Just because you live in a city, don’t assume you can’t keep chickens. Many large and small cities across North America and Western Europe allow one to keep a few laying hens.
I have 4 chickens in my Chicago backyard. Keeping them is a rewarding experience with many benefits and little effort. If you have hens (female chickens) you’ll get eggs, even without a rooster (male chicken). Eating your own chicken’s eggs is a great pleasure. They’re as fresh as possible, the texture is more firm, and you know the chickens were treated humanely. Watching chickens as they scratch, peck, and strut can be quite fun.
Meet the chickens
Clockwise from top left: Selma, Maisy, and Betty, my Red Star hens.
My original three chickens came to me as pullets (immature hens) in August 2007. They are a hybrid breed known as good layers and are called variously Red Star, Red Sex Link (because as chicks the males and females have different colored feathers), Golden Comet, and many other names. They all started laying in September 2007 and have been steadily giving me an average of 18 eggs per week.
Front to back: Easter Egger (or Ameraucana "mutt") cockeral Marshall, Easter Egger cockeral Chickie Lou, and Delaware pullet, Missy.
In July 2008, I added 4 more chickens to my household: 2 Delawares and 2 Ameraucanas or “Easter Eggers”. All came as day old chicks and were brooded seperately from the hens for several weeks, then introduced to them (slowly!) when they were 8 weeks old.
I expected these younger chickens to begin laying by January 2009. Unfortunately, not all 4 would turn out to be laying hens. Both of the Ameraucanas were actually cockerals (immature roosters) as evidenced by certain physical characteristics, including daily crowing.
I found a new home for Chicky Lou, and eventually had to get rid of Marshall since his crowing started to bother the neighbors. I lost Missy in December 2009 to an unknown condition, but still have Speedy, the other Delaware. Speedy started laying in December 2009, a week after I lost Missy.
City chicken keeping basics: two rules
First and foremost: check your city code to be sure that chickens are allowed. Many cities have their municipal codes available online; if your city does not, check with your local city clerk or library. You’ll likely find the details in the sections relating to animal care and control or zoning. If you call city hall and ask if chickens are allowed, do not assume that you will receive a valid answer. (Sad to say, but true.)
Second and nearly as important: be a good neighbor. This is a great rule to follow no matter what you’re doing. When you have companion animals living with you, it is a cardinal rule. No on likes living next to the house with the dog that barks all the time and the yard that reeks like a kennel long overdue for a cleaning. Likewise, no one wants to live next to a house with noisy, smelly birds.
Hens are usually quiet, although it is possible to have a noisy one in your flock. Like all living thing, there is variation in the population and some hens are noisier than others. Roosters are guaranteed to make noise. If your city allows chickens, it’s very likely that the code specifies hens only and bans roosters outright. Even if your city does not ban roosters, be sensitive to their impact on your neighbors.
Clean your coop and yard regularly and check for offensive odors. Good hygiene not only makes you a good neighbor, it is essential for the health of your chickens. Once you start collecting eggs, you’ll definitely want to keep the living area clean and tidy so you won’t have to scrape *stuff* off of the eggs.
It’s a good idea to check in with your neighbors occasionally about whether they have any valid complaints about your chickens. Do this while presenting them with some fresh eggs, and your chances of the conversation going well are increased!
These two rules pretty much cover everything that makes urban (city) chicken keeping different than keeping chickens in a rural area.
General chicken care
Just like you, chickens need food, water, and shelter. Feed your chickens a balanced ration that meets their nutritional needs. This could mean a commercially produced feedstock, or something you create at home.
Your chickens also provide a valuable service: they will eat your kitchen scraps, thus reducing the amount of waste you add to the local landfill. Chickens relish all sorts of scraps: vegetable and fruit peelings and seeds, leftover grains and grain products (like pasta, rice, and baked goods), and even offal and meat/fish waste (such as gristle, fish skin, and shrimp shells).
That’s right: chickens are omnivores, and much of their time free-ranging in your yard is devoted to hunting down and eating insects. You may feel squeemish about this, but it’s in their nature. They can get quite a bit of their daily protein requirement from seeds, but they also desire animal protein, even if it comes from bugs.
Many urban chicken keepers consider this a bonus: chickens eat all sorts of insects like spiders, earwigs, japanese beetles, ants, termites, and other creepy-crawleys that pester you and mess with your garden. They will attempt to catch winged insects, too, like moths and flys. If you want to *really* spoil your pet chickens, give them some meal worms or earthworms.
Chickens also enjoy many common weeds: dandelions, purslane, and crab grass, among others.
Be warned that chickens can be a garden pest as well as a garden asset. They find many plants that we deliberately put in our gardens quite tasty, too. Common ornamentals like hostas, and vegetable plants or fruits such as peppers, tomatos, and lettuce can be quickly mowed down if you give your chickens free access to the yard at all times.
Many chicken owners learn that while it’s a good idea to let their chickens roam their yard regularly, it’s best to limit the length of time. An hour or two just before dusk is usually plenty of time for them to stretch their wings and satisfy their curiosity. You may just want to keep your chickens in a dedicated section of your yard and just provide them with the garden thinnings and weedings, instead.
Do not let your chickens roam around if the yard is not fenced. Chickens don’t recognize property lines and will wander into neighboring yards, sidewalks, and streets unless contained. They can fly over short barriers, too, so fencing should be at least 5 feet high.
As for water, give your chickens fresh water every day and clean their water container frequently. For those of us in areas that freeze in the winter, there are special considerations.
When it comes to shelter, chickens are not picky. They would live inside a cardboard box if that was all that was available. However, they likely wouldn’t live very long or healthy lives in such a setting, so we need to make a bit more effort on their behalf.
My hens live in an Eglu, which is a stylish and convenient coop and run for keeping up to 3 standard-sized chickens.
Housing requirements for chickens are simple: dry, well-ventilated, draft-free, and secure. They don’t need artificially cooled or heated accomodations, but their house should be sound enough to keep out the wet (rain, snow, etc.) while allowing for good air circulation, and keep them safe from predators and pests.
Even in a city, predators are a problem. In any city, you can run into a stray or escaped dog. Such dogs can be big problems for chicken keepers, as they possess the size and strength to kill a chicken. Oppossums and raccoons are also present in many cities. Stray cats are mainly a problem for chicks or young chickens unprotected by a flock or mother hen; full-grown chickens can usually fend off a cat pretty well.
Chickens are not party animals. They go to sleep (roost) at dusk. This makes them very vulnerable at night, so be sure their coop is locked down tight against things that roam around after dark (oppossums, raccoons, rowdy teens, etc.)
The secure run where the chickens live inside their Eglus.
When you clean your chicken coop and run, be sure to put the droppings in a compost bin or pile. Leave it for a few weeks or so and you can use it in your garden as terrific fertilizer. If you’re worried about odor, consult websites like your local university extension service for information on how to effectively compost. A properly balanced compost pile (correct mix of dry/brown and wet/green ingredients) will not smell.
Winter care of chickens
I live in a city that gets quite cold in the winter, so I get lots of questions about how to keep chickens in the winter months. This does require a bit more attention to detail than keeping chickens in the spring, summer, or fall, but not too much more. The main issue with winter care is making sure the chickens have an ample supply of unfrozen water to drink.
If you have a handy, grounded electrical outlet, you can buy or make a heating device that will keep drinking water warm enough to not freeze. Or, you can check your chicken’s water supply a few times a day and switch out drinking containers full of frozen water for those full of fresh, fluid (but not hot) water.
If your chicken coop is dry and draft-free, the chickens will do OK; if it is insulated, they will do even better. You can insulate your coop with standard materials (foam board, fiberglass, etc.) as you build it, purchase a coop that is already insulated, or add insulation as needed.
My chickens live in a purchased coop that is already insulated and I add a bit of seasonal insulation when it gets really cold. My seasonal insulation is dried leaves, collected from the trees in my and neighboring yards in the fall. All those bags of leaves are just sitting in the alley or at the curb waiting to be liberated and put to good use. Grab some and stuff them in a spot where they will remain dry until needed: in the garage, under the porch, or in the garden shed. Then when the weather has dipped down to the teens or lower (fahrenheit), stuff the coop with leaves so your chickens can snuggle down into them at night.
General Resources
There are many resources, online and offline, to help you get started raising chickens in your backyard. Listed below are some of my favorites.
- Backyard Poultry magazine is published bi-monthly. It’s a wonderful resource for learning about breeds, care, and history of poultry. They also have an online bookstore.
- Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council was a great resource to me when there was a possible ban on raising chickens in Chicago. A section of their web site links to informative resources on raising chickens in the city.
- Eglu chicken coops by Omlet. You can construct your own chicken coop, or you can buy one. I don’t have good carpentry skills or much time, and I find the Eglu works well for my flock.
- Henderson’s Chicken Breed Chart notes the qualities and characteristics of various breeds.
- Keep Chickens! by Barbara Kilarski is written specifically for the urban or suburban chicken keeper.
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow is the chicken keeping “bible” with loads of information on raising chickens from chick through maturity.
- Urban Chickens blog is written by a fewllow Eglu owner. Geared toward raising a few hens in your backyard, this blog also provides updates on the urban chicken keeping movement throughout North America.
- View more photos of my chickens and their home through Flickr, or read more about them on my previous blog (which stubbornly refuses to be imported here!).
hi,were english and living in norway,we have an eglu the same type as yours but green with only two hens,( given to us free today),theyre fantastic,the strange thing is that iv’e just built and filled then planted and seeded four raised beds almost identical to yours, it’s a small world..!!
Hi,
I was thinking of getting hens but our winters here are cold in New England. How do hens do in the winter? I don’t want them to freeze and was wondering if I need to do anything special to keep them warm.
Thanks
some breeds like cochins will do fine in cold weather, but with some other breeds you could have a problem.
Mary, most standard breeds (as opposed to bantams or mini chickens) do just fine in North American winters. There are some breeds that are especially hardy; check the catalogs or talk with the people you are getting your chicks/chickens from to get their advice.
Chickens need a dry, draft-free, but well-ventilated home all year long. As long as you provide them with a coop that meets those needs, they will do fine in the winter. The biggest challenge is keeping their drinking water from freezing.
Most people who keep chickens through cold winters have electricity in their coop — or a handy electrical outlet — so they can plug in some type of device that keeps the water from freezing. You can buy several different varieties of these devices. I used an immersion heater made for bird baths because it worked the best with the type of water container that came with my Eglu.
If you don’t have access to electricity where you locate the coop, you can do it the old-fashioned way and just refill their water container several times a day with warm water during the winter.
My hens didn’t mind the snow and cold at all. Once they became used to the snow (chickens approach change a bit slowly) they were out and about the yard every day looking for stuff to eat.
That’s pretty much how chickens spend their days year round: scratching, pecking, and looking for stuff to eat!
We just took in a couple of chicks that were hatched in my daughter’s kindergarten class (I had been researching this for a while so it was great timing) and they have been a lot of fun. Today, however, while we had them outside for the first time they did something odd. After eating some oats from our hands, pecking at the grass and generally exploring for a few minutes they laid down in a funny way. It was on their sides, like they had fainted, not the way they normally sleep in the brooder. Then they would get up and peck again. Thinking they were thirsty, I tried giving them water. Eventually I just put them back in the brooder. Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? Also, I also have raised beds w/ berries and vegetables … do you only let the hens out while you can monitor their activity? Thanks!
Hi, Allison! When your chicks laid down, they were probably trying to take a dust/dirt bath. This is a normal behavior for chickens and one of the ways they groom themselves. My hens do it all the time and have some favorite places in their run where the soil is nice and loose and they can dig right in and roll around.
As for letting the chicks roam the yard, you definitely need to monitor their activity if you want to preserve your garden! Chickens pretty much like the same foods we do, so they will peck your tomatoes, eat your pepper plants (mine don’t like the actual peppers themselves so much, but love the plant), and eat the ripe berries. Also, their dust bathing activity can be pretty destructive, too. The soil in raised beds is often soft and loose: perfect for dust bathing.
So, if you don’t want your garden to be too “hen-pecked” let them roam about an hour before dark (bed time for chickens) and watch them. If they get into something they shouldn’t, you’ll have to shoo them away from it or entice them away with a well-loved treat. You may decide to cover certain plants with bird netting or put some fencing around your beds to protect them, too. Recall that chickens *can* fly, though, and if the chickens really want to snack on something they will try to fly over a short barrier.
Welcome to the fun of backyard hens! You and your children will enjoy having chickens, and when they start to lay eggs…well, it just gets better!
Hi there,
I just found this neat blog!
Wanted to mention that if those chicks are still little they might need to be under the brooder lamp still for warmth (you didn’t mention their age). If it isn’t too warm outside, and if they are still little enough to need a high temperature, more than a short visit outside might stress them.
But I’m thinking maybe this is an example of how little chicks sometimes just plop down and rest in funny ways?
Best,
Nancy
I was actually hoping you could help me out. I came across you blog while looking at the Eglu site. Chickens are banned within city limit here in DeSoto, IL and I am wanting to petition the board to overturn it. (They overturned a ban on pitbulls recently so I know they can change their mind lol) But I have no idea where to start. What kind of guidelines/rules does Chicago have? What all kind of paperwork do I need to check into/fill out?
Sincerely,
Stephanie
Stephanie,
Glad to help a fellow backyard chicken enthusiast out!
If you haven’t checked out ThomasK’s Urban Chickens blog yet, that’s a great place to start. He’s been posting about the efforts of others across North America who are trying to get laws changed in their communities to allow for chickens. Looking at the proposals of others can certainly give you a good idea on what to use in your approach, although you know your community and have to take the unique “flavor” into consideration.
Here in Chicago we have NO rules about keeping chickens or any other type of “livestock,” believe it or not. The city code does explicitly prohibit the dyeing of chicks and ducklings [no pink, blue or green baby poultry for Easter] and the keeping of any animal “for purposes of slaughter” in a residential neighborhood. Now, exactly what this “purposes of slaughter” means is pretty vague: does it just ban slaughtering an animal in a residential area, or does it allow for people to bring their chickens, rabbits, etc. to a licensed butcher for slaughter, or does it outright ban the keeping of any animal you intend to eat? Most folks seem to prefer to not delve into the exact meaning behind this ordinance.
Other than that, there is no other law on the books in Chicago specifically pertaining to poultry raising. There are nuisance laws that could be enforced if people aren’t caring for their chickens well, just as they can be ticketed for not caring for their dogs properly.
If you look at the laws in other other towns, they basically have certain key elements to them: outright banning of roosters (to address the “noise issue”), restrictions on the number of hens, and requirements for accommodations. Some towns also require permitting and/or licensing, similar to how one often has to purchase a license for a dog. Permits may be required for the construction of housing, or to enforce certain standards for housing. The problem with licensing and permitting is that towns often see this as yet another thing they have to pay someone to review and enforce; the fees gathered rarely cover the costs of administering these things.
Are there others in your community who would support you? Dog breed bans often fail or are over-turned because there are enough people in the community who object to them, and because they are not supported by national animal rights organizations. These same organizations may not be viable supporters for your efforts, but others may be. Do you have a local co-op? Folks who support co-ops are often more likely to support local food movements, and raising chickens can be looked at as a local food issue. What other allies could you have in your community?
Linda
I’m so glad you’re posting, I live in an IL burb and want to raise a couple of chickens for eggs but didn’t know how others make it work. Thanks.
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
Hi,
If John and Linda Tye left you their e-mail addy when they commented, can you please ask them where they purchased their Eglu in Norway? I live near Oslo, and I don’t know where to get one. Also, it would be neat to talk to someone else living here who has one! I would like to have a couple of silkie chickens in mine, whenever I get it.
Thanks so much!
~Xenia
So glad to find you! I’ve been considering a chicken run for a few months out here on the North Shore, and it’s darned inspiring to find you raising hens in the city! Keep up the good work and the blog, and thanks for inspiring us!
i am getting chickens soon ,are red stars good with cold i
live in Albertaor is there a more hardy breed
what should i make for a pen or where shoold i buy one
Charlotte,
I found my Red Star hens very hardy this past winter. Red Stars (alternatively known as Golden Comets, Cinnamon Queens, and Red Sex Link) are very good layers all year round. And, since they are a standard size breed, they seem to do well in the winter cold. Really hot, humid conditions are harder for them to deal with.
If you’re looking for breeds known as extremely winter hardy, you can try Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Australorps, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds, Buckeyes, or Chanticleers. The Chanticleers are very rare, but they were bred to survive the cold winters in Quebec. Any good hatchery should have the first 5 breeds listed. Buckeyes are a bit more rare, but not as hard to find as Chanticleers.
My newest chickens are Delawares and Easter Eggers (mutt Ameraucanas). Both are standard-sized , and the Delawares are supposed to be very good winter layers.
There are lots of ideas for coops you can build on the Backyard Chickens site. Check out the Forums on that site, too, where the dialog and advice in the Coop & Run Design and Construction thread is typically top notch.
If you choose to buy a coop, you can do so through a few online vendors. I’m not certain if the Eglu is available in Canada, but a web search on “chicken coop” should bring up some options.
Thanks so much! Your blogs a great resource!
Hi:
Thank you for your website. I live in Chicago (lakeview) and am planning on ordering an eglu. I know they sell pullets if you want them but I would like a different bred. Any ideas on where I can order them?
Thanks
Hi, Ann-Marie!
If you just want to purchase a few chicks, you have a few options.
Visit a feed store that sells chicks. I recommend calling them first to see what sort of chicks they have. Many feed stores don’t have chicks at this time of year as it is not prime chick-raising time.
Order from the online hatcheries that will sell small quanities of chicks. MyPetChicken.com and Meyer Hatchery both have small order programs that allow you to order as few as 3 chicks. Most other hatcheries require you to order a minimum of 20-25 chicks at a time.
Team up with others who are ordering chicks to meet the minimum order requirements.
You can also check the local Craigslist for people offering chicks, egg incubation service, or even full grown hens. Over the course of this past summer, I saw at least 6 postings on Craigslist of people needing to rehome their chickens. Most of these were folks in suburbs that did not allow chicken keeping who got caught raising chickens illegally. They were looking for good homes and offered hens for free or at a low cost.
Let me know if you have any more questions. So glad to meet another Chicagoan with an interest in keeping chickens!
Linda
[...] Weeding 2 Jump to Comments Here’ s a fine resource from our neighbor, Windycitygal. She has some pertinent info about chicken care right here in Chicago. Please also enjoy this [...]
Any luck with new layers in January? You’ve got some beautiful girls!
I googled “stray chicago chickens” and found your blog! I just took a short walk in my neighborhood and saw 4 chickens in a remote-ish area (bordered by light industrial/ graveyard/ forest). I am concerned if they will survive the temps in February.
I presume someone “dumped them off” thinking they can survive on their own..but they look very out of place, esp one black chicken pecking around some shrubbery near a parking lot.
2 are white, and 2 are black. one black has a fancy feathered head. any advice??
I’m part of a group working to legalize backyard chickens in Shorewood, WI, just outside Milwaukee. We have created a brief 10-item survey to gather info to help us respond to the concerns of our Village board. Please take the survey if you keep chickens in an urban or dense suburban setting, and please also share the survey with other backyard chicken enthusiasts:
http://www.polldaddy.com/s/428DF6425FDACA67/
Not that I’m impressed a lot, but this is a lot more than I expected when I stumpled upon a link on Digg telling that the info is awesome. Thanks.
Very interesting.
I’m in a Gold Coast condo now, and hoping to leave the condo ranks next year.
If I’m able to find a house, I’m definitely going to get a couple chickens.
(If I end up in a townhouse, I guess I’ll be stuck with the association rules.)
Hi Linda,
I’m a photographer in Chicago and I’m starting to work on a series on urban agriculture. I am doing this for my own enjoyment, to promote my work, and to learn more about the great “green” things people are doing in the city. I’m very excited about this project and I’m looking for someone with chickens to take a picture of. Next week, I’m taking a picture of worms (vermiculture) and in a few weeks, I have the pleasure of taking pictures of bees.
Please let me know if you might be interested. I’d be happy to share some pictures with you.
Best,
Simone
Hi Linda,
I live in Oak Park and have had two leghorns since June. One was taken by a raccoon that tore the edge of the fencing and left a carcass. The remaining poor chicken is now terrorized on a nightly basis by raccoons. We have gone outside for a couple of nights to chase the varmints away. Have any advice on how to keep the predators out of your yard?
Thanks.
Amy
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
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Love design!!! I just came across your blog and wanted to say that Ive really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
Hello,
My name is Katey Rusch and I am a journalism student from Northwestern University. I am doing a story about the Evanston Backyard Chicken Group. They are trying to make keeping backyard chickens legal in Evanston. However I would really like to talk to an owner who already has chickens and loves them. I think it would be a great part of my story. This interview would take long and it would really help out my class project.
Please let me know if you are interested by emailing me @ k-rusch@northwestern.edu.
Sincerely,
Katey Rusch