Backyard chicken care easier than you’d think

I’m still surprised by how many people don’t know you can legally keep chickens in the city. Not too many chickens, mind you. And, no roosters, please. But, keeping two or three little hens is perfectly acceptable. Most people, when they are considering bringing chickens into the backyard, don’t know where to start. They’re worried that the chickens will require more time, space and energy than they have. The good news is that keeping chickens is very little work. My three share a small coop, built to fit against the side of the garage to save space in my tiny backyard. They share a single nest box, and take turns laying. Each is on a different schedule. Cricket is an early bird. She lays first thing, often before we get up and get going. Little Blackie likes to settle onto the nest around mid-morning. Merlin, the alpha-chicken, takes the afternoon shift. Of course, that’s just where we are now. Each chicken’s laying cycle moves slightly each day, getting later and later. Hens don’t lay at night so eventually a chicken will cycle down and take a few days off before her internal clock gets set again. You always know when they lay by the cackling. The other hens sometimes chime in with excitement. Sunday is coop-cleaning day. We put down fresh bedding to keep flies at bay and to keep odor away. Summer is peak egg time. Lots of sunlight, plenty of bugs and worms and sweet green grass to keep them well fed. Winter is a bit trickier. Balancing the light is critical. Too little and the girls won’t lay. Too much and they don’t sleep. Chickens who don’t get enough sleep can get a little crazy, often turning on one another. Egg production slows in the winter, as well. Right now, all three of my hens are laying. They spend all day scratching in the grass, pulling weeds from around the roses and resting in the shade of the lilacs. When we walk out the back door they break into a dance. I love nothing better than to walk out to the henhouse first thing in the morning, in my nightgown more often than not, and open the door to find a beautiful egg in the box, still warm from the hen. They’re always happy to see me, seemingly excited that I’ve come to get the egg. I’m happy to serve the freshest eggs possible to my family. Occasionally, someone will hear all the single ladies singing and dancing in my backyard and they’ll ask if there are chickens in the neighborhood. “Absolutely,” I always reply. “Everyone has chickens these days.”