How to Raise Chickens in Your Own Backyard

While visiting Talmage Farm in Riverhead about four years ago to purchase gardening supplies, Hampton Bays resident Rachel Stephans and her children wandered upon peeping chicks. Standing there watching them snuggle to keep warm, Stephans had a brainstorm.

"I thought a flock of backyard chickens would be a perfect addition to my organic vegetable garden," Stephans said.

She went straight home and asked her husband, who is a cabinet maker, to start construction on a chicken coop and, on Mother's Day that year, the family picked out their first batch of 7-day-old chicks, which they named, Johanna, Freda, Alma, Margaret, Trixie, Rexy and Penny, who was later renamed Pauly.

For the first six weeks, Stephans said the chicks were kept in their garage in a kiddie pool under a heat lamp, but she said, they grew fast — not to mention, that the chicks were making a mess of her garage.

So, her husband went full throttle and put the finishing touches on the coop that he was making out of old shipping pallets.

The chicks soon moved into their new home and the family fell in love. And not only did the chicks become beloved pets, but they could also provide much more to the family.

"Chickens are one of the few pets that can actually give back to their owners," said Stephans. "We eat their eggs, we use their manure as fertilizer in the garden, and they even eat ticks."

She added, "Fresh eggs do not compare to store bought eggs. The texture of a fresh egg is completely different. The very first fresh egg I ate from my flock — well, let's just say, I licked the plate when it was gone."

Chickens can also be raised for meat and can be used to cultivate flower beds by putting them in a "chicken tractor" that can be placed over a garden and the chickens can scratch and loosen up the soil, eat garden pests and fertilize as they go, she said.

Over time, Stephans said, each of her chicks developed its own personality, some friendly, others more nervous, and Pauly, they found to be aggressive, because as it turned out, he was a rooster and had to be given away. 

Stephans said she quickly learned the ins and outs of raising chickens and says they are very easy to care for once their coop is set up properly. 

She offered the following tips: 

• The hen house should have a roost; nesting boxes for them to lay eggs in; a pop door that the chickens can go in and out of; a service door for the owner to use for maintenance and cleaning; windows and vents.

• The house should be secure and the windows should be covered with hardware cloth to keep our predators.

• The floor of the house should be covered with pine shavings and can be mixed with diatomaceous earth to keep it dry and odor free.

• Chickens need a fended area to run in that is attached to the house where they can safely scratch and forage if there are dogs, foxes or hawks in the area.

• They need fresh water and constant supply of feed and a treat of black oil sun flower seed once a day to boost their protein. 

Stephans said buying those first chicks is one of the best things she has ever done and she now has a flock of 10 and plans to get more. And she said she may even add a few ducks to the mix.