I've always dreamed of having chickens! But -- getting chicken sitters when you go on vacation? Wish we had family nearby that we could ask... Oops! My 8 year old is always correcting me -- they're not chickens, they're HENS! (most cities do not allow roosters)

My husband talked me into getting a flock last spring. It has been so much more fun than I ever expected! We raised them from babies and the chickens seem comfortable with us. They have quite a personality! We built them a coop that attaches to a chicken run that is also netted on top, with thick wire around the sides. The chickens also have access to our netted vegetable garden once the plants are done in the fall. The chickens did a nice job of turning all the soil over and fertilizing the ground.

The eggs are amazing! We've been able to get chicken sitters with the promise of fresh eggs.

If I ever own a home with a backyard, one of the first things I want to do is try to get a couple of chickens!!

I just came back from a visit to the in-laws. They have a small acreage and raise chickens. It's so much work! Aside from all the work of taking care of the chickens, you have to collect and wash the eggs every day. Then you feel obligated to eat eggs every day. I don't know about you guys, but eggs for breakfast everyday is a bit too much. They have 10 hens, so that's roughly 10 eggs a day. That's WAY too much for just two people.

VIEWPOINT FROM A NON-CHICKEN OWNER: My brother and sister-in-law raise chickens, and unless you are planning to truly keep them as pets, I can tell you this:

If you think of yourself as "parents" or chickens raised for eggs as "pets," you are NOT ready to have chickens. When chicks are shipped to you, they often die in the process; any number of things can kill chickens, including things like the dog you already have; they're livestock, raised for food (whether eggs or meat). You will have to make tough decisions. It is definitely not for folks like me who are total softies.

Also, they poop pretty much constantly and their coops are basically incredibly gross.

When we bought our house, one of our neighbours had chickens. At first we thought - great! How cool!
But then summer came and with it - the smell.
It was awful. Clearly the owners didn't treat them very well - they fed them garbage - leftover french fries and hamburgers from a snack bar one of them worked at - so it was pretty disgusting and the smell from their yard was terrible. Obviously a lot of people are responsible owners but these people clearly just didn't care. I guess my point is - consider your neighbours!

I've kept between 3-4 backyard hens for over a decade, and I'd ad these tips:

Buy your chickens from a feed store or place that sells baby chicks, because you can see what you're getting.
Don't try to hatch eggs.
Don't adopt someone else's hens unless you don't want eggs.
Be careful you don't get CornishxRock or Cornish Rock's, they are bred specifically for meat and can't walk and have heart attacks when they get old enough, sad but true.
Don't forget to read up on and follow all the basic requirements of raising baby chicks, they need to be very warm at first, drink warm water, and stay dry.
Everything eats a chicken (except oddly enough my own cats, they figured out pretty fast the chickens were part of the family and never bother them) -so at night keep them locked up and anyway see the websites for good chicken housing and details. In the day you can let them out into a fenced yard with few problems if you clip the feathers on one wing because it unbalances their flight.
Chicken poop is like gold when it comes to gardening. Even old chickens poo and they eat a lot less than a laying hen.
No matter what insect/mollusk etc is tormenting your garden, not to mention snakes and scorpions, the chickens will make it go away if you let them. Priceless.
Bantams are a great alternative to full sized birds IF you can get 100% female chicks, it's hard to tell when they are tiny, so buy them as 'pullets' -teenage female chicks. Some bantams lay pretty well regardless of their small size, and they are really really cute.
Do your research, although chickens are to an extent individuals you can hedge your bets by picking the right breeds. The old timey layers and 'dual purpose' breeds almost always have the least problems and perform the best.
Chickens can make nice pets but I'd suggest picking one chicken as your favorite and having a working relationship with the rest.
If in doubt get Plymouth Rocks.

This has become quite a fad in my town, and no one seems to do much research beforehand. City law doesn't allow roosters, and when new chicken farmers find out they have one, they tend to 'liberate' them somewhere near a park. A few roosters have taken to hanging around a downtown retail area and so we have passionate defenders of rooster rights and others that see them as a nuisance and health hazard. I have seen and of course, heard, one that is living in an empty lot near my house. My family likes him, but this is becoming crazy. And no, nothing bothers a rooster, they can take care of themselves.

Those are great looking Polish! I can't wait to get some...

Oh boy, someone needs to dispel some of the ridiculous things being said here. Firstly, go ahead and try to hatch eggs. While there is a learning curve, it is incredibly rewarding to put some eggs in an incubator, and having the family sit around 21 days later and watch them hatch, fully formed. Had I not done it myself I doubt it would have been possible for something like that to happen so quickly.

Also, there is nothing wrong with adopting a hen from someone else. Why someone would say you won't get eggs is beyond me. Many people hatch out their own eggs, or their living condition changes and they have to get rid of chickens. Unless it's an old hen, chances are, you'll get eggs. Sometimes, the move can stop a hen from laying, but it's temporary. Once they are comfortable and happy, they will begin to lay again. Go this route if you want eggs in less than 5 or 6 months, which is the average time from hatch to lay.

The smell...almost all chicken poop does not smell, unless it gets wet. If they are being fed a proper diet, and the owner is willing to do even minimal upkeep when it comes to the coop, there shouldn't be any problems.

Chickens are NOT a lot of work, once you have your coop and run. Give them fresh water and feed, and don't let the coop get out of control (I clean mine out completely twice yearly only), and that's it. The rest of it is pure joy.

10 eggs a day might be too much for 2 people, unless you sell the extras! That little extra money selling a few dozen to neighbors or co-workers will almost eliminate your feed bill!

And finally (only because I have a life), the idea that chickens can not be pets is just ridiculous. We have a dog, and 30+ chickens. They are all our babies. Several times per week, the whole family will sit outside for hours, watch the chickens and chat. Some breeds are so gentle and love human contact that they will jump on your lap and roost for an hour while you pet them. I walk out my door and they come running to say hello, and "bok" for treats. My rooster gets on the porch railing, and crows for me to come and spend time out there. And to top it off, they feed our family of 5.

I'm sorry to be blunt, and don't wish to offend anyone. But there is so much false information out there about backyard flocks. Just remember to check your local laws. Roosters can be offensive if you have very close neighbors. Though sometimes, you can bribe them with free eggs. Do your research....read up on chicken ownership, and make the right decisions for you and your family, and the flock you want to own.

Thanks for clearing those things up, ChickenDude68. I've only had chickens for a year now but I completely agree with you. I will say that we haven't tried incubating our own eggs yet but we're hoping to next year.
We have four hens, eleven chicks and four ducks (we live outside city limits so there's no ordinances). They're not difficult, time-consuming or smelly. Once I noticed a foul odor in the coop so I started putting a little raw apple cider vinegar in the hens' water and gave them plain, good-quality yogurt once a day. This helped build good bacteria in their guts and the smell went away. I also make sure to muss up the bedding for a few seconds most mornings. If you have a roost in the coop there will be a concentration of feces underneath it, so make sure you break up any compaction there and add pine shavings to keep the smell down.
We do feed them table scraps (as long and there's no chicken protein in it), but we are sure to only give them what they'll consume in one sitting. If you just throw a pile of burgers and fries out there, a couple of chickens aren't going to clean it up quickly so it will rot. Chickens also won't eat most food that's become wet or is starting to go bad.

We have had 5 hens at a time (we're down to one now, and probably won't start a new flock until after she passes). They are incredibly easy to take care of. As long as they have food (good, organic food is best) and water, they're pretty much good to go. Some breeds lay more regularly and some don't. Most breeds have had their natural instinct to sit on a nest and hatch eggs bred out of them, but some still have it, and that's a good way to hatch new chicks. We had a little bantam cochin and she would go broody for months at a time, never leaving the nest, trying to hatch eggs. She'd try to hatch a rock if we put it under her. The coop never smells bad if you clean it regularly (which you want to do for health reasons), and neighbors love getting fresh eggs.

It is a very pleasant and calming experience having chickens, watching them peck around. Like any new endeavor, it is best to study up on the basics first.

Remember one thing though - eventually the girls will stop laying. What will you do with them then? We will never eat our birds, and they live out their lives in comfort in our back yard, but it's something to keep in mind.

One more thing - be very sure your coop is secure and safe. Chain link is not secure fencing, as critters can squeeze through the holes. Chicken wire should be used and a trench dug to make sure it goes under the coop (to stop critters from digging under). Your girls are defenseless if something gets in there.

One thing to remember is if you have dogs, never leave the dog alone with the chickens until you are certain the dog will not harm them. This may take months of working with the dog, slowly introducing them. Remember a dog's instinct is to kill chickens. I had friends who lost 9 chickens by leaving a dog alone in a confined space with a pen of chickens.

Dani @ ONNO Organic Clothing

I'm in the middle of building my coop right now - well the beginning I should say. I've been planning it (and the chickens) for about 2 years, since it became legal in Vancouver. There are a lot of myths in these comments, but of course I don't really feel like I should speak to them until I've kept my own flock. All I would say is pay attention to your bylaws, be considerate of you neighbours (offer them eggs!) and do your research to make sure you know what you're in for. I'd say that about dealing with any live animal - getting a pet, having a kid :) be prepared :)

I would love to have a couple chickens..............but unfortunately, I WOULD think of them as pets. Is that really a bad thing? Also, they might help w/ my backyard spider problem. (I don't really have a spider infestation, I just really hate spiders and spiders put in a crimp in my gardening hobby lol)

As for hatching or buying chicks.............what do you do if you get a rooster? :/ Roosters are not allowed in most urban settings I believe. I wouldn't want to kill one, and just setting them free is unethical and illegal at best, so what do you do? (send them to a farm in the countryside?)

Great comments for the most part, but yes, there are many myths in here. My two cents from three years of research followed by three years of urban chicken tending:

- Chickens are awesome domestic animals, if (as others have said) you have done your research and are prepared. Like with a dog.

- Chickens, like dogs and babies, are great community-builders. We have 20+ folks in our network and neighborhood we met because of common chicken interests. Some have become my professional clients (unrelated to chickens).

- Chickens are not a fad and should not be brought to your home because they are "cool." They are pets and livestock. As such, anyone owning them should be prepared to care for them, know what health and illness look like, heal them if sick, and be willing to "put them down" (by yourself or by paying a vet) at the end of their lives. If you're not willing, don't get them. Like with a dog.

- If there is a problem, chickens, like all pets, are not the problem; bad pet owners are the problem. You are not anti-chicken if you don't like them in your 'hood; you're opposed to bad pet owners. If my chickens are loud, noisy or obnoxious, I'm the problem. Luckily in our town, all animal ordinances apply to chickens. You can have as many as you want (even roosters), but other residents can lodge a complaint if someone has noisy, smelly, or dangerous animals. Chicken owners (like dog owners) can only be fined if they have a complaint against them and don't do anything to solve the problem. They key is knowing your neighbors, and being a good pet owner. Just like with dogs.

- Don't get more than you need. For us, four hens provide 2x as many eggs as our two-person family needs during the high-production months, but that's how we keep our neighbors (and vacation chicken tenders) happy. Our cats and dog don't make the neighbors nearly as happy as the hens.

- If you want chickens to "cut down your grocery bill," don't get chickens. The cost of building their coop, feeding good-quality food, and yes, the cost of treating them when ill or euthanizing them when near the end (if you aren't willing to do it yourself) will far out-weigh the savings on eggs. That said, eggs are now our primary source of protein (not just for breakfast), and what a joy to know the full food chain is ten feet from our kitchen. Our cats and dog don't come close in "cost vs. value" in this regard (although they make up for it in snuggles).

- Even with good planning, yes, there will be times when you have too many eggs. Just like when planting a garden, you should expect to have excess, and know how to use, preserve, and gift the bounty of your chickens. The good news is, like with a productive garden, excess eggs give us an excuse to learn and try new things. Flips are great cocktails that delight friends. Boiled eggs are best with eggs that are 2-4 weeks old. Be prepared to be the person who always brings egg-based items to potlucks, find joy in baking, get excited about learning new drinks and dishes. And don't forget your local food bank, which usually needs fresh, local, organic proteins way more than canned goods.

- If you research, plan and build right, chickens are way less maintenance than dogs. Our four hens are nearly no work (check on them and collect eggs once a day, examine each one's health once a week, clean the coop every couple of weeks). But that's because we built the coop big enough to give them safety, sunshine, room to scratch about, and enough height to fly about now and again. They can free-range when we work in the garden, but otherwise, they are fine 24/7 in their roomy coop and run, completely safe from predators.

- Chickens, like cats, are way easier to leave on vacation than dogs. Our coop and setup is big enough that we can leave for two weeks, and we only need someone to pick up the eggs (and double-check that the food and water haven't run out). We know our neighbors (in part because everyone wants to stop and meet the hens), and there is no shortage of folks willing to volunteer in exchange for eggs.

- PS: Chickens are so cute and fun!

People beg to take care of my parent's (my ex-) chickens. When they go on vacation I take care of them and the neighborhood kids have already done the job before I get there. :)

If you have a lot of food and water containers, the only thing someone needs to do is let them out in the morning and in at night, and collecting the eggs. It takes maybe 10 minutes total.

I've had a lot of success getting laying hens from farms (call and ask), craigslist, and from buying pullets at feed stores. The only problem I've had was a raccoon getting in the coop and eating a bunch of them, so make sure everything is secure! It came in through a hole in the pigeon coop structure we built their coop into and ate through chicken wire to get to them. One of my old neighbors said that when his hens were old, he'd say goodbye, leave them out of the coop at night, and they'd disappear the next morning. (!)

Chicken wire is not a secure enclosure. Rats, raccoons and other predators can get through it. 1/4inch hardware cloth is much more secure, especially when buried a foot underground all around the coop. Raccoons have monkey hands, so all doors and hatches should have at least two latches. A little planning for Fort Knox goes a long way.

No offense to chickendude but the reason I said get chicks instead of eggs is the job of hatching them and having to buy an incubator is not a joy for everyone, not to mention you may end up with 50% roosters. Also female chicks at a feed store are sometimes under $2 apiece, pretty easy.
Also, I recommended not adopting grown hens because it can be difficult to tell how old that chicken is from the "Hen 4sale" sign at your local feed store. I've heard half a dozen stories from people new to chickens about how their adult chickens barely lay or don't lay at all. A chicken lives up to 15 years but their laying tapers off a lot after the first few years and they stop after about year 6-8. If you want a pet that's fine, if you want eggs it's a problem.
Also, roosters (Just adding more info) will drive you and your neighbors crazy. The often crow all day, and sometimes all night. Hens are noisy enough, don't push the issue by keeping a boy chicken. I personally hate having to 'harvest' a rooster or find a home (where he's probably just going to be eaten, lets face it), hence my worries about starting right in the first place with all-female chicks, I repeat, -chicks.

I have been casually reading up on chickens for about three years now, and now that my husband and I are finally on the brink of actually being able to buy a house, I am totally obsessed. I can't wait!

I've had chickens off and on since I was 6 years old. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my birds and they all end up with names. However, they're chickens, not dogs, not cats, chickens.

Believe people when they say "don't get attached." I've had birds that would follow me around like dogs--a momma fox cleaned out that batch in less than a day. Also, usually city codes only allow a half dozen birds or so. If each precious little "Nugget," "Fried," and "Red" gets to live the long natural life like all your other pets you will eventually have six old birds giving you two eggs a week. Or you could find homes for your old hens --and pass your non-egg laying hens on to somebody that doesn't know any better (why LUXLVN says not to adopt a hen).

JUST_KAZARI--look for a rooster on craigslist--there are tons and almost nobody wants them--except for the freezer. Even if people want roosters, you can only have so many or they'll fight and harass the hens too much.

Maybe I missed it but I still haven't seen any of the seasoned veterns tell of what to do if you end up with a rooster. I had a local pet shop tell me if I bought chicks and one ended up being male they would take it back for store credit...while that sounded "thoughtful" of the pet store it also seemed shady...what would a pet store want with guaranted roosters since most want hens?

I guess it depends on the area you live in. We have sold all but one of our "extra" roosters. The other, we decided to eat. I totally get that the decision to cull and eat a bird is not for everyone (though, it's certainly more healthy than the chicken you are getting at walmart). But we are planning on raising some meat birds towards the end of summer, and had to get that first one out of the way. Best chicken we ever tasted. Again, that's not for everyone. For everyone else, craigslist is your best bet. Also, check your local 4-H, as there are many farms that will take on extra birds, whether they are roosters or old hens that aren't laying anymore. Look for poultry clubs in your area on Facebook, or talk to your local extension office.

Dropping a roo off in the park is nothing but laziness. There are many options.

MILLISLIM, what you should do is offer the rooster/cockerel for free or cheap (less than what a fryer at Walmart would cost) and no questions asked. You are helping low income families eat when you give them cockerels and old hens.

I'll chime in. We have a dozen chickens. We've had them for about a year; got them as grown chickens from someone who couldn't keep them any more. They've all laid eggs. We started with 16, lost two to mysterious causes, lost two others to predators (one was our stupid dog). They're all Rhode Island Reds, pretty sociable as a group (though I wouldn't say snuggly), and look enough alike that we haven't named them or anything. We let them range only a couple times a week because, though our dog is secure every weekday, I don't want to have to harass the neighbors about their dogs all the time. Otherwise they're in a decent-sized coop with a run, with access to fresh air all the time. We're thinking of getting some chicks to expand the flock. From everything I've read about keeping chickens, it seems like there's a wide range of acceptable practice.

I say "no questions asked" because all too often on Craigslist I see ads for roosters saying something like, "he's nice, so not for butchering." If you don't want to know that your nice rooster will be dinner, don't ask why somebody wants your rooster you don't want.

Ditto everything that Mizinformation said. We've had 3 hens in the city for 3 years now, and it has been a great experience. I got day old hatchery stock, since they will guarantee the sex at something like 90% accuracy. If you want to further improve on those odds, you can get sex-link chickens, where males and females look distinctly different when they hatch. I drove to pick mine up from the hatchery, because I was worried about the safety of having my pets (yes, pets) shipped through the US Mail. We built them a spacious and secure enclosed coop and run, and (knock on wood) we have had no problem with either predators or illness. We let them outside in our fenced yard to roam if we are home to supervise, but otherwise they are in their coop/run safe and sound. We have large automatic feeders and waterers that I only have to refill about once a week, or less. Total care for the chickens is less than 5 minutes a day if necessary, although our kids adore them (especially my toddler) and will spend all day playing in the yard with them if given the chance. Their coop stays dry, so it does not smell at all as long as I give it a quick tidy every so often (maybe every other day in the heat/humidity of the summer, and much less often when it's cool). Our neighbors have all loved them, and we never have a problem finding a chicken sitter. We plan to keep the chickens as pets as long as they naturally live, so we built our coop large enough for 5-6 hens. The three we have provide a perfect amount of eggs for our family of 4. When their production slows down, we have room to add a few new young birds to supplement. That should keep us going until the older ones start to go, and then we will repeat the cycle.

And yes, they are WAY less work and trouble than our dogs. And the dogs don't give us breakfast.

I keep three hens in Brooklyn and have been having a wonderful time. My neighbors help watch them when we go on vacation and they are endlessly entertaining. It's wonderful to have eggs that you know precisely what they contain. No antibiotics, pesticides, etc. Just the occasional bugs, anything they can find growing in the yard, and of course organic chicken feed. Here's a video of mine this morning...

http://www.twotastes.com/2012/07/chicken-run.html

I have been raising chickens for over 15 years now I enjoy it to the fullest. I currently teach others how to as well at http://kernschickenfarm.com/. I really like the tips that Angel and Dusan shared. They are really helpful for newbies and I think my readers will think they are helpful as well.

First off - there is this amazing invention called SOAP and WATER. And cedar chips. Chickens need to be cleaned up after just like any other animal. Let your dog go poop in a small yard forever without picking it up and that will smell too. Chicken coops should NOT smell or be gross if they are cleaned out regularly and provided with fresh bedding. Keeping a small group of 6 in a yard of 40x40 is a minimum for me. Want to cut down the food bill for them, then they need to forage and eat bugs, worms and grasses/other growth. If you keep them in a tiny 6x6 area living in their feces with no fresh vegetation, yeah, they will smell. I think the problem is that people are lazy and don't want to clean and think they are plastic lawn ornaments. Also, the idea of having chickens for eggs shouldn't be limited to your household alone - I like the idea of community gardening and that includes SHARING with family and neighbors. You can sell them too. I give each of my dogs 1-2 eggs a day (boiled). Eggs are one of the most complete proteins there are, they aren't fed antibiotics and I know they live a good life while providing food for our whole family. I also like eggs in stir fry and for baking. The possibilities go well beyond just breakfast. I take a lot of pride in the beauty of my birds and well as how they live in harmony with our family. But yes, they are work, just like any other animal. They do need to be thought of as individuals - I've never had one that didn't lay contrary to chatter here, but some lay smaller eggs or less frequently. I am not a factory farm, so it's not a concern for me.