Organic Chickens - Keeping Laying Hens in your Back Yard

Keeping Chickens in Your Backyard

If you live in town, it's still possible to keep some laying hens in your back yard or garden.

Many cities and town have laws about keeping chickens, most of which SHOULD apply to roosters only, since hens are less noisy than wild birds found in your backyard, and are especially less noisy than dogs!

While we do not advocate this, many city and town people stay "under the radar" when keeping hens. As long as they are on good terms with their neighbors, keeping the hens from straying from their property, and don't allow unpleasant aromas to develop, it is unlikely that anyone will report such people.

If you decide to contact your city or town to determine if it is permissible to keep chickens, be aware that it is often very important how you phrase the question. Some city people have reported that when asking how many chickens they can keep, the answer was "None" but when the same person asked in the same city how many PET chickens they could keep, the answer was "up to 6." So be sure to phrase your question accordingly!

Once you have made the decision to keep chickens in your city or town backyard, the type of housing is very important.

Non-moveable hen house: If you decide on a non-moveable hen house, which is what many people think of traditionally when considering keeping chickens, you will need to clean it out often in order to avoid odor problems and complaints from your neighbors. Non-moveable housing often creates a "dead zone" around the housing; the traffic from chickens can cause soil compaction and lack of plant life.

Portable houses: Also known as "chicken tractors" or "arks," portable housing makes it possible to keep your chickens on grass (or your garden if you need it de-bugged and tilled) and avoid odor problems altogether. Hens that have access to greens will produce higher quality eggs with an orange yolk. Yellow yolks indicate that the hen is not getting enough daylight, and is not on pasture or grass. Most eggs found in stores have yellow yolks, so you can imagine the life these hens lead.

Check out the Housing page on this site for more information and options for housing your hens on your farm or in your backyard!