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Raising Chickens: A Homesteader’s Dream

Todd’s Note: Some things just make a lot of sense!  Raising your own chickens is one of them.  Unfortunately, we have moved so far from keeping a few chickens for eggs and meat that something so simple has been lost to the average American.  But more people are waking up to the benefits of keeping chickens.  Below you will find some basic information that can help you get started if you are considering raising chickens.

By Tyler Chambers of Art of Surviving

Raising Chickens for Beginners

At some point in time, everyone interested in prepping and overall survival will begin to ponder about raising animals. One of the easiest animals to start with is chickens. Chickens can also be one of the most economically feasible animals to raise, assuming you don’t mind a little manual labor and can follow some pretty basic instructions.

There are many rewards associated with raising animals, however there are also many drawbacks. If you are looking to save money by raising your own animals, or to make a profit, you will have to have a fairly large-scale operation. Economies of scale (cost advantages of large businesses that buy in bulk and usually wholesale) prevent just about any small-time farm operation from either saving money or making money. Granted, it can be done, through discipline and lots of hard work, but it is tough.

Photo by: Steven W.

There are many things to consider once you decide that you want to raise chickens. Of course, you will have to make sure that you have enough land for the chickens, you will have to decide how you will house and protect the chickens, and you will have to think about your overall goals in raising them. If you are simply raising chickens for your personal use (for example, on your homestead), you will have fewer “political hoops” to jump through than someone looking to raise chickens as a primary source of income.

Planning for Raising Chickens

One of the first steps in raising chickens is to set aside some land. Depending on how you plan to raise the chickens (free range or caged, which we will discuss later), you will need anywhere from 1-15 acres. This estimate really depends on your personal goals and how many chickens you plan to raise.

You will also need to plan to build a chicken coop. This is where the chickens will go to roost and lay eggs. A chicken coop is not hard to build, and there are some great examples if you do a little research.

Free Range Chickens vs. Caged Chickens

Once you have set aside land and built (or planned for) a chicken coop, it is time to decide how you want to contain the chickens. This is a…

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