Raising chickens in the back yard was popular in the dark days of the First Great Depression of the 1930's. If we end up with the Second Great Depression, I imagine raising chickens in the back yard will gain exponentially in popularity as the economy sinks. Where do us "city slickers" go to learn how to raise chickens in the backyard? Why to http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php of course!

Cool. thanks!

Thanks for that link! Lots of good info to be had there. And I will be reading a lot lol. I finally talked hubby into getting a couple of chickens along with the goats he is getting too. We figured on 5 acres total and most of it cleared between us and two neighbors (one on each side of us) that we can take care of at least 3 or 4 goats and about 6 hens and a rooster.

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ETA...this is a whole new thing for us too. Never had either one before. But we want to become self-sufficent.

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DH and I are almost done with the chicken coop!!!! We have kind of a run down three sided horse shed. Converted half of it for chickens! It will be done this weekend and a dozen laying hens will come next week. I'm so excited! It's been several years since I had chickens and I miss them.

I got my chickens!!! 12 beautiful white laying hens! Just got them settled in the new coop.

Congratulations PrairieMoon, we're still finishing up my sons barn so he can bring his dozen hens home from my farm. I've been growing them up (and feeding them) since April along with my replacement hens. This morning a bear was in his barn and I guess it has motivated him to finish up on the building by putting doors up!

Whoa! No bears in this neck of the grasslands! We do, however, have little critters that can get through little holes. (mink, weasels, also owls and hawks). Some mink (5 of them, I guess), completely destroyed my brother's chickens - it was a bloodbath! Sad...

Update on my chickens! I'm down to 11.
One got out and flew into the dogs area and, well, you can imagine the rest...
The remaining are doing great. Fewer eggs, but it is November.

I've kept chickens for several years now and I'm so spoiled, I can't tolerate store bought eggs. Good thing I never eat out, LOL. Chickens are messy and a real PITA but I would not trade them for anything. The quality of the meat and the eggs is too good. A little bit of cracked corn and some misc seed I can grow, some soybean meal and they stay healthy.

I had a question asked by a blogger pal so I wrote this for my blog to answer her question. It's how I feed my flock so I don't have to buy chicken feed. After all, what would ya feed your flock if there wasn't anywhere to buy commercially made feed?

Tonite I'm going to share what I do to feed my chickens without having to fork out $12 for a 50lb bag of commercial chicken feed. Chickens are notorious for eating just about anything they can peck so table scraps are always on the menu. they will also eat about anything you try to plant in your garden if you don't keep them out. Chickens are particularly fond of beets, kale, potatoes, sunflowers, wheat, oats and all types of grass seed. Cracked corn is something they dive on but it lacks protein so I supplement cracked corn with ground soybeans, sunflowers, wheat, some barley, milo and oats. To keep my egg shells nice and solid, I wash every egg shell I crack, dry them and crush them up for the feed mix. I give my chickens all types of squash I grow here. They love the fruit and the seeds and devour pumpkins in a heartbeat. chickens will pluck your almost ripe tomatoes right off the vines. they aren't real fond of sweet pepper but eat your cucumbers every chance they get.

I have also heard it said that you can even feed chickens meat scraps but I do not. I also do not feed my chickens cooked egg.

I have heard that milk and cheese/butter byproducts are good feed supplements but have never set whey, milk of cheese out for them. I may try soaking their grains in it when the goat starts giving me milk.

I have also noticed that chickens like alfalfa and clover, they occasionally steal it from the rabbits and very often get right in the hay pile with the goats and sheep.

The hottest spot for hungry chickens around here in the manure pile. As it decomposes and turns into my growing compost, it is always full of worms, dung beetles and other various insects. Japanese beetles are a favorite for chickens as well. I shake them out of the peach trees and scoop them into buckets with a bit of water in the bottom(keeps the beetles from flying out) and I dump the water filled beetles in the feed pan and get back because a whole avalanche of chickens will appear to scarf them up.

So, anything you grow and harvest for yourself will make decent chicken feed for your backyard flock. don't forget the calcium and you'll have quality eggs and chicken meat without having to spend a dime on feed.

At one time a modern efficient farm was to have cows, pigs and chickens. The reason was that some of the grain or seeds that the first two animals ate would be undigested, hence, in the manure, where the chickens would pick them out, along with insects and worms. recycling at it's best

Horses are also good for that. Unless you crimp and roll the oat, it passes thru them mostly untouched. it's why I don't bother feeding oats. they aren't real high in protien anyway. Chickens are very efficient at scattering manure for you, they break it up very nicely.

A productive flock starts with quality chicks from a reputable hatchery. I've seen many recommendations from many different hatcheries, and I've ordered from several. Many have been so disappointing that we've butchered the entire flock to start over. I have no room on my farm for poor layers, this is not a welfare home for underachievers. It costs as much to feed unthrifty stock as it does high production birds.

Ridgeway Hatchery ( http://www.ridgwayhatchery.com/ ) is now the only place I order will chicks. I am keeping a closed flock, breeding and hatching my own replacement Plymouth barred rocks. These birds from Ridgeway have a superior conformation and a production level that easily takes blue ribbons at the fairs. The first egg comes 6 months to the DAY of their hatching, with full egg production from the flock within 10 days of the first egg. They lay for 3 years, straight through the winters before they molt. I do not need a light in the hen house for them to keep production up.

I chose this particular breed because of their hardiness in our often extreme climate. They are not bothered by wet, gloomy conditions or by the low, freezing temperatures we sometimes experience. They free range in all weather conditions. They have a calm disposition and seem a bit smarter than other birds. They are a larger, meatier bird than most production layers and I get a good price for the spent hens. I can easily fetch $10 for a 4 year old hen, and I've been offered $20 for 2 year old hens. I like the option of eating my birds or converting to quick cash.

Selliing and eating the eggs and meat more than pays for the feed that goes into the flock. When running a tight flock with ruthless culling of low performance birds, the poultry is quite a profitable homestead business for the kids and I.

Thank You ladybug!

I was looking for a new supplier. I have been picking up my chicks from the local feedstore ( trying to keep my money local) but this last batch was not to my liking.