How To Keep Chickens In Your Garden

Why keep chickens?

After my wife and I purchased our first home, one of the first things we did was build a chicken coop and run. We researched how to keep chickens in your garden and starting a mini backyard farm had always been a dream of ours and we were excited to finally have the space to do so.

We bought our first bunch of chicks from a local hatchery and have since raised four batches of chicks over the last 7 years.

We know exactly how our chickens are treated, what they eat, and how healthy they are, which is important to us. Keeping chickens, as well as growing vegetables and berries, also helps us feel more connected to our food.

Plus, keeping chickens is relatively easy once you get the hang of it.

Important considerations

If you’re interested in how to keep chickens in your garden, keep the following pointers in mind. If you’re uncomfortable handling and caring for animals, chickens aren’t the right choice for you.

Are you willing to rear chickens long-term?

First, it’s important to understand that chickens require consistent care and live relatively long lives if they’re healthy. My oldest hens are over 7 years old and are still very active.

Some breeds can live a decade or longer, so you should be ready to keep chickens for their entire lives. It’s a long-term commitment.

Do you have ample space and a safe environment when thinking about how to keep chickens in your garden?

You must be willing to provide a safe environment for your hens with space for them to roam around and partake in natural behaviours like scratching and dust bathing (more on that later).

You’ll also need funds for a coop, feed, and numerous other supplies.

Be prepared for your birds’ illnesses and injuries

Finally, although keeping chickens is enjoyable most of the time, chickens do get sick and can pass away unexpectedly.

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, make sure you have a veterinarian in your area who treats chickens, though keep in mind that such specialists aren’t always easy to find. It’s also vital that you have the right tools on hand to treat illnesses and injuries.

SUMMARY

Before you decide to keep chickens in your garden, it’s important to consider factors like budget, where you live, and your level of comfort handling animals.

Starting out rearing chickens

If you’ve decided you want to keep chickens in your garden, you should have everything you need to raise chicks and hens before you acquire chicks or full-grown laying hens.

Don’t purchase chicks or laying hens before building or buying a coop and run that’s appropriately sized for the number of chickens in your flock.

Also, make sure chickens are permitted where you live. Certain residential areas have bans on backyard chickens or only allow you to keep hens, not roosters.

The coop

Pre-made chicken coops — especially large ones — can be very pricey. However, you may be able to find a used coop locally by asking around or searching community websites.

If you’re handy, consider turning an old shed into a coop. You can find cheap used sheds in great condition on sites like Craigslist, then easily create nesting boxes and a roost.

Online resources for how to keep chickens in your garden

Your coop needs nesting boxes (which provide a quiet, private space for hens to lay eggs), a place for all of your hens to roost off the floor, adequate ventilation, and secure doors and windows to keep out predators.

Plus, a droppings board under their roost keeps your coop much cleaner. This video explains what I mean.

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that most chicken experts recommend 1 nesting box for every 3 hens. Currently, we have 5 nesting boxes for our 15 hens. We use straw in our boxes and pine shavings plus straw in the rest of our coop.

Hens use their coop to sleep and lay eggs. They also need shelter from harsh weather and protection from predators. According to McMurray Hatchery, a coop should provide around 4 square feet (0.4 square meters) of space per bird.

For example, if you have 10 chickens, plan on providing a coop that’s at least 4’×8’ (1.2×2.4 meters) in size. This is the general recommendation for chickens that have access to a larger run or are allowed to free-range.

If you’re planning on having your chickens confined to a coop — which I don’t recommend — the coop should be much larger, providing at least 10 square feet (0.9 square meters) per bird.

Things to keep in mind when thinking about how to keep chickens in your garden

Overcrowding creates many issues, including fighting. If you don’t have adequate room to provide hens with enough space to live a happy life, reconsider keeping chickens.

If you’re planning to grow your flock over time, consider choosing a larger coop and run so that you’ll have room for future hens.

Lastly, the coop has to be secure. Predators are common no matter your location. Where I live, hawks and racoons are the main concern. We have heavy wire mesh over the windows and an automatic predator-proof door to keep our hens safe.

The run

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that Chickens are happiest with adequate outdoor space to roam. A run attaches to your coop and should provide at least 10 square feet (0.9 square meters) of space per bird. Again, this is a general recommendation. The more space you can provide, the better.

In our region, hawks are an issue, so we recently created a run that’s completely covered with chicken wire. This protects our hens from avian predators and keeps the squirrels out of their feed.

Of course, if you don’t have a lot of predators in your area, you can forgo the run and let them free range — meaning allowing them to explore your property freely. However, they still need to have access to the coop so that they can lay and shelter from predators at night.

You’ll also want an area with dry dirt where your chickens can dust bath or roll around in the dirt. This is a natural behaviour that helps keep your chickens healthy.

Our chickens have dust bath spots all over our property. However, if you plan to keep your chickens in your garden in a run, you’ll need to create a dust bath for them, which is simply a covered area that has dusty soil for them to flap around in and cover themselves to keep mites down. You can also use a mite powder on your hens directly and sprinkled in the nesting box.

Necessities

In addition to a safe coop and space to roam, chickens need feed, water, and a source of calcium.

We use layers pellets and corn for our chicks, pullets, and hens. Chickens have different nutrient needs depending on their age, so make sure you purchase the appropriate feed. We throw our corn on the ground but keep the layers pellets in a poultry feeder.

Chickens need consistent access to clean drinking water. We keep our poultry drinker in the run, which the hens can access at all times. If you live in a cold climate, you’ll need to invest in a heated poultry drinker to keep the water from freezing in the winter.

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that laying hens also need access to a source of calcium to maintain healthy bones and lay eggs with strong shells. You should give your hens crushed oyster shells on a regular basis.

Furthermore, chickens confined to a coop or run need access to grit. As chickens can’t break down their food on their own, they rely on grit — or small pieces of rock and stone — to break down their food in their gizzard.

When thinking about Our hens free range on a daily basis and find plenty of natural grit on our property. However, if your hens are confined to a run or coop, you must provide the grit. You can spread it throughout your run or put it in a feeder.

Keep in mind

Chicks need grit too but in a much smaller size. Here’s the chick grit I’ve used in the past.

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that you’ll also want to prepare a chicken first aid kit. Here’s a great breakdown of some of the most important items to have on hand.

SUMMARY

Chickens require a secure coop, space to roam, feed, clean water, and a few other necessities to thrive.

Should you choose chicks or laying hens? 

After you have everything you need to keep happy and healthy hens, you’ll need to decide whether you want to purchase chicks or fully-grown hens.

You can also hatch your own eggs, but this requires more effort and special equipment.

If you're thinking about how to keep chickens in your garden, my recommendation is to raise chicks. It’s a relatively simple process that lets you interact with chicks from a young age, which makes them more likely to grow up to be friendly and easy to handle.

Of course, you can purchase pullets (young chickens) or fully grown laying hens if you’d rather skip the chick-raising process.

Raising chicks

Chicks are adorable, and raising them is very rewarding. We’ve purchased a few batches from local businesses. Hatcheries ship chicks the day after they hatch. Even though it’s possible to lose one or more chicks during shipping, we never have.

However, we’ve lost a few chicks to illness and disease. Keeping your chicks in a safe, healthy environment will minimize the chances of them falling ill, but sometimes chick death isn’t preventable.

When purchasing chicks, you can choose sexed or unsexed chicks. I recommend sexed chicks, which means that they’ve been separated according to sex. Cockerels or roosters aren’t allowed where I live, so I can only have hens.

Keep in mind

Although choosing sexed female chicks minimizes your chances of getting a rooster, it’s not a perfect process. We’ve had to re-home three roosters over the years. Contrary to popular belief, hens don’t need a rooster to produce eggs.

Once your chicks arrive, they’ll need to be kept in a warm, safe place. We raise ours in our basement in a large plastic storage bin topped with chicken wire. Chicks need:

• a heat source
• constant access to food and clean water
• soft bedding
• protection from predators

Fun tip: Chicks also love finely chopped greens like kale!

Chicks are very delicate and need to be handled with care. Be sure to teach family members, including children, how to appropriately handle chicks.

Once chicks are fully feathered (usually around 6 weeks), you can move them outside to their coop as long as temperatures allow. We usually get our new chicks in the spring — April or May — so the weather is warm when they’re ready to move outside.

Chickens usually begin laying eggs at around 6 months old, so be patient!

SUMMARY

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that you can either raise chicks or purchase laying hens. If you decide to raise chicks, they need a safe, warm environment with supplemental heat, clean water, chick grit, and food. I suggest doing your research before purchasing chicks or laying hens.

Some hens are much friendlier and more outgoing than others, and some are more equipped to handle cold or extreme heat.

Plus, certain breeds are much more likely to go broody — or want to hatch their eggs. This means that they’ll sit on eggs for hours, which isn’t ideal unless you want to hatch out chicks.

Keep in mind

If you're thinking about how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that if you don’t have a rooster, you won’t have fertile eggs and your hens won’t be able to hatch chicks, no matter how long they sit on their eggs.

Another factor to consider is the productivity of the breed. Some are highly productive egg layers, producing five or more eggs per week, while others lay much less frequently. Egg production slows during the winter months and declines with age.

When I choose chicken breeds, I look for ones on the larger side (because of our hawk problem), productive egg layers, easy to handle, cold-hardy, and friendly.

Here are some of my favourite chicken breeds that I’ve raised over the years:

Orpingtons. These are larger, cold-hardy birds with friendly personalities. They’re also productive egg layers. I have buff Orpingtons and a lavender Orpington named Oprah who’s my favourite chicken.

Easter Eggers. These birds are hybrids or “mutts” that lay beautiful blue and green eggs. They are very smart and friendly, in addition to being heat tolerant and cold-hardy.

Golden Comets. The two Golden Comets I got last year might be the friendliest birds I’ve ever had. They’re highly productive egg layers. Yet, since they’re bred for commercial egg production, they have a short lifespan and are susceptible to reproductive tract issues.

Marans. Marans are sweet, large birds that are good egg layers. They lay dark brown eggs and are cold hardy.

Wyandottes. I currently have a Golden Laced Wyandotte and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. They are beautiful, curious, cold-hardy, and have good egg layers.

These are just some of the many chicken breeds I’ve kept over the years. I’m getting a new batch of chicks this spring and can’t wait to raise some new breeds, including Swedish Flower Hens and Buff Brahmas.

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that there are many breeds to choose from, especially if you’re purchasing from a large hatchery, so be sure to take your time and choose the best breeds based on factors like your preferences and climate.

SUMMARY

Orpingtons, Golden Comets, Easter Eggers, Marans, and Wyandottes are a few of my favourite chicken breeds.

Tips for keeping healthy and happy chickens

As you’ve probably gathered from this article, there’s much to know about keeping chickens in your garden. Like all hobbies, you’ll learn as you go along, but here are a few tips and lessons I’ve learned over the years that might be helpful for new chicken owners:

Invest in an automatic, predator-proof door. This will make your life much easier. We use this product, which opens and closes automatically at sunrise and sunset.

Overestimate space requirements. The more space chickens have to roam, the better. If possible, make a large run with plenty of room for exploring. Ample space will make your chickens happier and less prone to fighting.

Enrich their environment. Chickens love to explore and perch on things. We dragged a huge apple tree branch into our run for our chickens to hide under and perch on.

Keep their coop clean. This is important. Although you can use the deep litter method, we prefer to clean our coop regularly by emptying the droppings board underneath their roosts and refreshing their bedding when needed.

Provide fresh, clean water and feed. We feed our chickens twice a day, but if you have a covered run you can leave food out in feeders. Clean their water source regularly to prevent illness.

Go easy on scraps. We give our chickens a lot of healthy table scraps and veggies from our garden. However, you shouldn’t feed chickens foods high in sodium and sugar. You might think chickens will only eat what's good for them, but in reality, they will eat anything, including polystyrene packing balls (I'm not making it up!).

Create a storage space. We sectioned off a part of our shed/coop to make it into a storage room for straw, feed, and other necessities. Use a large metal trash can with a tight-fitting lid to protect the feed from rodents.

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, it's very important to find a local vet who treats chickens. It’s important to locate a local veterinarian who treats chickens, as your birds can get injured or become sick.

Don’t heat your coop. Chickens don’t need supplemental heat. In fact, heating a coop can make chickens sick. It gets well below 20℉ (-6℃) during winter nights where I live, and my hens are perfectly fine. Keep in mind that I have cold-hardy breeds.

Let your chicken's free range. Let your chickens roam if you have the room — and if it’s safe, of course. Chickens love being able to scratch on grass, eat pests like ticks, and dust bathe.

If you're thinking about how to keep chickens in your garden, you might want to consider a larger run. If you don’t have enough space to let your chickens roam free, that’s okay! Just make sure they have a larger run to keep them happy.

The importance of hygiene

If you're considering how to keep chickens in your garden, be aware that chickens carry bacteria that can make people sick, which is why it’s important to practice proper hygiene methods when handling and caring for chickens.

You can learn more about the types of bacteria chickens carry and how to reduce your risk of illness from backyard chickens here.

These are just a few helpful tips for those new to, or interested in, keeping chickens in the garden.

To learn more, connect with someone who has experience raising chickens, or join an online group for chicken owners.

Thanks to healthline.com