My First Year as a City Chicken Owner

or What I Wish I'd Known 12 Months Ago :)

It's been just over a year since I inherited my first chickens. I now have six hens, two of them new this year. Here's what I would tell someone who is considering chickens. (Please add your comments too!)

1. City chickens are healthiest when housed on the lawn, but it doesn't work so well in the Enumclaw winter. My chickens love the lawn and the greens make their egg yolks a bright orange color. However, moving my chicken tractor around in soggy weather just tears up the grass! Although it's not ideal, I have a permanent pen where my hens stay in the winter. I spread straw on the ground to minimize the mud. The chickens do enjoy a chance to dig in the dirt.

2. Grow lots of cool-weather greens! (See this post.) Kale and chard during the rainy season help to make up for the hens not being on the grass.

3. Three square feet per (full-size) chicken isn't really enough. (That was a measurement I got from the Chicken Tractor book.) My hens grew A LOT over their first winter, and seemed to totally fill their tractor by spring! They also produced more manure than they had in the fall, so I had to move the tractor more than once a day if I wanted them to be able to find any grass on the ground.

4. Introducing new hens to the flock is a tricky business. I was oh, so careful, but my two new girls are still sometimes picked on even after six weeks. The "pecking order" is a real thing!

5. Keep your chickens entertained. Vary their food, let them run a bit (I have some portable fencing that I use to give them more space), or visit them often. Bored chickens get into trouble--like picking on each other and eating eggs. I learned this the hard way, and had to take an egg eater to the auction. :(

6. Be patient when your girls are molting. For some, it is a long process. They don't lay well, and they're grumpy. This, too, shall pass.

7. Chickens breeds are not all the same! I have three kinds now, and I think my favorites are the Buff Orpingtons. Every breed has its fan club, however.

While I would LOVE to have a more land and the chance to let my chickens run free, life with city chickens is pretty good too.