How to Raise a Chicken at Your Home

Provided you can find cheap feed or make your own, raising chickens at your home is an economical way to get fresh eggs and poultry meat. But chickens are living creatures and require care. This means getting the right feed, giving the chickens enough clean space, protecting them from the elements and taking into account their natural behavior. These factors apply regardless of whether you are raising a single chicken or a whole flock.

Box or tub

Heat lamp

Straw

Chicken coop

Water and feed containers

Water

Feed

Layer

Contact your local police department or animal control office to see if your municipality requires a license for owning chickens. Many areas have limitations on the number of chickens you may have per acre, while others charge a fee. Others have no limitations. Apply for a permit if required.

Set up a heated container in which to hold the baby chicks. An old box or plastic tub works fine. Line the container with wood chips or straw and place a heat lamp overhead to keep the chicks warm.

Give your chicks water and feed formulated for especially for chicks every day. The feed should have a protein ratio of about 20 percent and should be medicated to help the chicks fend off diseases like Marek's disease and Coccidiosis. Marek's disease is a virus that causes internal tumors; coccidiosis is a potentially fatal condition caused by intestinal parasites. There should be about 2.5 inches of space per chick at the feed containers and 1 inch at the water containers. Adjust the spacing as the chicks grow and keep the chick container clean.

Handle your chicks routinely. This will help them get used to you and recognize your scent, which may help curb aggressive behaviors later on and make it easier to handle them as chickens.

Line the chicken coop with straw. Put roosting shelves in the coop if there are not already some. These will provide a place for the chickens to nest even when not laying. Put at least one egg layer (a set of metal roosts designed especially for laying) in the coop as well. The layer gives the chickens a safe place to lay eggs; it is made so the eggs roll to the front of the roost for easy collection.

Transfer your chicks from the container to the coop once they outgrow the container. You might still need a heat lamp in the coop at this point. Allow 2 square feet of space per chicken.

Change the feed ratios as the chicks grow. Remember that your chickens eventually will need grit such as pebbles or crushed oyster shells. The chickens store the grit in their gizzards, where it helps grind up their food for digestion. Chicks started on mash won't need grit, but young chicks with access to grain will, and should have grit designed for chicks that is small in diameter. Corn and grains are staples, but your chickens also should have access to bugs for protein and will eat fresh plants such as lettuce. Let them free range every day if possible, keeping a lookout for animals that might hurt chickens such as cats or raccons; you may not be able to do this if you live in an urban area. Give the chickens vegetable and fruit scraps from the table, like banana and apple peels; even egg shells can be recycled in the feed. Your chickens will need plenty of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D to make eggs with strong shells.

Clean the coop as needed, putting in enough clean straw for the chickens to make full nests.

Check the coop daily for eggs once the chickens start to lay. Chickens sometimes will cannibalize eggs if you do not collect them, and animals such as raccoons will try to get into the coop if they know eggs are always there. Daily collection also ensures that the eggs will be fresh enough to eat. It's normal for a small flock of laying hens to provide up to a dozen eggs per day, but don't be surprised if some days result in no eggs.

Watch for signs of aggressive behavior, especially in the males. Chickens will develop a natural pecking order even when males are not present to keep the flock organized and protected. If your chickens single out any one chicken of the flock and are especially cruel to this bird, separate the abused chicken from the flock. Otherwise you may lose the chicken.

Give your chickens some items to play with such as sticks, some string tied to a beam, or a few colorful rocks. If the chickens are kept occupied, they may be less likely to peck at each other harshly.

Compost piles are perfect sources of bugs and grubs for the chickens to eat. They'll aerate the soil, too, leading to quicker decomposition of the compost.