The contempo craven renaissance continues to gather momentum, and coops are becoming common in urban and suburban backyards. The surging interest in local and organic foods has certainly contributed to the trend, but many people are learning that chickens also make great pets. They're friendly and easy to care for, and what other fauna actually helps you make breakfast? If you lot're ready to bring some farm yard into your backyard, hither's what you need to do to go started.

Know the law.

Group of free-range hens foraging for food

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Check your municipal regulations and/or homeowner association rules. Many areas ban roosters (which isn't a deal breaker; hens will lay eggs without them) and limit the number of animals a household tin can go on. Some communities require signed agreements from neighbors, permits, or an appearance before the zoning board, while others have ordinances that restrict the size and placement of outbuildings, and some areas have no restrictions at all.

New York City, for case, has never banned hens, says Owen Taylor, the grooming and livestock coordinator for Just Nutrient, a nonprofit that works to better access to fresh, healthy, locally grown food in the city. "They're considered pets, like cats and dogs, so zoning laws practise not employ," he says.

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In communities that outlaw raising chickens, poultry activists are joining together to claiming the laws. Tracy Halward formed the Longmont Urban Chicken Coalition after her family was cited for illegally keeping chickens in their Longmont, Colorado, lawn. The coalition scored a victory when the city quango voted to permit a pilot backyard-chicken program, and in March 2009 issued permits to 50 residents, including Halward.

In 2011, the urban center removed the ban, and like grassroots movements take overturned craven bans in Madison, Wisconsin; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Bozeman, Montana.

Cull your breed.

Black Australorp Hen with Eggs

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A do good of keeping chickens is the opportunity to raise beautiful birds that lay unusually colored eggs. Many breeds come up in ii sizes: standard (besides known as large breed) and bantam, which are typically one-quarter the size of standard birds. Both practise fine in back yards, though standard chickens lay much larger eggs than bantams and — because they weigh more — tend to be less flighty.

For undecayed egg production, choose lightweight breeds such as Black Australorps (shown above). Dual-purpose breeds (eggs and meat) such as Buff Orpingtons and Silver Laced Wyandottes , are heavier than layers just have better egg product than broilers, breeds used primarily for meat. Many layer, broiler, and dual-purpose breeds are bachelor every bit standards or bantams.

Most breeds lay either white or brownish eggs, though the tint tin vary. Welsummers, a rare dual-purpose brood, lay dark brown eggs. And both Araucanas and Ameraucanas lay blue-green eggs, though many of the chickens sold as these breeds are really "Easter Eggers" — hybrid birds that may lay blueish-green, olive, or other tinted eggs.

When building a flock, consider the behavioral and physical characteristics and climate suitability of each breed. Rhode Isle Reds are a pop dual-purpose breed that lay large, light brown eggs, but they can be aggressive toward calmer birds such as Brahmas. Breeds with thicker plumage do better in cold climates, while those without a lot of extra insulation, such as Silkies (a fabulously ornamental breed with feathers that await more like fur) live comfortably in warmer climates.

For more than nigh breeds, check out Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds.

Build your coop.

Hen Walking Down from Henhouse

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A coop provides shelter for chickens, only it will as well be a part of the landscape, and so consider aesthetics also as the chickens' needs when planning for one. Debbie Hoffmann, who keeps chickens in her suburban backyard, paid a carpenter to build a stylish grayness-and-white coop with a leaded stained-glass window installed over the nesting boxes. "I had to become before the zoning board to get permission to take the hens," says Hoffmann. "They were really dazzled past the decorative window and I had no trouble."

Fifty-fifty in a fenced lawn, it's not wise to permit chickens to roam complimentary without supervision, both for their security and the safety of your garden. Chickens dear to scratch the ground looking for worms and seeds without regard for what plants might be in their way. And in urban and suburban areas, predators come up in all shapes and sizes, from coyotes to raccoons to hawks. Danger can come from above and below, and so cover the run and bury its fencing at least 1 pes deep. Use 1/iv-inch hardware material for enclosures instead of chicken wire, which raccoons can easily pull apart and small rodents can squeeze through.

Intendance for your new pet chickens.

Young Black Copper Marans female hen eating wheat grains from a mans hand

Jason Langley // Getty Images

Chickens volition dig up part of their diet — insects, slugs, snails, sand, and seeds — just you must as well provide them with chicken feed. "Chickens need a quality balanced nutrition that'due south 16 to 18% poly peptide and made specifically for their needs," says Phillip J. Clauer, a Penn State poultry skillful, who notes that there are special diets for young chicks, growing birds, and layers. As a treat, besprinkle scratch — a mixture of grains and seeds — into the run, also as organic grass clippings and vegetable scraps.

Plenty of water is particularly important for consistent laying, Clauer adds: "If a laying chicken goes without water for more than than 12 hours, it can go out of production for weeks." Special poultry waterers ensure that chickens always have access to fresh water.

Chickens also appreciate man interaction. "This is going to sound weird, but they get your friends," says Debbie Edwards-Anderson, who tends a flock of hens with her married man in Brooklyn. "When I become to my garden gate, I yell out, 'Hey, ladies,' and ane will run back and get all the others and they crowd at the gate with all their 'awk, awk' greeting noises," she says. "They are really affectionate in their own foreign way."

Although hens can lay every bit long as they alive (eight to 10 years isn't uncommon), they starting time producing fewer eggs afterward 3 to 5 years. When egg product drops to one or two a week, chicken owners must decide whether to go along the older hens as pets or utilise them for meat.

Edwards-Anderson's husband, Greg, who grew upwards with hens in his hometown of Selma, Alabama, is not squeamish about turning their hens into stew when the time comes. Merely he suspects his wife will accept a problem: "This is her kickoff farm-animal experience," he explains. "They're like my babies and I beloved them," she concurs.