A new brood

Keeping chickens is a growing pastime

September 10, 2011 at 3:06 a.m.

by RHONDA OWEN SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Little Rock resident Joanie Mashburn keeps a three-chicken flock in her urban backyard.
Little Rock resident Joanie Mashburn keeps a three-chicken flock in her urban backyard.

LITTLE ROCK — While chickens aren’t likely to outpace other domesticated animals as pets, they’re becoming more common within city limits as people find they’re an interesting pastime that provides understanding and insight into the basic processes of life. More importantly, they’re a source of fresh eggs.

Little Rock resident Joanie Mashburn began raising chickens four years ago when her son, then in the seventh grade, announced that he wanted to raise chickens as a home-school project. He quickly lost interest, but Mashburn found she liked having the chickens around.

Today, three hens are still scratching in her yard.

“We still keep them because we get eggs and enjoy having them in the backyard,” Mashburn says. “And they’re fun to watch.”

Mashburn lives in a neighborhood near Hall High School where you’re more likely to find the family dog than chickens in a homeowner’s backyard. But her yard contains both; she has a chocolate Labrador retriever who thinks it’s his job to guard hens Buttercup, Red and Silver.

Her neighbors don’t mind the chickens, she says. “They really enjoy them.

Some of them are older and the chickens remind them of when they were growing up.”

While there are no statistics on how many people have backyard chicken flocks, Mashburn isn’t alone.

“We have seen an increase nationwide in the number of individuals wanting to have gardens or chickens to get back to nature,” says Dustan Clark, poultry veterinarian with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

Often, people decide to get chickens so they’ll have a convenient source of fresh eggs. Still others are hobbyists or preservationists who enjoy raising “heritage” breeds that were developed inthe 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chickens aren’t hard to keep, Mashburn and others say, always with the caveat “if you know what you’re doing.”

Before bringing a chick home, it pays to “get as much information as you can,” Clark says. “Read a book, get on the Internet, talk to individuals who raise chickens. Know what you’re getting into.”

He stresses, “If your thought is that you can raise chickens to get eggs cheaper than you can buy them at the store, you’re going to have a big surprise.”

Chickens need shelter, fencing to protect them from predators, food and water. They have to be fed daily and their living areas cleaned at least weekly. They need vaccinations. If one gets sick, it might need a visit to the veterinarian.

KNOW THE CODE

Clark advises people who want a backyard flock to first check with their city code enforcement or animal control departments about laws pertaining to livestock within city limits. In cities that allow chickens, there’s usually a limit on the number - for example, Fayetteville allows four hens - and regulations about the amount of space you must have per chicken - in Little Rock, that’s 3 square feet per bird more than 4 months old.

Some cities, such as North Little Rock, require that you get a permit before keeping chickens and specify how far chicken yards must be from residential housing. In North Little Rock, that’s 75 feet, while in Rogers, it’s 25 feet.

Almost universally, cities that do permit chickens limit them to females (hens), no males (roosters). The reason: Roosters are noisy. They don’t crow only to signal the beginning of a new day. They crow - often and loudly - at all hours, night and day.

Fortunately, a rooster isn’t necessary for egg production, Clark says. In fact, you need a rooster only if you want baby chicks.

CHICKS FOR SALE

Poultry enthusiasts get their chickens from numerous sources - mail-order hatcheries, local growers, flea markets, county fairs and livestock shows, cooperatives and farm supply stores.

Mary and Tom Dillard, who have kept chickens for more than 20 years, now have 32 chickens on their “farmette” at Farmington in Northwest Arkansas. They’ve gotten chicks by mail, plus bought them at farm supply and hardware stores.

Chicks can be ordered year round from hatcheries selling online, while locally they’re available only in the spring and early summer, Mary Dillard says.

In June, the Dillards bought 26 chickens of several breeds- Delaware, Blue Andalusian, Black Minorca, Americana, New Hampshire Red and Blue Lace Wyandotte. Some of the birds will lay ordinary white eggs; others produce eggs with brown, blue or green shells.

The chicks were born June 17 and shipped the same day by the Murray McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa. The following morning, Dillard picked them up at the local post office.

They were fine in their slightly larger-than-a-shoebox shipping container, she says. Chicks can survive up to three days on nutrition they receive while in the eggs.

After they arrived, Dillard put them in a brooder created from a large plastic storage tub, a heat lamp and a thermometer to make sure the temperature didn’t go over 95 degrees.

Nine weeks later, the chickens were out in the yard with her eight adult birds.

Dillard’s chicks were a standard assortment of egg producing and dual-purpose breeds, which are valued for egg production and as a meat source.

Since most backyard poultry growers are interested primarily in eggs, a typical “starter” breed is the Rhode Island Red, a consistent layer bird, Clark says. Their eggs are brown. Another popular breedis the Leghorn, which produces white eggs.

Mashburn’s three-hen flock consists of a Silver Leghorn, a Rhode Island Red and a Buttercup. She says they each lay an egg a day except during the winter.

Dillard says Rhode Island Reds are docile and hardy as well as being good layers. Another bird that’s suitable for beginners is the Barred Plymouth Rock.

DANGER AND DIRT

Dillard and Mashburn, who have lost chickens to predators, stress that the chickens must be locked up at night for safety.

She lived in the Heights area of Little Rock when she got her first chickens, Dillard says. One afternoon, she left for a few hours, leaving the five birds free to roam the backyard. When she returned, she was horrified to find four had been killed. She doesn’t know what killed the birds, but the list of suspects includes raccoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes and dogs.

“Predators will ruin the chicken experience if you don’t take precautions,” she says.

Keeping chickens can be a dirty business, especially if a grower doesn’t regularly dispose of chicken waste. Mashburn says she cleans out her chicken house about once a month. To make clean-up easier, she has placed a plastic dish (the kind used under planters to catch water) lined with newspaper beneath each roost. She replaces the paper regularly.

Chicken waste can be used as plant fertilizer, but it needs to be composted at least six months because fresh manure is “hot,” containing high levels of nitrogen that will burn or damage plants.

Since she began keeping chickens, Mashburn says, she has been surprised at the number of people who’ve expressed interest in starting flocks. She advises people to learn all they can before they begin and to also be considerate of their neighbors.

“I would caution people to not get out of hand with it. Respect your neighbors.”

Clark advises that anyone who thinks they want a backyard flock should keep in mind “that having animals is a seven day-a week, year-round job. There’s no holiday. They eat on Christmas just like we do.”

Fowl resources Here are some resources for information about backyard poultry flocks. Within these, you’ll find links to even more resources

HomeStyle, Pages 39 on 09/10/2011

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