Getting Started
Before You Get Your Peepers
Educate yourself! Read as much as you can and spend time cruising websites devoted to backyard poultry.
Nothing is as cute as the sight of a flock of tiny chicks in the feedstore. Before you succomb to their spell, check your city ordinances to determine if they are even allowed in your municipality. Some cities ban poultry outright, others limit the size of your flock, others allow hens but not roosters, and many require a certain setback of the chicken house within your yard. It would also be a wise idea to bounce the idea of poultry off your neighbors to see if any have strong objections to your idea. We are aware of one poultry lover who invested in a lovely coop and flock only to have a neighbor come unhinged at the idea of living next to a few hens. After several complaints to the city the hens had to go. Save yourself the time, expense and emotional distress by doing a little legwork first.
We also recommend that you have a place to keep your chicks prior to bringing them home. A large plastic tub or cardboard box and a heatsource will provide an adequate home for a while, but you need to have proper outside housing and protection planned and ready for them as soon as possible. They grow faster than you think they will!
Chicks can be ordered through the mail or picked up at the feedstore. Don't forget to pick up a waterer, feeder and feed while you're there.
Tips and Tricks
- Decide the total number of hens you wish to have and buy all the chicks in the same year. It is very hard to introduce new hens to a flock. Very hard.
- Find a vet who handles poultry before there is an emergency. Think about how you would transport her, and to what lengths you will go to save her.
