Raising Chickens in the City -

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As people become more invested in their health and more concerned about where their food comes from, there is more demand for backyard chickens.

Factory farmed eggs are cheap, but they lack the flavor, color, and nutrients of pastured or backyard-raised ones!

If you want to raise hens in a compassionate way for eggs that are amazingly delicious with rich orange yolks and more nutritional value, but you live in an urban setting you may have a few questions.

Rest assured, because in many places it can be done!

Are Chickens Allowed?

Many places do not allow poultry or any other kind of livestock, so you will need to check the regulations for where you live!

Many urban areas do now allow a few backyard hens as long as you have enough yard space.

If you rent, live in an apartment, or live in a subdivision there is less chance you’ll be allowed to have chickens, unfortunately.

Landlords are not known for permitting pets, especially something like chickens! Apartments and condos often do not have the space for chickens even if they are technically permitted in the neighborhood.

Many subdivisions ban backyard chickens because of the perceived noise, smell, and appearance along with the incorrect idea that chickens reduce local property values.

If you check the local ordinances and you find that you’re allowed hens, there are a few key points to avoid angry neighbors and the risk of chickens being banned.

Be a Good Neighbor!

To avoid upsetting those around you, take care of your chickens! Dirty and overcrowded coops stink and can ruin time spend outside if you’re downwind.

If you’re upwind from your coop, but your neighbors are trying to enjoy a barbecue and have to smell a dirty coop they may file a complaint.

Keep your chickens’ zone tidy and dry to avoid any noxious odors! Carefully compost or dispose of extra dropping and don’t get more chickens than can properly fit in your coop.

Do not allow your hens to go into other people’s yards, either, because they can be very destructive!

There are quite a few chickens that can easily scale a chain-link fence and some that even clear privacy fences, so you will likely need to keep them in a covered coop.

One adorable characteristic of chickens is their impulse to scratch and peck. They spend much of their time digging around in leaves and dirt, looking for bugs, seeds, and grit.

Unfortunately, they’ll make a beeline for your mulch (or more likely your neighbors’ mulch) and kick it out all over the lawn. Well-manicured flower beds are basically a magnet for curious chickens!

A less adorable characteristic is that they poop everywhere. All the time. They don’t stop, even when they’re sleeping!

Birds do not have the ability to control their bowel movements, so they go wherever they happen to be at the time. This results in poop on your sidewalk, deck, porch, furniture, vehicles, and more.

Chickens will also raid your garden and eat fruits, vegetables, and flowers within their reach. They are also a target for dogs, cats, and birds of prey.

Do yourself, your chickens, and your neighbors a favor and keep those hens safely in their run!

Be Realistic!

Chickens are easy to take care of, but they do require daily care. They need to be fed and watered regularly and their coop and run need to be cleaned.

You’ll have to monitor the birds for health issues and keep their nest boxes clean and remove eggs promptly. Unless you purchase an automatic door, you will need to make sure the hens are safely and securely locked up at night and let out in the morning.

There are many night-time predators that live in urban areas that you might never even see!

There is a shortage of poultry veterinarians in many areas, especially more urban zones, which makes medical care difficult. Since chickens are birds, they require a specialty veterinarian that has experience in avian or exotic medicine.

While chicken keeping is generally inexpensive, the initial setup can be quite a shock. Prebuilt coops are surprisingly pricey and even building one yourself can exceed what you expect.

Safe fencing requires a lot of digging and high-quality materials, otherwise, you might find your coop raided and your chickens gone by morning.

Since chickens need daily tending, you’ll need to arrange for them to be cared for if you go on vacation. Dog and cat sitters can be easy to find in the city but finding people with poultry experience is a lot harder!

Hen Retirement?

Another surprise for many would-be chicken keepers is the lifespan of a hen and how long she can lay eggs.

Hens can easily reach 7-8 years or more due to the improved nutrition and healthcare available. Unfortunately, hens really only lay eggs reliably for a few years!

This leaves many people in a tight spot where they have a flock of hens that give them a couple of eggs every now and then, but still, need the same level of attention.

Unproductive hens are often used for soup stock or stews on the farm, but this can be emotionally difficult when you’re attached! We have included a video above of that example. Viewer discretion is advised.

After raising them from chicks, sitting with them daily, and enjoying their silly antics, “disposing” of them when they no longer lay may feel cold and uncaring.

Luckily, you can still keep them as pets! Even if you aren’t getting eggs you might find them useful for cleaning up gardens in the fall, producing compost, and just being cute.

Only you can decide what to do with your old hens – just make sure you are aware that eggs aren’t forever!

Sourcing Chicks or Pullets

Urban chicken keeping usually starts with chicks, although you can spend a little more to get started pullets.

When you get started pullets, you can put them directly into your coop and skip the whole brooder set up, which saves money in the long run.

Most people love the chick stage and enjoy spending a lot of time with the babies. When you handle them a lot as they grow, they’re generally a lot more comfortable with being picked up and snuggled.

If you source chicks locally you can easily find a small number, but you might be limited with what breeds are available and when.

Most large hatcheries require pretty large orders so they can be shipped safely to you.

Since roosters are not allowed in urban areas, your best bet is to purchase sexed chicks. Larger hatcheries have experts on hand that are very good at vent sexing, although it’s never quite 100% accurate.

You can also purchase autosexing or sex-linked chicks, which means that the baby hens and baby cockerels look different as soon as they hatch.

Chicken breeds that are known to be autosexing include the Cream Legbar, Bielefelder, Niederrheiner, and Norske Jaerhon.

Sex-linked “breeds” are actually hybrids that are a combination of breeds and result in a generation of chicks that can be sexed at hatch by appearance.

These often go by names like Red Sex Link, Black Sex Link, Gold Sex Link, Red Star, Black Star, Amber Star, ISA Brown, and more! You can often find these varieties at feed stores or from large hatcheries and they’re known for really good egg production.

If you purchase straight run chicks or hatch eggs you can expect about 50% cockerels. These little guys will start crowing by 4-5 months of age, so you’ll need to have a new home lined up by then! There are no breeds that don’t crow and anti-crowing collars are not always effective.