There is something fulfilling about starting a homestead and the satisfaction of gathering fresh eggs from your own hens. It connects us directly to the source of our food and reminds us of the care put into every meal. Whether you keep a handful of backyard chickens or a small flock, collecting eggs is a practical, grounding experience healthy for both our minds and body.
Raising laying hens teaches patience and attentiveness. It starts with creating a comfortable coop, offering balanced feed, and ensuring your birds have space to roam and dust bathe. In return, they provide a steady supply of nutrient-rich eggs. Fresh eggs are a symbol of sustainability and self-reliance right in your backyard.
Getting Started
If your interested in adding chickens to your suburban homestead, there are a few things that need to be done before you get your chicks. First, check your city zoning. and the regulations around livestock in residential neighborhoods. Some cities allow small livestock, some allow a certain number of hens. Other cities allow for hens and only one rooster.
If you live in an agricultural neighborhood there might not be any restrictions depending on the size of your lot. While some neighborhoods in agricultural areas allow a few hens but no roosters, and others do not allow livestock at all. Some regulations are quickly changing due to the popularity of raising chickens.
I relate to Barbara Kilarski when she says, ” I’ve lived in big cities and busy suburbs all my life. If I’d known all along that keeping a few hens in my backyard was not only legal but also fun and inspiring, I would have had chickens long ago. Now that I do know, I’ll never be henless again” (Kilarski, 2003).
It’s important to do this homework, I have seen people start with chickens and then get complaints from neighbors and have animal control show up and remove their hens. It’s sad to see, but if you remain within regulations you will avoid these unfortunate circumstances.
Set Up for your Chicks
I believe its best to start at the beginning with chicks. We purchase ours from the Tractor Supply Company starting in February and through October depending on supply.
But before you go get your chicks, find a safe place for the brooder which is where they will spend the first few months of their lives. We put our brooder in the garage during cold weather and outside during warm months. We always use a heat lamp until the chicks are about 6 weeks old and its summer. In our area the evening temp can stay in the 80’s July – September.
When you set up your brooder, you will need some essentials. A large container or box, the chicks shouldn’t be able to jump out. It should be large enough to give them a little space to roam.
Bedding for the bottom of the container, there are several different types of bedding, shredded paper, hay, or wood pellets. I like to use pine shavings, its more absorbent and easier to clean up and throw in the compost bin.
Don’t use flat sheets of paper, the chicks won’t develop their feet and leg strength properly. Don’t use cedar. The oils in shredded cedar are bad for their lungs. (Bonham, 2018).
If you live in cold regions you will want a thermometer to track the temperature of the brooder. The temperature of the brooder should be set according to the chicks age. Chicks from the store will likely be around 2 weeks and needing a brooding temperature between 90-95 degrees, and about every two weeks the temperature can be lowered 5 degrees until they reach 6 to 8 weeks.
For food and water, I use a small feeder that I can set on top of a tupperware container to prevent the chicks from stepping and pooping in their feed. Chicks need special feed called crumble, you can typically find this Same with the water, you can use something shallow so the chicks don’t accidentally get stuck in the water, at this age water that’s to deep can be a hazard. I still like to prop it up on a tupperware container to prevent contamination.
They can stay in this brooder for several months with daily checks on their food, water, and temperature.
Juvenile Chicks
Once the chicks reach two months, you will see a significant difference in their size, and their curiosity. These chicks wills start jumping and attempting to fly. Before you end up with chicks all over the place you may want to cover the brooder.
Now, I typically raise my chicks during the spring and summer months which can get very warm, so I am fortunate enough to be able to move my brooder from the garage out to the yard, if the weather doesn’t change to dramatically between night and day. But that doesn’t mean they are safe outside. I still need to keep them in an enclosed area to protect them from predators.
I put a piece of chicken wire over the brooder to keep them safe, you don’t want to use anything that will restrict the air flow in the brooder.
Chicks in transition
When the chicks are about 2 months or older, its important to start introducing them to the yard, giving them plenty of time to roam outside and acclimate to their new environment. If you have older hens, it’s going to be very important to allow them time to acclimate to each other; keeping them safe by keeping them separate.
At some point you may decide to keep them outside near your older hens, but keeping the growing chicks separate from the older hens is a life and death situation. Older hens will peck and brutalize the new chicks if they are kept in the same coop before they’ve had a chance to acclimate to each other.
I have had older chicks attack my juvenile’s and have had to immediately provide care to the injured chicks. It may take several weeks, perhaps a few months for the hens to get used to the idea of sharing a coop with the new chicks, but it will help prevent serious injury or an unfortunate fatality. I used chicken wire to split the coop in half with my first introduction, and it worked ok.
Eventually, I got a small single nest chicken coop to put the chicks in next to the hen coop, so they could see each other out in the yard. When the chicks are about 3-4 months, and after they have been acclimated to the older hens you can tentatively combine the flocks, but watch them closely. The hens may still chase the chicks for territory and position, this is normal.
Some people integrate flocks by placing the juveniles on the roosts in the coop overnight. When the chickens wake up together fewer issues occur rather than when the juvenile wanders into the coop during the day (Bonham, 2018).
When Chicks become Hens
I consider chicks to be past the juvenile stage and officially a hen when they start laying. The first egg generally comes around 6 months. That is when most of my hens have started their egg laying cycle.
Some breeds may start early around 4 months and some may even start late (Bonham, 2018).
Egg production can vary from day to day and especially season to season. During spring and summer we see regular egg production with the longer days and warmer temperatures but as fall and winter set in the days get shorter and egg production can significantly decrease sometimes stopping altogether.
My Rhode Island Reds have the best egg production all year round. My other breeds Marans, and Plymouth Rocks will stop producing between December and early February.
Hens need sunlight to produce eggs so when the days are shorter they’re just not getting enough light. Hens also need to feel comfortable, stress can lead to a reduction in eggs and molting will affect egg production as well.
Caring for Hens
Hens are more than egg producers they can also be great pets and emotional support animals depending on the breed and temperament of the hen. So you will find the various methods of caring for hens are widely based on personal preference.
We raise our hens for homestead purposes, so egg production and meat are why we raise our hens. But we do love them and care for them very much as part of our little farm.
Hens need a safe and clean environment to produce the best quality eggs so a coop with plenty of room is essential. We prefer ours to be free range but decisions like that are often based on the space you have available.
Hens also need a well balance diet with essential nutrients for building healthy bodies and eggs. Calcium is essential for good quality egg shells, while apple cider vinegar and crushed red pepper are good for keeping the gut healthy.
Egg collection also offers daily insight into your flock’s well being. The number, color, and texture of the eggs can reveal much about their diet and environment.
For many homesteaders, feeding animals, gathering eggs, tending the garden are fulfilling daily activities. These are the activities that connect people, animals, and the land they share. It’s a reminder that self-sufficiency often begins with the simplest habits, carried out with care.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links’. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
Credits: Kilarski, Barbara. Keep Chickens!: Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces. Storey Publishing, 2003.
Bonham, C. (2018). Proven Techniques for Keeping Healthy Chickens: The Backyard Guide to Raising Chicks, Handling Broody Hens, Building Coops, and More. Skyhorse Publishing.
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