If you would have asked my husband and I years ago if we would ever get chickens, we would have responded with “maybe one day if we ever had a farm.” And if you would have asked if we would ever have suburban backyard chickens, the answer would have been “no! can you even do that!?” What we eventually learned however, was that yes you can have backyard chickens, and they are more common than most would imagine.
When Nic and I first started getting into the idea of homesteading, or just becoming more self sufficient, naturally chicken-raising came up in discussion. After months of research and making sure it was a commitment we wanted to undertake, we decided to raise our own chickens in our suburban backyard. Two of the main things that we really liked about the idea of raising backyard chickens was to be able to have fresh eggs almost every day from chickens that we knew were healthy, raised humanely, and we knew what they were eating. The other thing that got us hooked was how easy everyone said it is to raise chickens, especially when you only have a few.
Fortunately we live in a more rural suburban area, so we are surrounded by various feed stores. As result, we could get chicks easily without having to order them online and have them shipped. Our favorite feed store let us order the exact breeds we wanted for less than $10 each, and they came with the store’s regular shipment that next week. After researching what breeds we thought might be best for our backyard garden, and also deciding on raising three different breeds (to tell them apart better and to get a better idea of what breeds were our favorite), we decided on: Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, and Black Australorp.
We brought the chicks home at a couple days old, they were so cute and fluffy! We made a cheap DIY brooder, kept them in one of our spare bedrooms under the heat lamp until about 3 months old. They have been in our homemade chicken coop ever since and are great reliable backyard chickens.
Stay tuned for more blog posts about our backyard chickens!
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Hey guys I stumbled across your instagram repost from I think seeds now. My wife and I live in Massachusetts and have 2 children under 4 years old. We have chickens and been growing our homestead for 4 years. Each year we continue to sustain and build upon last year’s yeld. My wife us currently blogging for a homestead podcast you may want to check out. It is also set in the east coast but seems very much in line with your ideals. This is homesteady, Aust also has a website.
I grew up on a dirt road across was a rivier I fished every day. We have only grown non go seeds can’t stress enough the importance of not planting these things and not eating them has been a challenge.
Keep up the good work and hope to see more in the future
Hello! Thank you. That’s so great that your family is striving for the homesteading life! Its really the greatest lifestyle! Whats the blog?
Natalie