Planning to Raise Chickens? Four Things to Consider

If you are planning to raise chickens, consider these four things.

More and more people are raising their own chickens these days and the trend continues to increase. Why is that? Well, there are several reasons.

Raising your own chickens is a step toward becoming more self-sufficient.
You can make an additional income by running a small scale poultry farm
Raising chickens is just fun.

Whatever the reason may be, there are a few considerations that you must take into account before even buying your first chick. I hope these tips will help you make an informed decision.

Living Arrangements

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Since lives are at stake here, even if it’s just chickens, you want them to be happy and contented. That’s probably the main difference between raising a chicken yourself as compared to the major commercial poultry farms where chickens lead a miserable life.

So, consideration #1

Chickens are more complicated to keep than dogs, cats or the usual pets. Happy chickens require a much larger place to range in order to scratch and dig for worms and insects. You will need to keep your chickens where there is soil for them to scratch around in.

Consideration #2

You must have sufficient space to keep a chicken coop. A chicken coop is where they will sleep, lay eggs, and get out of the weather. You’ll need to factor into account the space required for the coop and the amount of remaining space your chickens will have to roam around.

The size of the coop is determined by how many chickens you intend to keep. Please do not, under any circumstances, attempt to keep too many chickens in one coop. This often happens due to poor planning when the owner decides to raise more chickens and is constrained by the size of his chicken coop. Plan in advance where you wish to go before plunging into keeping chickens.
Your purpose for keeping chickens will help you decide what chicken breed to choose. Click To Tweet

Consideration #3

Make sure your chickens will be well protected. Chickens are chubby little birds, they can’t fly very well, and they are fairly defenseless against bigger predators. Depending on where you live, dogs, cats, hawks, eagles, skunks, raccoons, and opossums can be a deadly threat to your chickens. So, make sure they are well protected. Farmers have reported that eagles have swooped down from the skies and snatched up a chicken every now and then. And even a high fence can’t keep a opossum out.

Related The ROOF is on the Chicken Coop

Consideration #4

Choose the breed of chicken for what you want out of your flock. Some chicken breeds are much easier to keep than others. Speak to your vet or get a good guide about raising chickens and see which breed is most suitable for you.

Do you want good egg layers?
Do you prefer a more docile bird to an aggressive or flighty bird?
Do you like white meat or dark meat? (if you’re raising meat chickens)

Decide what your purpose for raising chickens really is. Are you doing it for fun? For profit? To be self-sufficient? Will your purpose change in future? Will your current plans accommodate any future changes in purpose?

These are all questions you should ask yourself. If you are doing a good job raising chickens, your neighbous may ask you if you could sell them your poultry all clean and ready to cook. Would you want to do it? And if it starts making you more money, would you want to expand? Can you?

The possibilities are many. By, considering these key factors in the beginning, you will plan better and be less restricted in future with your chicken venture. Chickens are entertaining, interesting, and fun to watch. Some consider them a staple on a homestead.