Those People with the Backyard Chickens in Dallas

Someone in your office, playgroup, Facebook feed or church is that family and so am I. I’m the mom with the backyard chickens in Dallas. Being born in Dallas with family and part of my childhood spent in Western Kentucky, I’ve always loved to switch my city and country mouse hats. Growing up, I had dogs, cats, turtles and rabbits, in addition to every breed of pet store rodent. When I heard about urban chickens a few years ago, I was giddy. We got our flock last year and it’s been a wild ride of adjustment, work, a few tears and big squeals at the first egg in the nesting box.

Or maybe you’re just trying to figure out a way to do things differently at home. Here’s what it takes to raise backyard chickens.

Raising backyard chickens

A functioning chicken coop is fairly low maintenance, but I was surprised by the time and financial investment we put into getting our coop up and running! Like starting a garden, it takes dedication. I expected an idyllic scene of us dining al fresco on our patio in the evenings, hens peacefully pecking around us, and morning trips outside to fetch the abundance of eggs I would gift to all of our friends. Reality is a little different.

Our chicken raising mostly consists of:

• Adding fresh water every day
• Adding fresh feed every other day
• Cleaning the coop at least once a week (Heads up – This means scraping chicken droppings that compare to a small dog’s!)
• Freshening the nesting boxes with liners periodically
• Checking the nesting boxes for eggs every day

We typically get about three eggs, but it took a few months before our hens began laying regularly. The hens have dry spells without laying eggs due to heat, stress or other situations. It’s more work and fewer eggs than I thought for it to be break-even (time and money), but it’s comforting to know where our food comes from and always a thrill to see the eggs waiting for us as a reward for our labor!

The Supplies You’ll Need

You will need to get the chickens settled, fed and watered all those days you don’t feel like it (ventures out during ice storms and rain come to mind)! There’s also the other investment of supplies. While the thought of chickens happily roaming the yard is quaint, they require more supplies, food and shelter than I first imagined. You’ll want at least the following:

• A chicken coop
• An attachable chicken run. I recommend a spacious run to let your chickens stay in most of the time to protect from predators and keep chicken waste from overtaking your yard, which can spread illness to children.
• Chicken feed and containers. I suggest making sure it is non-GMO, as that is the general point of your work!
• Water dispensers. The bigger the better for hot Texas summers!
• Nesting pads to help keep chickens comfortable and eggs clean.
• Oyster shell if you want to bolster egg shell hardness to further protect from disease.
• Diatomeceous Earth to use in your coop and food supplies to protect chickens from bugs, mites and other pests

Need More Help?

There’s a ton of fun books, accessories and treats you can get for your ladies as you please!

Now that it’s hip and fun to have your own backyard coop, there are great resources in town to help you get started! Here’s a round-up of places I shop, follow and turn to for counsel! 

• Trinity Haymarket is where we purchased our pullets and where I get most of their feed. They really love getting people started and are passionate about urban homesteading.
• Feeders Supply Companycovers feed and bedding delivery to coop building and cleaning.
• Hollywood Feed, select Whole Foods stores and Elliott’s Hardware for chicken food

At the end of the day, I love our chickens. They require our family to work on a project together in our back yard after days at school and work. I have gone from feeling overwhelmed to feeling like we have a fun aspect for our lifestyle at home which helps us build character while teaching us more about the world and ourselves! I recommend going for it, and taking the time to know what you need and how to welcome them to your home so you have a happy coop from the start.

This post was originally published on June 3, 2015.