For about a year, I toyed with the idea of adding egg-laying hens to our backyard.  But I knew there would be lots of work to do ahead of time before I even picked out any feathered birds!  Here are a few steps I went through as I began planning on this poultry project!

1. Does your state, city, or local municipality allow backyard flocks?  Urban chicken farming has become a popular hobby over the past several years.  But not every municipality allows it.  And even if your local laws allow for it, your homeowners association might not have rules in the covenants guidelines for such things.  Do your research ahead of time before taking any steps that could be very expensive if you wind up having to scrap the effort.  In my case, the City of Charlotte /  Mecklenburg Country has guidelines posted under the department of animal care & control.  There’s an annual fee of $40 in Charlotte and rules for setting up your chickens’ coop, how close to any adjacent neighbors’ property lines, and even how many birds you can have per acre of land.  Beyond all the “official” stuff, I’d also recommend spending time with your neighbors, telling them about your plans, see what questions they have, and get them “on-board” if you want to make this project a success.  And who knows, if you haven’t met your neighbors, this might be a great way to break the ice!  Or…maybe not!
2. Is your backyard properly set up to raise chickens?  I’ll post a more specific article on this topic at a later date.  But you’ll need to consider if your planned chicken raising area is appropriate for the project.  In our case, I needed to put picket fencing up to make sure the entire backyard was fully enclosed.  Now, this was not so much to keep any “free range” chickens IN the yard, but also as a way to keep other animals OUT of the yard.  Next, I had to scope out an area in the backyard that would be suitable for building the chickens’ living area.  In our case, the plan was to put a smaller hen house inside a larger chicken run.  The footprint for the chicken run was about 25′ long by 6 ‘ wide; approximately an area of 150 square feet.  So that can arguably be a significant area of your backyard.  Also, keep in mind that there can be other activities already going on in your backyard.  Is your backyard a gathering place for other children?  Do you have a garden area planned?  Do you have natural walkways that would become blocked by the coop area?  Finally, when looking over your backyard for chicken suitability, will you have an area to house all the “support” items you’ll need on a daily basis such as chicken feed, water, tools to clean up the coop, etc.  From my experience, I have realized that having all these items within “arms-reach” to the coop makes most of the daily chores less of a burden.  But I hadn’t really thought that part through when I was doing my initial planned of the backyard set up.
3. How long do you intend to raise the chickens?  Have you ever know someone who buys a puppy or kitten around the holidays and then 6 months later is looking for somone to adopt their pet?  We all have stories of friends like that, right?  Raising chickens is a commitment, period.  It’s fairly easy to find someone to adopt a puppy or a kitten.  Much more difficult to pass off your hens to someone!  So, as part of your initial planning, make sure you’re “in it” for a considerable amount of time.  Do some research on the average life expectancy on your planned breed of chickens.  And if you’re looking for egg-layers, they will not produce eggs forever!  So you may also need to consider if you’re going to keep hens beyond their egg-production years!
4. Does your lifestyle support raising chickens?  I’m married into a pretty active family. And that’s something I truly enjoy about them.  But we are now finding ourselves asking questions like “okay…what about the chickens?” when we are planning vacations.  Our family dog goes to a fantastic boarding place here in Charlotte so she’s taken care of on trips when we can’t take her along.  But I’m certainly not aware of any chicken-boarding locations, at least none here in Charlotte!  (NOTE:  Maybe there’s a business model there some day…!)  I’m not suggesting you can’t continue to have family vacations, backyard gatherings, etc.  Depending on your family situation, it may create additional logistics for planning.

I’m just scratching the surface, no pun intended, on the topic of raising a backyard flock!  More details to come on a wide range of topics.  I hope you’ll check back on this site from time-to-time to see what tips are available!

Enjoy!