Suburban Chicken Rearing

Neither my husband or I grew up with chickens. Our experience was basically limited to the occasional petting zoo. However, we are determined to start raising our own food, and suburban chicken rearing is our first step in that direction. So far, we have only been chicken owners for about three months. However, we have raised 12 chicks, and so far not lost one. It’s probably less to do with our own suburban chicken rearing skills, and more to do with chance. But we have learned a thing or two along the way, which we want to share while it’s still fresh.

Mushroom enjoys visits inside the abode, from time to time.

Lessons We Learned about Suburban Chicken Rearing

It is surprisingly easy to order chicks in the mail.

I looked up tons of different hatcheries before ordering our chicks in the mail. Originally, I was going to order a mix of a few different breeds from Cackle Hatchery. However, the shipping cost and added charge for not ordering a “standard minimum” pretty quickly skyrocketed the price to over $16 per chick. It seemed a little excessive for casual suburban chicken rearing. Instead, we ordered a set of 10 Easter Egger chicks from Tractor Supply Co. for about $30. (Free shipping, too!) They even threw in 2 extra chicks for free, and all survived the journey.

This is little Delilah (or Deli, for short) shortly after her shipment arrival.

Suburban chicken rearing research is necessary. And confusing.

The plus-side about the internet is that it has TONS of tips for suburban chicken rearing. The downside? Everyone has an opinion, and people can get inTENSE! When it comes to different methods like fermenting food, training roosters, coop dimensions and more, it’s crazy how heated people can get. Backyard Chickens is an internet forum with a lot of awesome info. However, the people on the forums can get a little heated. Take every piece of advice with a grain of salt.

My biggest takeaway from browsing Backyard Chickens has been that there are more than one ways to do something. Some people will swear by Option A, while others will take total offense and swear by Option B. The best part is, your chickens will probably be fine no matter what option you choose. It’s important to research the best breeds for your climate, lifestyle, and intent, general chicken care and more. But after that, it’s totally up to you how intense you want to get with your poultry hobby.

The “deep litter method” is a huge time saver.

Chickens can smell awful. Like, really awful. They can also smell like absolutely nothing, with minimal work. With suburban chicken rearing, it’s especially important to keep your chickens from stinking up the area. The last thing you want is to tick off your neighbors with feathered friends. I’ve had chickens for three months now, and I have never cleaned out the coop. Believe it or not, the coop doesn’t smell at all.

The deep litter method is essentially a system that allows enough material to build up so that the chicken poop, bedding, etc., all composts and breaks down beneath the surface. The result is a beautiful, organic fertilizer that is harvested once a year, and can be added to garden beds for beautiful growth. If I’d known about this method for coop maintenance, I would’ve started suburban chicken rearing years ago.

Tons of food and water mean I can leave my chickens alone for days, if need-be.

Suburban Chicken Rearing doesn’t take much.

Like the deep litter method, there are tons of ways to streamline your chicken care system so that suburban chicken rearing takes up little-to-no time. I set my chickens up with a 25 lb wall feeder and a 5 gallon water bucket, with nipple attachments to prevent spillage. They have a chicken run for fresh air, and a roomy inside for roosting, eating, drinking, and warming up. While I let my girls out daily to free range, they can be left alone for a week, at least, if need-be. (I still have a friend swing by once or twice to check on them, just in case.)

My suburban chicken rearing started out with tons of chores — between switching out dirty water, twice-daily feedings, and cleaning paper towels, it was a HUGE pain in the but. Over time, we’ve streamlined the system and helped train them to take care of themselves. And these girls are surprisingly good at suburban chicken rearing themselves.

Our girls are pretty great at caring for themselves.

They will be just fine free-ranging.

As an owner of many animals over the years, I have always been fearful of them running away. We had plenty of dog escapes, as well as hamsters, parakeets, cats, mice, even a Japanese Fighting Fish with a death wish. I’ve always had a mindset that you have to contain your animals. Suburban chicken rearing, however, is on the contrary. I was so afraid to let the girls out the first time. It helps that we have a fenced-in backyard, but they certainly could’ve escaped if they wanted to. As it turns out, chickens are great at staying near home-base.

When it comes to suburban chicken rearing, as long as they’re happy, they don’t tend to want to leave. Some breeds are considered “flightier” than others. We have Easter Eggers, which are considered to be some of the flightiest of the bunch, but none have ever tried to escape. The worst that happened was when one was accidentally locked out of the coop before bedtime. We ended up finding her roosted on top of our 6 foot privacy fence. Granted, predators can be a concern, depending on where you live. Since we are a small town surrounded by farmland, however, our suburban chicken rearing concerns are pretty much limited to dogs & cats.

We don’t get many predators where we live, but we like to keep the dogs out with the chickens when they’re free-ranging for an added layer of protection.

Disclaimer: We’re not professionals or experts on this topic, so all we can do is share our own personal experience in hopes that it helps you in your journey! We always recommend consulting with the pros directly.