibitive.

If you are only going to keep a couple of hens, you can buy a coop and run ready-made online or by mail order. Most of these kits will sit directly on the ground and will not be proof against predators. They are convenient, however, because they can be easily moved. As a secondary day pen, they can be perfect as a way to easily allow movement to fresh areas of the yard.

Be wary of building materials that can be a hazard to both birds and eggs when building your own. Arsenic is in pressure-treated lumbers and can be ingested by the chickens when they peck at the wood. Lead and aluminum based paints should also be avoided. Anything your chicken eats can end up in her eggs and thus on your plate.

Chicken wire is not very good for keeping out predators. Animals like dogs, skunks, opossums, raccoons, and others can get through chicken wire easily.

When you are thinking about your chicken coop plans, chicken wire should only be used on the bottom of the cage to keep predators from digging under. It's a good deterrent to digging under the cage because the predator doesn't have the leverage there to break through. He will get discouraged and give up.

Heavier gauge wire should be used on the sides and top of your pen to protect your hens. Even if your coop provides for lock down at night, many predators will still try to get through to eat leftover grain, drink from their water, and will try to get into the coop itself.

You may need something more substantial to keep raccoons out as they are quite intelligent. Veteran racoons will easily defeat a slide bolt or hasp to get at the chickens. Your chicken coop plans should take into account the type of predators that are in your area.

A diy chicken coop can be the beginning of a fun, enoyable hobby for you and your family.

 

How to Feed Backyard Chickens

Feeding hens is more than just throwing grain, you must take into account the age of the hens and your goal for them. Chickens being kept for meat will require different feed than those being kept for eggs.

Feeding Chicks

Chicks grown for egg laying should be fed a starter that is 20 to 22% protein, chicks raised for meat should have up to 24 percent protein in their feed. Starter should be used until the age of six to nine weeks, depending on the hen's breed and its maturity level. After maturity, the feed should be switched to "broiler finish" grains until they are ready for slaughter (if meat hens) - otherwise, continue with the egg feed.

Often, antibiotics are added to the feed of meat chickens to prevent Coccidiosis. This is also a good idea for any chicken unless you are planning to sell products that are "free range" or "organic".

Commercially grown meat hens are often loaded with hormones, so raising meat hens at home is a popular way to avoid ingesting those.

Adult Chickens

Adult chickens should be put on a 14% protein feed. Calcium is extremely important for laying hens and in the extra-large breeds like Jersey Giants that need strong bones to hold their weight.

Adult chicken feed comes in crumbles, pellets, mash and scratch. The best way to get the most balanced diet for your hens is to mix some scratch in with pellets or crumbles and then supplement with vegetables and calcium.

Adding clean, crushed egg shells into their feed can supplement the calcium for the hens. Chickens will know what to eat when it is offered, according to their need.

Vegetables and Peelings

Healthy and happy hens can be had by adding things like spinach, romain, carrot peels, and whole grains like oatmeal, barley, and small amounts of fruit. Keep in mind that these are supplements, not replacements for the chicken feed. Chickens need a nutritious environment and chicken feed is a very important part of that.

So long as it's fresh and not a meat product, it can be thrown to the chickens instead of the garbage.

Chicken Tractors

Chicken tractors give you the ability to move your flock from place to place in your yard. This allows the available bugs, vegetation, and grit fresh and the chickens exercised. If you haven't the room for free ranging, you can use a hen tractor to move them in a relatively small space without ruining it.

This means the hens won't have a chance to scratch an area down to nothing.

Hazards

Beware of using fertilizers or pesticides in areas where the hens will be scratching. They are not picky when pecking at granules on the ground and can poison themselves and your eggs.

Weed killers and sprays can poison hens who eat the plants they have been sprayed on. Remember that whatever goes into your hens will go into your eggs. Chickens can be passing poisons into their eggs without showing any illness at all.

Chickens raised properly can provide eggs and meat with great nutritional value for your family. When you feed hens well they will provide you with years of fresh eggs every day.

Read Chicken Coop Designs for information about how to build your own chicken coop.

Take a look at Chicken Coop Kits for an even easier project.