Hen House: Our Foray Into Backyard Chickens

As COVID-19 has dramatically changed almost every area of life as we’d known it, many people have suddenly found themselves spending far more time at home. New projects, habits, and interests have sprung up in many of our lives during lockdowns as we try to find entertainment in and around the house.  Backyard chicken rearing has been one of them.  

Over the past ten years, owning chickens has been steadily growing in popularity. Come this past year’s succession of lockdowns, and backyard chicken rearing has experienced a massive boom.  

Inspired by my friends back home in the UK, who, as a COVID family project, purchased a build-your-own coup for their newly acquired flock of four, we started to think about the possibility of owning our chickens too. As I began to investigate chicken coup ownership in our community, I was surprised by how many Ridgewood residents own chicken coops here also. Everyone was only too happy to share the joys of having these curious, sociable and quirky animals in their backyard. 

With some trepidation towards chicken ownership, we decided to start by renting them, which you can easily do through RentACoop. A coop (on wheels for easy maneuvering) arrived at our door, accompanied by food and bedding for the duration of the rental and, of course, our new feathered housemates. While it may vary by provider, RentACoop offers rental periods of between four and twelve weeks and requires a minimum of two chickens.   

While there are hundreds of different breeds of chickens available, we were given two Golden Comets.  These are a hybrid breed known for their egg-laying capabilities. They’re curious and friendly creatures, hardy and entirely at ease, even as the kids chase them around and pick them up for cuddles. 

Our two-chicken coop	Candycorn and Pumpkin

Fast-forward to Week 7 

A few things we have learned 

1. As with everything in NJ, the rules for chicken rearing vary by municipal authority.   

In Ridgewood, you are required to hold a permit, and agree to inspection by the health department, though this is not universally abided by.  The most challenging real restriction is that there must be a 75-foot distance between the coop and the nearest house.  There are other rules too, but they’re largely ignored, as they were all written 80 years ago with commercial operations in mind. You can find the chicken ordinance on the Ridgewood Village General Code here (Section 105-18).  

2. Chickens are smart, curious creatures, with individual personalities.  

They will come when you call them, are happy for the kids to chase them around and pick them up, and they’ve been known to fall asleep in your arms if you rock them on the swing set.  

They are happy to forage for hours on end in the bushes where group dust baths are a regular pastime. A good dust bath is one of the ways that chickens like to keep themselves clean. It helps to keep their feathers clean and free of mites, lice and other parasites.  

3. Their predators are foxes, hawks and racoons.   

These predators are remarkably persistent, which means when you let the chickens free to roam around, you need to keep an eye on them. That being said, I often take a chance with letting them out, as I don’t like to see them cooped up all day.  

In the initial weeks, we observed a couple of attempted hawk attacks. The chickens soon learned, and now choose to stick to the safety of the shrubs and bushes, where they can be found enjoying a snack of bugs or ticks. I’ve positioned the coup right by the shrubs so the chickens can enter and exit the shrubs incognito!  

At night, you’ve got to watch out for raccoons. While raccoons don’t have opposable thumbs—despite what you might have heard—they are able to grasp objects, though they lack the agility that we primates enjoy.  

The racoons are active at night. Raccoons have thumbs and will work at a latch until they figure it out or pull it apart if it’s not complicated or strong enough. Racoons will kill for sport. One resident here in Ridgewood lost 13 chickens overnight.  Foxes will try and dig under the coup so proper reinforcement is necessary. 

4. Summer heat is the next biggest threat; chickens need to have easy access to water and shade. Ridgewood coop owner Bernadette Walsh has had chickens for years, and has experience tending to them over the seasons. This is her advice on the subject:   

“Our coop is approximately 4 x 5 feet, with two roosting levels.  But the chickens like to be on the highest roost altogether even in the warm weather.  I purchased a solar fan that runs during daylight hours to keep the coop cool.  I’ve affixed the solar panel to the southwest side of the coop, and it runs all day as long as the sun is out.  The fan is affixed to the top of the coop at an already accessible vent opening.  It just took a few screws to install and the panel is hooked to the fan by one wire.  My coop also has a window and another vent on the other side of the coop, so I do get lots of airflow.  I’ve been looking for a battery version that will be a hybrid solar during day and battery backup at night, so the fan runs 24/7.  

For heating, when they were pullets and I had just transitioned them to the coop during the spring, I had a fire proof heat lamp for the nighttime hours.  It made them cozy and helped them transition from being in a nice warm house where they lived for the first 5 weeks.  Now that my hens are older, I have a coop heater that I purchased from Tractor Supply.  It should only be used if the temperatures drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit as their feathers keep them warm enough during the Winter. The heater is designed to keep them warm but also keep the coop dry as this is what can cause them interior issues if the coop is always damp.  Chickens lose most of their heat through their feet so maintaining a dry coop is essential during the Winter months. I also add extra bedding to keep their feet off the metal base/drawer.  

I’m coming on my first year of raising chickens.  It’s been a great experience for the entire family, and we’ve learned a lot about their care and upkeep.  Mostly their personalities and friendliness has been the greatest joy.  I’d recommend to anyone that has the time, space and desire to raise a few of their own”. 

Coop Cooling Fan	Coop Solar Heater

5. Tricks to keeping chickens warm during the winter.  

The winter months temperatures can drop however chickens are animals and are created to regulate their body’s temperature with their undercoat of feathers and they increase food intake during the cold weather.  

Freezing drinking water can be a problem for larger coups or industrial farming but not so much for small backyard chicken coops. At home, it’s easy to replace the small bowl of fresh water each morning, and if it’s getting below 32 degrees. With NJ winters getting milder with global warming, freezing over is going to be less and less of an issue.  

Chickens lose a lot of  their heat through their feet so ensuring the coup is dry (we use a tarpaulin) and the metal reinforcement under their feet has a layer of saw dust on it. 

Generally, fully feathered chickens, with the exception of Mediterranean breeds, should be fine in cold weather. To ensure they stay warm, you can cover openings where drafts come through; we stuffed old towels in the vented areas. I’ve read that it’s better to avoid putting chick heat lamps if you can, in case of a fire. In bitter cold, you can put Vaseline on breeds with a large comb—a chicken lip balm of sorts.  

6. Chickens are good composters.  

Chicken manure can be a great fertilizer; you can fast-track the composting process, by letting them feed on your vegetative kitchen scraps, and promptly excrete out some rich excrement.  When mixed with the “brown” coop litter—whether that be straw, dried leaves, pine needles, hay or shavings—creates the perfect compost. Chickens can be active gardeners too: they love to eat insects and ticks off your plants and deposit their manure on the soil.   

Chicken manure is too “hot” (too much nitrogen) to use as fertilizer directly.  Depending on the number of chickens, as well as the design of the coop, there may or may not be a smell.  There are many simple ways to prevent/reduce the smell, so nothing to worry about.   

7. Chickens rearing has presented some great learning opportunities for the kids:   

1. The important lessons around food and transport. Where is our food coming from? How many miles has it travelled? The Co Emissions from transportation are the largest end-use contributor toward global warming in the United States which is why it’s important to support local farms and CSA’s and/or grow your own food. 

2. Ownership of these chickens has also led to a discussion in our family on eating meat, how chickens are farmed and the poor conditions mass farming practices and couped up conditions in which the chickens are kept. These discussions have now resulted in the whole family making more considered food choices around our food. Two out of four of my kids are now vegetarians and for the rest of us we much eat less meat. Getting creative and adding more plant-based meals to our diet saves us money too. 

3. As with owning any pet this small coup of two chickens has taught my kids responsibility and empathy for animals. Scatter treats for the chickens, refilling the feeders and waterers and cleaning the coup. The kids are also responsible for helping to round up our small flock at the end of the day although the chickens seem happy to return to the coup before dusk. 

4. Having a pet that keeps on giving is fun for the kids! The kids collect the eggs every morning for pancakes. As a very loose rule of thumb, two to three hens per family member should cover your egg needs, or four if your family really loves eggs or plans to give eggs away occasionally. We still buy eggs in addition to the ones that we collect as our rental coup is only big enough for two. 

5. The minimum rule of thumb is about 2 to 3 square feet per chicken inside the chicken coop, and 8 to 10 square feet per chicken in an outside run. More square footage is better. Skimping on space requirements for a flock of chickens can cause stress, cannibalism and pecking. All these lessons we were able to share recently with my daughters Girl Scout Troop who came to visit the chickens in our backyard. (The Girl Scout’ next stop after the chickens was to a presentation on Bees and Beehives by a student inspired by an assembly at Somerville Elementary “All about Bees”)  

These sociable and curious chickens have provided my kids a great distraction from the virtual home schooling and encouragement to get the kids outside daily during their breaks.  The question in our family is, will we return the chickens at the end of the 3-month rental or keep them?  I think they could be here to stay …