You have to start homesteading somewhere. You likely have a long priority list of homestead projects. I’m sure you have great ideas for achieving a home-cooked meal every night made from produce out of your own garden beds, owning farm animals on a small scale or large one, and having an overall self-sufficient lifestyle. We did too, and one day we hope to get there. But, in my opinion, that list of projects can wait. The most important thing is building your confidence in homesteading by gaining a win. Enter: backyard chickens.
Aside from ensuring you and your family have the house and land to accomplish the beginnings of your homesteading dreams, backyard chickens should be the first priority. They are a great additional food source, are relatively low maintenance even in the winter months, and provide great entertainment for the entire family!
If you read my post “The Best Part About Our New Homestead” then you know I LOVE my chickens. Every time I let them out of the run to free range, a smile automatically takes over my face. In this post, I will discuss the other (more practical) reasons to own backyard chickens and why it is a good idea to begin your homesteading journey with them.
Products mentioned in this post for quick reference
- Large metal feeder with 65lb capacity (link is to the one we have but is not an affiliate link)
- Heated chicken waterer
- Automatic chicken coop door
Reasons to own chickens
Aside from the obvious enjoyment backyard chickens bring, there are many benefits they bring to the homestead. Namely, they are relatively easy to own, help reduce waste on the homestead, bring an additional food source to the homestead, and their poop makes a great compost!
The addition of backyard chickens to our homestead has built our confidence greatly in marrying our city roots with simple homestead living. I hope after reading this post, you have the confidence to begin your own journey with backyard chickens! They are truly a source of enjoyment and a practical benefit to our homestead.
How we brought chickens to the homestead
Our path to chicken ownership is a little unconventional. After living in our home for about six months, we focused on our next priority in the homesteading dream: Becoming more self-sufficient. To us, this primarily came through three different avenues. Either we were to diversify our income/revenue streams, grow our own food in a garden, or bring animals onto the property as a source of meat. While we were still pondering what the next right step to take was, we were approached about taking some chickens from acquaintances. They were moving and couldn’t take the chickens with them. By the way, they needed them gone in three weeks!
Though we had never built anything close to this scale by ourselves before, we excitedly accepted the challenge. We sourced some free wood fencing for the coop itself and got that sucker built in three weeks flat. One day I look forward to sharing a detailed post on how we built our chicken coop in less than 3 weeks with only $1200. It was a busy few weeks but has been so rewarding in the last year!
Now, after the coop was built, our 16 chickens were dropped off in tote bins late at night with two feeders and a waterer and the rest is history! Not really. We have had a few troubleshooting issues with how much to feed them, what kind of food to buy, what a rooster looks and acts like, and the sadness of loss, but overall it has been a relatively smooth and enjoyable experience. I highly recommend backyard chickens to be the first priority of every homestead.
Why chickens should be your first priority in making your homestead dream a reality
Now that I have explained how we brought chickens onto our homestead as city folk LARPing as homesteaders at this point, let’s move on. I want to break down the four primary benefits to backyard chicken ownership as new homesteaders. I believe the more you understand about something, the greater confidence you will have in it. Though cultivating a homestead from the ground-up can take a long time, each step you take will build confidence for the next.
Backyard chickens are relatively easy to own
Once you have built the coop, either from scratch or purchased third-party, backyard chickens are relatively low maintenance. They have fairly basic needs: food, water, shelter. We built a 8×6 foot chicken coop with a slanted roof and a 26ft run enclosed with hardware cloth. Part of the run is covered with metal roofing to protect the feeding area, though we plan to enclose it fully in the spring. We have not had many issues with predators, aside from a sneaky possum that came to eat scraps that were left in the run. Thankfully he was too fat and full to bother the chickens when they came out for the day. There is a reason we need to enclose the coop though. That is because we have an issue with our neighbor’s cats scaling the run and eating our chicken feed at night. Greedy things!
Despite how low-maintenance chickens are, we have also invested in some products to help us enjoy our chickens more year-round. Though these products are certainly not necessary when you’re first starting out, we did purchase them in preparation for our first winter with them and have not regretted those investments.
We have purchased a large metal feeder that accommodates an entire 50lb bag of feed and a two-gallon chicken waterer that can also be plugged in for heated winter use. An automatic chicken coop door uses a light sensor and has alleviated burden from my day. Instead of running outside first thing no matter the weather, I have the flexibility to check on the chickens and gather eggs whenever my schedule allows.
Additional Context: We own 27 chickens, 26 which are layers. We have to replenish their food once every week and a half when they are not free ranging. I gather eggs once, maybe twice, a day. We refill their waterer every other day or so. About once every two weeks I will add a little apple cider vinegar to their water and we give them scraps daily. Other than that, our backyard chickens take care of their own! At first we watched them with more careful observation because we were new to chicken ownership, but now we are more confident and have become more lax on (and confident in) things. This following year we even hope to attempt hatching our own chicks!
Chickens help reduce waste by eating table scraps
Bringing chickens onto the homestead has increased our ability to think like homesteaders much quicker than I think we would’ve otherwise. Our families lived in the city for generations upon generations. When we moved, unbeknownst to us in a lot of ways, we had an extreme case of excessive consumerism. By owning chickens and giving them our scraps instead of simply throwing them away, we developed the low-waste mindset needed for success on our homestead. We consistently have a catch-all bowl on the counter full of scraps to be given to our chickens.
This low-waste mindset has trickled into every facet of our new homesteading life. We now think about the things we own and use differently. Each is not something to be used and thrown away without regard, but is an opportunity for us to be good stewards of what we have been given responsibility over. This mindset shift has opened more creative doors for us and also helps us live a more simple, home-centered life. We are more mindful of what we use and how we use it. Thank you, chickens!
Meat and layer chickens are additional food sources
Backyard chickens, either meat or layer, bring an additional food source to your homestead that is more reliant on you and less reliant on others. This is also a core lesson we learned in transitioning to homesteading and a large motivator for us to make the transition. During the 2020 shutdowns, we realized how dependent we were on everyone else to make our lives run and operate “as they should.” We started to question if this is the way we wanted to continue living and for us the answer was a big no.
But moving to the country on a couple of acres wasn’t enough to change that dependency. We are working toward cultivating self-sufficiency on our homestead. That begins with learning the skills and bringing the food sources to us. Starting with backyard chickens gave us a great opportunity to build confidence in our “city abilities” to continue taking bigger bites out of the homesteading, simple life we dream of. Whatever your goals are, chickens are a great and enjoyable way to build confidence in your skills as a homesteader wherever you live!
Chicken poop makes a great compost for gardening
Lastly, chickens create a great compost that can be used in your future garden. There are many different ways to go about this. Currently we use wood shavings in the coop and scoop it out multiple times a year to refresh. We do not have a wheelbarrow, so we use five gallon buckets to transfer the used wood shavings to a compost pile we set up. We chose the location of the compost pile based on where we hope to begin planting the garden.
I have had high hopes to begin a garden the last two seasons and I have sadly come to terms with the idea we likely won’t get it set up this year either, as we will have a newborn come the spring. This does give me more time to work on my food preservation and sourcing skills, however, so I’m not looking at it as wasted time! This does also give our compost more time to break down, which is great because chicken waste is not suitable to place directly from the coop into the garden. Please do your research on how to get a good compost going, as I am not an expert!
In sum, there are many different ways to set up your compost pile. You can designate a spot in your chicken run for it or set aside a specific place (or numerous) around your yard for it. What is most important is to remember to layer it with browns (leaves, twigs, etc.), turn, and let sit to heat up and break down! Also, if your chickens have access to it, they will turn it for you as they scratch around. Less work for you!
A little more convincing if you’re still on the fence
I can understand if there is still a little bit of hesitation. Creating a new homestead costs a lot more than what we first expected and asking to dole out additional money at this time can be stressful. If now is not your time to add small animals to the homestead, then don’t. It does not make you any less of a homesteader than the ones you generally see online. Remember, they were once starting fresh too! Don’t compare yourselves to the “experts” or those much more established than you. You are doing what you can right now to take the next right step for your family. That’s amazing! Do not be discouraged.
If you are wanting to take that next time and feel ready for it, but are still hesitant, I understand. Homesteading comes with a lot of responsibilities you don’t have exposure to in the city or when you’re living the way of convenience.
I’m convinced, but where do I begin?
The first things to consider when starting with backyard chickens is at what age are you going to get them and where you are going to keep them. If you purchase little chicks from a local or online seller, you will need to have an indoor setup for a brooder and heat lamp until they are a couple of months old. They also require a different blend of food than older chickens, called starter feed. We plan to incubate and brood our own chickens this spring, but we so far have only purchased pullets and older from local sellers.
The second option is to purchase pullets. Pullets are layer chickens that are off of the starter feed but not quite yet laying. We purchased ours for $10 each this past summer. They were born at the end of June and began laying consistently the second week of December. This is pretty typical as it takes around 18 weeks from birth for chickens to begin laying. We purchased pullets because we do not yet have a space to brood our own chickens in an enclosed space and also do not have an enclosed run for little chickens to be outside without fear of increased hawk attacks.
A third option is to purchase already-laying chickens from a local seller. This is a great option for those just starting out and a little unsure of what owning backyard chickens entails. Grown chickens are much hardier than littles and more forgiving too! Just remember that chickens generally only lay consistently for their first three years of life and take that into consideration with purchase price.
As for chicken coops and runs versus free-ranging, there are many options. We simply looked at a few samples online and my husband sketched it out. It is not the “best” chicken coop, but it was the best bang for our buck and timeline. There are also options to purchase one at the local farm supply store, though we were hesitant to invest so much in a store-bought product given material. We also decided on a permanent run rather than a chicken tractor given our current lifestyle and responsibilities, but you decide what is best for your family! The only thing that matters is you are doing what you are confident in, not what someone else says is a good idea.
Tips & Tricks To Getting Started
We have had our chickens for a year and a half now and we are in our second winter as backyard chicken owners. We have had a huge learning curve owning any animal other than the city-typical cat or dog! I would like to share with you some of our key lessons:
- Budget for chicken feed. We were so excited to get chickens that we didn’t plan for how we were going to purchase their food. During the summer we receive enough egg money to not have to budget out of our personal account, but during the winter we do. We are starting to grow our customer list for year-round egg sales, but it’s taken a year and a half to get to this point. When purchasing three bags of chicken feed every month, that begins to add up!
- Along with the first point, it will take some time to determine the frequency of which you need to refill their feed and purchase more. The more time chickens stay in their run and don’t free range, the more they will eat of the feed. This is also something to consider and factor into the budget when building the coop/run.
- Buy an automatic chicken door. It may seem like a large investment when you’re first starting out, but it has helped me so much to find joy in going out there to visit when I can and also not feel begrudging pressure to brave any kind of weather first thing in the morning to make sure their food and water is accessible to them. Our first year we bought a cheap one and it worked well but it stripped itself when trying to open during an ice storm. It was also unreliable in opening and closing if the light hit the sensor in certain ways. The one linked above is our current one and we have been much happier with its year-round performance.
- Purchase a large feeder. For a while, I would set out chicken feed twice daily in little feeders from our local farm store. However, once winter hit, it was no longer a reasonable option for me to brave the weather multiple times a day to feed them. This feeder accommodates an entire bag of feed, so I only have to refill once every week and a half. We currently own 27 chickens and cannot free range in the thick of winter.
Weather Accommodations
- Plan for the winter if applicable. We received our first batch of chickens secondhand in September and hadn’t thought through winter care. Once the first snowstorm hit the radar, it was a mad dash to find a way to keep the waterers from freezing and the chickens warm. We use this heated two-gallon waterer run with electrical cords from our house. We have been pleased with the results. We also use a heating panel we bought at our local farm store inside the coop.
- Our winter plan for chores includes checking at least once a day for eggs so they don’t freeze. After a while you will know what times of day your chickens will lay and can base your schedule on that. Our older chickens lay between 11 and 1 and our youngest batch lays earlier in the morning. Therefore, I check for eggs once around lunchtime and again around dinnertime. Planning around mealtimes helps me to not forget. If I can only make it out once a day, though, I choose the evening. Leaving eggs overnight guarantees they will freeze where we live. Soon you will find a rhythm that works!
- We do not use lights in our coops as we would rather keep our chickens on their natural egg production schedule; however, this is another consideration and decision you will have to make for your flock.
Did I convince you?
I hope in walking through our backyard chicken journey I have encouraged you to add chickens at the top of the homesteading priority! If not, please refer to the video below. Not only are chickens great confidence-boosters, they’re also pure entertainment for the whole family!
Contact Me With Questions!
I hope after reading this post you feel more prepared for and confident in owning backyard chickens. If you have any other questions that were not answered, please comment below. I would love to connect with you and continue growing the CFH community!
This might not be the Spring you start that big garden, but may I suggest starting some perennial foods. Two of my favorites are asparagus and rhubarb. They may take 1-3 years to really start producing, but will provide food for years to come. One perennial that is not food, but always brought me joy while growing up on the farm, is hollyhocks. They do provide nectar for the bees and hummingbirds. No hummingbird feeders needed!
If interested, you can find all the tips on growing @ spruce.com
This is great advice, Barbara! Thank you! We would like to start to build something of a garden on the homestead this year, even if it isn’t “the big one.” Just need to find a solution to all of the deer munchies that go on around here 🙂