What you need to know about keeping backyard chickens

Always dreamed of fresh eggs for breakfast?

Times – and some Midlands municipalities – are making that idea easier.

Forest Acres is one of the latest cities to allow chickens to be kept in the backyard, with some restrictions. Others that allow them include the city of Columbia, Cayce, Chapin and Lexington.

Shirley Sease, whose Farmer’s Shed in Lexington is offering a free seminar Saturday on raising backyard chickens, said it is “one of the easiest hobbies to get interested in.”

In addition to the fresh eggs, it’s a great way to teach children and grandchildren about where food comes from, Sease said, as well as the skills of caring for another living being.

In Columbia’s Heathwood neighborhood, the Felder family – Tara, David and their 2-year-old triplets Ruthie, Max and Sadie – have kept backyard chickens for a year, starting out with four chicks last winter.

“We ordered some Plymouth Barred Rock chicks because we had heard that they have the best temperament,” said Tara Felder.

“We ordered them at the wrong time of year (late-winter), so the chicks had to stay indoors until it got warmer” she said. But that gave the children and the chicks time to get used to each other. The chickens “are easy to handle – easier than the dogs.”

When the chance of frost and freezing passes and the weather begins to warm is the perfect time for getting chickens. Once the permanent feathers come in, hens should be able to stand an ocassional cold evening. The Felders have rigged up automatic feeding and watering stations inside their chicken coop and have put in a lamp to provide some extra light and heat during the winter months.

“Every afternoon we do an egg check. We usually get two eggs a day (in the winter),” Tara Felder said. “This summer will be the second year (for the hens) and we should be getting larger eggs.”

Hens usually lay eggs regularly for about five to seven years. After that, egg production drops off but doesn’t stop completely.

“The kids really love the eggs,” David Felder added. “Max likes to carry the eggs inside and helps me scramble them. Now they prefer our hens’ eggs over store bought.”

Before you buy chicks, first check with your homeowners association or the ordinances of the city where you live. Individual homeowner and neighborhood associations can impose restrictions or bans on backyard fowl that trump city ordinances.

There may be restrictions, for example, on where you can place a coop on your lot.

Forest Acres Code Enforcement Officer Roy McBee said lots in Forest Acres average around 15,000 square feet. According to the city’s ordinance, the minimum square footage of a lot for allowing a coop is 10,000 square feet. But, there are rules for the placement of the coop on the lot as well as limits to the size and construction.

When building a coop, there are some factors that you need to consider:

▪ How many birds will you keep? The maximum number of birds allowed for backyard coops in Columbia and surrounding municipalities is four (except for Chapin, which as of this writing has no limit on the number of hens). All municipalities ban roosters in the backyard.

Some ordinances base coop size and bird runs on the number of birds. Columbia’s ordinance reads, “hens must be confined in a coop not less than 18 inches in height and with a minimum square feet of two square feet per hen over four months of age, connected to a run of not less than nine square feet for one bird; 12 square feet for two birds; 16 square feet for three birds; or 20 square feet for four birds over four months of age, which shall be fully enclosed.” Check your town’s rules about size before you build.

▪ Construction materials that you use for the coop may be regulated. You will need to keep the birds safe from predators – racoons, hawks, foxes, possums are the usual suspects – but don’t discount your pet cat or dog. Even squirrels can be a threat, as well as rats and mice and snakes, because they will go after the chicken eggs.

“We haven’t had ‘the dead chicken talk’ yet with the kids,” said Tara Felder. Whenever that happens “we’ll just have to deal with it.”

▪ You will need to know whether the coop should be mobile, like a chicken tractor, or stationary. Chicken tractors are essentially moveable coops that lack floors. You pick them up (or roll them around) and move them about the yard so that the chickens can eat bugs and worms in the ground while fertilizing the spot where you’ve parked the tractor. Some municipalities require flooring on the coop.

After you have met the restrictions and finally have your chicks in place, it will take about six months before hens begin to lay eggs, Sease said. Some breeds will lay eggs daily, some every other day, some once or twice a week. Most hens lay brown-shelled eggs, but if you like a little bit of color, try the Ameraucana for light blue-green shells or Leghorn for classic whites.

Besides chicken feed, the birds will eat bugs and worms and vegetable scraps. The Felders figure, with their three hens, they go through a 25-pound bag of feed every two months.

“We know of a lady that grows microgreens for her chickens in the wintertime, but we’ll just save up on vegetable and banana peels,” Tara Felder said. “The folks at Tractor Supply, Sal’s Ol’ Timey Feed & Seed, and Mill Creek on Millwood have been helpful answering our questions.”

Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper in bowl until blended

Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour in egg mixture.

As eggs begin to set, gently pull the eggs across the pan with a spatula. As large curds begin to form, continue cooking, pulling, lifting and folding eggs until thickened an no visible liquid remains. Remove from heat and serve.

www.incredibleegg.org

In two small bowls, pour 1/2 cup vinegar. Crack 1 egg into each bowl, careful not to break the yolk, let stand 5 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. Using a whisk, vigorously stir water until a vortex forms in the center. Carefully slip one egg with the vinegar into the vortex and continue to swirl water with whisk around the edges of pan until water returns to a boil. The egg white should wrap tightly around the yolk, forming an oval shape.

As soon as the water returns to a boil, reduce heat to medium and gently simmer egg, frequently stirring, for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift egg from water and use kitchen shears to trim away any stray pieces of egg white. Place egg on paper towels and gently blot, transfer egg to a bowl or plate.

Repeat process with remaining egg. If preparing more than two eggs, repeat using fresh water.

Season with salt and pepper.

DO AHEAD: Eggs can be poached 1 day ahead. Immediately transfer egg to a bowl of ice water and let cool. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate. Cover and chill. Rewarm in a saucepan of simmering water for 1 minute.

Thomas Keller for Bon Appetit

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "What you need to know about keeping backyard chickens."