Should You Raise Poultry?

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- Keeping poultry can be a fun and rewarding activity.

People appreciate the companionship of their birds and enjoy using the meat and eggs that they provide.

For families, poultry raising offers insight into basic life processes and can help children learn responsibility.

But before you venture into the world of poultry keeping, you need to understand your responsibilities and obligations to both your animals and your community.

First of all, you need to make sure that you can legally keep poultry in your area and what the requirements are.

Many cities, towns, boroughs, and subdivisions have updated local laws and ordinances and property owners guidelines to allow residents to raise small numbers of poultry.

However, some municipalities still prohibit the raising of poultry especially roosters.

If you keep poultry, you must provide shelter for the birds.

You should never allow birds to roam free outside of an enclosure.

Why?

Predators.

Poultry can become a tasty snack for bears, foxes, hawks, raccoons, and other furry or feathered creatures.

Keeping birds inside a fenced area can prevent flock loss from predation.

How much space do you need for your birds?

Birds need enough space to comfortably perform natural behaviors like picking, scratching, dust bathing, and roosting.

Space requirements vary depending on the size and age of the birds.

Generally, for an indoor coop, you should provide at least one to three square feet per bird.

For free range or pastured coops, five to 10 square feet per bird is ideal.

For example, if you have six adult chickens, you would need six by 10 or 60 square feet of outdoor space and six by three or 18 square feet of indoor space.

These suggestions are for average-sized chickens from three to five pounds.

Larger chickens, bantams, waterfowl, turkeys, and guineas have different space requirements based on their weight and age.

In urban settings, coops and outdoor enclosures need to be at least 25 to 50 feet away from residences and property lines.

If you are keeping poultry in close proximity to other people, you should try not to infringe on neighbors who may be sensitive to noise, odor, flies, rodents, and unsightliness due to inadequately designed and maintained facilities.

People differ in their tolerance to the same conditions.

Just because you have always let your chickens run free doesn't mean that the new neighbors will enjoy them in their yard or garden.

All animals and birds have characteristic noises and odors.

You must house animals so that the odors are not offensive to neighbors and noises are no louder than the normal speaking voice of an adult human.

You can do this by containing the birds, providing adequate ventilation, and using good sanitation practices.

The crows of roosters tend to bring the greatest objections from neighbors.

Most localities only allow you to raise four to six female chickens and no roosters.

Keep in mind your hens will lay eggs with or without a rooster.

Responsible poultry keepers must clean litter and animal waste on a regular basis and dispose of it promptly and properly.

Pens with a three inch deep bed of pine shavings should be cleaned at least once every six weeks or when the litter gets wet or starts to develop an odor.

Poultry manure and litter is a great soil amendment if composted properly.

However, if you apply manure directly to the soil, the high nitrogen levels can kill grass and plants.

Mixing manure with a carbon source will dilute those nutrients.

Keep in mind that if your property is seen as an eye sore, the neighbors will quickly find other aspects of your poultry flock a nuisance as well.

Proper landscaping walls and vegetative barriers can provide screening and also help muffle sounds.

These barriers keep your activities out of full view leading to fewer questions and complaints.

If you have poultry, remember that you are responsible for humanely maintaining the birds.

You will need to provide freshwater, a healthy diet, and a clean environment.

In addition, you must monitor them for signs of sickness and make decisions about their health.

Caring for birds and tending to their basic needs is a constant responsibility, 24 hours a day seven days a week.

They need to be protected, fed and watered, and eggs collected daily.

Therefore, you need to make provisions for when you are away.

Raising poultry costs money, for housing, litter, food, and healthcare.

Due to economies of scale, producing eggs in small flocks will usually be more expensive than buying eggs at the store.

Now that you know some of the major issues you must deal with when raising poultry, you can make a clear decision about whether poultry keeping is for you.