Keeping a small flock of chickens is a popular pastime in Harvard, where owners sell their excess eggs for a few dollars from picnic coolers perched roadside throughout the town. But the joy of chickens extends beyond the wonderful taste of the fresh eggs, and anyone who keeps a flock will tell you they can while away an afternoon watching their birds socialize and scratch in the garden—one of the true delights of country living. While starting out with a little batch of chicks might seem like a complicated project, all of it responds to common sense. Chickens are hardy, resourceful, and social birds with down-to-earth needs for food, water, and shelter secure from predators. The pleasures are many: the thrill of finding your first egg, watching your flock come to your call, and enjoying the distinct personality of each bird.
Many people like to start out with a small coop and a flock of three to four hens as a way to enjoy a steady supply of fresh eggs and keep the project manageable. While it is possible to order chickens through the mail from large poultry dealers like Strombergs or the Murray McMurrary Hatchery, 25 chicks is considered a minimum order for mailing (the chicks need the others for body warmth to survive the journey). However, local feed stores offer chicks for sale after Easter, including Erikson's Grain Mill at 113 Main St. in Acton.
John Erikson and Ryan Landry have sold hundreds of chicks in their time and note that sales have doubled in the last several years, as backyard suburban flocks have become increasingly popular. This year Erikson's will receive shipments of four to five different varieties of chicks for several weeks starting in late April, at a cost of about $3 per chick. Erikson recommends the Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire, Silver- and Gold-Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, and Australorp breeds as excellent layers and good pets. There is a 95 percent chance that the chicks you buy will be hens, but this is not guaranteed, since determining the gender of chicks is a black art at best. The only thing complicated about chickens, Landry said, are some of the rules around their sale: all suppliers are required to sell a minimum of six chicks, which may exceed the number of chickens you may want to keep. If this is more than you want to take on, find a friend to split the order with or place a classified ad in the Harvard Press.
It is helpful to have a chicken brooder set up before you bring your new pets home, but this is a simple task. Find a large box—even a large cardboard box will do—and fill it with a good quantity of wood shavings. The box will need four things: a heat source that safely maintains a temperature of 95 degrees the first week, a water source, and chicken starter food in a feeder trough. Shavings, a waterer, feed, a feed trough, and a heat lamp will set you back approximately $40, but will last until the chicks are "feathered-out" and ready for their outdoor home. A little word of warning: while they are absolutely adorable, chicks don't smell good. Things will be fine for several hours after their litter has been freshly changed, but they won't be welcome long in any room where you spend a lot of time. Think about finding them a spot in a nice dry basement, or even a draft-free corner of a well-insulated garage.
Until they feather out in adolescence, chicks eat a special formulation called chick starter, which comes in medicated and nonmedicated versions. Unless you object to the antibiotic, buying the medicated version is recommended to keep the flock free of coccidiosis, a disease common to young birds. There is no need to provide grit (also available for purchase) at this stage unless you plan to provide anything other than chick starter. Go ahead and provide a small dish if you would like to treat your chicks to a lettuce leaf once a while, however. In addition to chick starter, your birds will need clean, fresh water changed at least twice daily. Chickens aren't terribly tidy, and the waterer tends to get clogged up with shavings and waste. If you are raising your chicks with your children, this might be a good chore to hand off to them before and after school.
The last important element for chicks is a heat source. Whether this is a 100-watt bulb or a heat lamp (sold in all poultry catalogs and any feed store), the temperature should be set at 95 degrees the first week, 90 for the second, and decreasing by five degrees each week after that until the chicks feather out, spring arrives, and they are ready to be moved outside. Watch your chicks for signs of heat distress: if they huddle far away from the heat, the bulb may be too close; if they look droopy and miserable, they may be in a draft or not have enough warmth. A simple thermometer left on the floor of the cage will give you an idea of the temperature in the coop, but let your eyes be your guide on this one: A happy chick looks like a happy chick.
One of the most enjoyable parts of this project is creating or buying the coop, which can range from the most humble and practical little shelter to custom-designed structures built to match your house. The Internet and any book on chicken care offer a multitude of ideas on coop design, and it can be a lot of fun to build your chicken dream house if you choose to do that. Requirements are few but hardfast: each bird requires a minimum of 4 square feet; a draft-free space with a roof that does not collect and hold heat; a clean, dry surface to walk on; a perch at least 2 inches in diameter (a closet rod works well); and one nest box lined with straw per four hens. An old tomato crate or something similar is ideal for nesting, and while these can be set on the floor of the coop, chickens prefer that they be hung at a height of two to three feet. Keep in mind that it is helpful to make both the coop and the run large enough to stand in and work comfortably, as this makes the recommended twice-a-year cleanup much easier to do.
The coop should open out onto a run where the flock can find both sunshine and shade, and where the birds can dust themselves and bask in the sun. Many commercial coops come with an attached run (see the omlet.us website for some examples), and others simply provide the coop. Construct the run from the bottom up by digging out a six-inch layer of dirt and putting down a foundation of chicken wire that extends upward around the edge of the run's lumber frame. Replace the dirt, then continue framing in the run with chicken wire and finish with a chicken wire roof. An alternative to chicken-wire flooring is to sink some 1-by-6-inch boards into the ground all around the coop, but make sure you have created a very tight barrier: the skunks, weasels, and fisher cats of Harvard are willing to work very hard for a chicken dinner, and their ingenuity is considerable.
Chickens are ready to move to their outdoor coop at three to four months old, when they have feathered out and cold winter weather is no longer a threat. At this point they will transition to a feed mix called layer crumble, which contains helpful ingredients for good egg production. In addition to layer crumble, chickens love treats, and are easy to train to come at your call if you regularly offer them fresh greens and leftover fruits and vegetables. Their taste preferences are as individual as that of any human, and finding out which hen prefers what treat is all part of the entertainment.
Eggs are the most obvious reward of keeping a backyard flock, and the taste is incomparable. Whether fried, poached, or baked in bread, the yolk has a beautiful deep-orange color that spoils many a chicken owner for store-bought eggs. In general, a chick bought in spring will start laying in early fall. The eggs may start out small and be laid right on the floor of the coop—the hen is often taken by surprise the first few times—but then look for eggs in the nest boxes as they acclimate to the process. New flock owners sometimes wonder if the hens need a rooster to lay eggs, and the answer is no. The eggs come with or without a rooster in residence.
Many chicken owners love their roosters for their magnificent plumage, their ability to provide fertilized eggs, and even their crow. Contrary to popular thought, roosters do not confine their crowing to the morning hours: they will crow from first light until last. It can also happen that a rooster, on a hot summer day, will creep up behind someone wearing shorts and, while she is bending over to fill a water pail, launch into the back of her legs with a very sharp pair of spurs. Or so I've heard.
If you find you have an unwanted rooster on your hands, you have some earthy choices to make. You may find a good recipe, and your favorite method of dispatch. Alternatively, you may make arrangements with Erikson's Grain Mill and deliver your rooster to his fate some Saturday morning to an unmarked road in Acton.
After you have had your hens about a year, they will go through a moulting process and look listless and unattractive. They will also stop laying eggs during this period. This is perfectly normal, and the hens will fully recover within a few weeks.
If a bird becomes exceptionally droopy, develops diarrhea, or shows any other significant symptoms of illness, there are several options. The first is to treat the sick bird yourself by isolating her away from the flock, and treating her water with the recommended dosage of a powdered medication called Tetroxy (also available at Erikson's). Follow the directions on the package, and note that consumption of eggs from chickens treated with this medication are not edible. If you have a health question and would like more information, visit backyardchickens.com and follow the link to chat with a vet online. Veterinarians also treat chickens as well.
As noted, there are any number of predators in Harvard that will threaten your flock. Fox, fisher cats, weasels, and skunks can fit through unbelievably small openings in a coop or run, and hawks have been known to carry away hens foraging on open lawn. Making sure your flock's buildings are secure, their whereabouts are known, and that they are roosting in the coop at night are all good ways to secure the safety of your flock.
Raising chickens is a great hobby for many people, and part of the fun is finding and connecting with the community of "chicken people" who enjoy the birds as much as you do. A relatively easy-to-keep and inexpensive pet, chickens offer a huge payoff in entertainment, affection, and egg production. It's as easy to get started with chickens as it is to get hooked on them, so roll up your sleeves this spring and take the poultry plunge.