Raising Chickens - Backyard Chicken Farming - 3 Tips to Get You Started

If you're interested in raising chickens backyard chicken farming might be for you. Backyard chicken farming is becoming more and more popular all over the world, and is taking off in major cities around North America. You no longer need a ranch to raise your own chickens and reap the benefits of the fresh, delicious eggs they produce. Here are three tips to help you get started raising your own chickens.

1) Hens are easier to deal with than roosters.

Hens are the egg producers, so they're obviously what you want to focus on. Hens are quieter, smaller, much less aggressive, and generally easier to deal with than roosters. If you do keep roosters on your property, keep it to an absolute minimum. Check with your municipal laws, as some areas don't even allow you to keep roosters.

2) Keep your chickens fenced in to one area.

If you keep chickens in your yard, it's very important that you designate a specific area for the chickens to reside in. You don't want the chickens having the run of your yard, or worse, somehow getting into your neighbours' yards. In the house is even worse, as chickens can do serious damage just through their natural behaviour.

3) Build your chickens a good quality coop.

If you want your chickens to product high quality, delicious eggs, you'll need to ensure that they're safe and healthy. Chickens living in a stressful environment simply won't lay good eggs so protecting your chickens from harsh elements and keeping them safe from hungry predators like foxes and racoons is absolutely essential. You can buy a pre-made coop, or a coop kit, but it'll be notably more expensive than building a coop yourself. There are multiple guides available on the net that will provide you with high quality plans and instructions, and you can build most coops without the need for special tools and previous building experience isn't necessary.

So if you think raising chickens might be something for you, remember to follow these simple tips. Raising chickens and harvesting fresh eggs is a joy that many people have embraced recently, and whether you love the idea of raising animals, or just love fresh eggs, it might be just what you're looking for.

How to Find a Selection of Plans For a Chicken Coop

The local library is a good resource for any information for everyone. In fact it is easy to get caught up in all the information, books and magazines available, so best to go in prepared with a list of exactly what you want.

Information resources are out there everywhere, so making a simple check off list of things to do and address in a given order, can really save a lot of time.

Tips - Check Off List:

1. Library - You can select these sections to narrow down your search for plans, as follows -

    Farming-Chicken Care
    Animals-Chickens
    Farm Animals- Roosters
    Ranch animals-Hens
    Agriculture

2. Bookstore: This may give you more exposure to magazines, small how to books, good pictures for design ideas. Other topic areas to check-

    Farming news
    Agriculture magazines
    Popular Mechanics- they cover a lot of home projects
    Home project magazines
    Landscape- Many coop designs are made to blend into your landscape, shrubs, trees, shaded areas

3. Internet Search - Now this is an endless research area, so lets just look at this for a moment, dig a bit, and narrow a search down, into the area you are seeking for information.You can burn up a lot of time looking at overwhelming information to no end, and no results, if you are not careful.

    Portable chicken coop plans
    Small chicken coop plans
    Chicken coop design plans on a budget
    Find at least one large site, with many options within

One thing that can help you sort through the internet, is finding one large helpful site, with a wide variety of pictures and designs. Easier to view in one location.

This is enough to get you started, how to find a selection of plans for a chicken coop I found quiet an overload of information everywhere, but the most difficult thing was finding exactly the design I had in mind.