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Step-by-step guides for every animal, the garden, orchard, pasture and compost: getting started, housing, feeding, daily care, breeding, health and harvest.
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Read Their Articles →Raising Chickens
Chickens are where most homesteads start: a few hens give eggs every day, meat birds fill a freezer in eight weeks, and both turn kitchen scraps and bugs into compost for the garden.
- Eggs hatch in
- 21 days
- Hens start laying
- 18–22 weeks
- Layer feed
- 16% protein
- Feed per hen
- about ¼ lb a day
- Meat birds ready
- 7–9 weeks (Cornish Cross)
1Getting started
- Decide eggs, meat or both: layers (Leghorn, Australorp, Rhode Island Red) or dual-purpose breeds (Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte) for a family flock; Cornish Cross or Freedom Rangers for the freezer.
- Check your town’s rules on hens, roosters and flock size before you buy.
- Start with 4–6 hens for a family of four — about 2 eggs a day per 3 hens in good laying weather.
- Buy chicks vaccinated for Marek’s disease from a hatchery or NPIP-certified breeder.
2Brooding chicks
- Set up and warm the brooder a day before chicks arrive: 95°F at chick level the first week, then 5°F cooler each week until they are feathered (about 6 weeks).
- Watch them, not the thermometer: huddled under the lamp means cold, pressed to the edges means hot.
- Use chick starter (18–20% protein); dip each beak in water when they arrive.
- Check for pasty butt daily the first week and clean it gently with warm water.
3Housing and fencing
- Give 4 sq ft per bird inside the coop and 10 sq ft in the run; 8–12 in of roost per bird; one nest box for every 4–5 hens.
- Ventilate high in the walls but keep drafts off the roost — damp air, not cold, causes frostbite.
- Close the coop every night: raccoons, foxes, owls and dogs take more chickens than disease.
- Use ½-in hardware cloth, not chicken wire, on windows and the run, and bury or apron it 12 in out to stop diggers.
4Feeding and water
- Layers: 16% layer feed free-choice, with oyster shell on the side for strong eggshells.
- Treats and scraps no more than 10% of the diet; give grit if they eat grains or scraps and can’t range.
- Never feed avocado skins, raw dried beans, moldy food or salty leftovers.
- A hen drinks about a pint a day, much more in heat — keep water clean, shaded and unfrozen.
5Daily and seasonal care
- Daily: feed, fresh water, collect eggs (twice in hot weather), check for anyone hunched or off by herself.
- Weekly: top up bedding, scrape the dropping board; every few months clean out to bare floor and compost the litter.
- Laying slows when days fall below 14 hours of light; hens molt in fall and need extra protein then.
- Summer: shade, cool water, frozen treats. Winter: unfrozen water and dry bedding — healthy hens handle cold well.
6Breeding and hatching
- One rooster for every 8–12 hens is plenty; you don’t need a rooster for eggs.
- A broody hen will hatch 10–12 eggs; mark them and remove any new eggs laid under her.
- In an incubator: 99.5°F, about 50% humidity, turn 3+ times a day to day 18, then stop turning and raise humidity to 65–70% for the hatch.
- Candle at day 7 and 14 to remove eggs that aren’t growing.
7Health
- Signs of trouble: fluffed up and still, pale comb, runny droppings for days, sneezing or bubbly eyes, sudden drop in laying.
- Coccidiosis is the big chick killer — keep brooder litter dry, or use medicated (amprolium) starter.
- Check under feathers for mites and lice monthly, especially at night on the roost.
- Quarantine new birds for 30 days, and report sudden flock deaths — avian influenza must be reported to your state veterinarian.
8Eggs and meat
- Unwashed eggs keep the bloom and store several weeks on the counter; once washed, refrigerate them.
- Meat birds: take feed away 8–12 hours before processing (water stays); scald at about 145–150°F for easy plucking.
- Chill carcasses in ice water to under 40°F quickly, and rest the meat 24 hours in the fridge before cooking or freezing.
- Selling eggs or birds? See the selling rules for your state on the Farm Stand page.
Space guide
For each animalFencing: Fully enclosed run, or a 4–6 ft fence with a covered top against hawks
- 8–12 in of roost per bird
- One nest box for every 4–5 hens
- Bantams need about half the space
Rules of thumb — more room is always better, and breed, climate and local rules can change what you need. Sketch it out in the Barn & Garden Planner.
Put it to work
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These are rules of thumb from university extension guidance. Breed, climate and your state’s rules change the details — your county extension office is the best place to ask, and you can find it on the selling rules page by ZIP code.