Raising Chickens in your Backyard: a sustainable food source

Note: Now fully closed captioned.

Are you ready for chickens?  How do you know if you even want chickens?  What do you need to know, and what questions do you ask?  How do you make the decision?

How do you get set up for chickens?  How quickly do they grow up?  When will they lay eggs?  How do you take care of them?  How messy will they be?

In many parts of the world, people wouldn't think of not having chickens!  They've been our companion animals for thousands of years, and no longer resemble their wild cousins.  But as we moved into cities, we lost our way and forgot to bring our fowl friends with us.  Factory farms produce our eggs, ship them in bulk into stores where we buy dozens of sterilized uniform sized and colored eggs completely disconnected from the miraculous and amazing animals that created them.

Now many of us have moved back out of the cities and we're starting to pick up our ancestors wisdom and bring chickens back. Raising chickens is easy, and it makes sense for some families.  I raise chickens for their eggs, and some backyard farmers are even raising their own chickens for meat. As the world goes through a variety of changes, knowing our food suppliers has become an issue.  We can practice some small farming techniques by raising our own small flock of chickens.

Each hen provides 12 to 20 DOZEN eggs a year, for at least 3 years, depending on breed.

In this course, I take you on a behind-the-scenes look at real chickens and having a real life with chickens. I've decided to narrate while you watch my flock through most of the course, and I'm going to air all their dirty laundry.

What are some of the benefits of raising chickens?

• They turn bugs (ticks, cutworms, mosquitoes) & weeds (grass, poison ivy, dandelion flowers) into eggs
• Overnight composting machines -- their diet is very close to a human diet, they eat my un-popped popcorn kernels, leftovers that are a little too old, toaster crumbs, etc.
• You get an Easter egg hunt every day!  My 13 hens are routinely giving me 7-9 eggs every day in the spring.
• Plenty of opportunities for good exercise: walking around, lifting 50# bags of chicken feed and 40# bags of scratch feeds
• You can save on TV: Watching chickens is much more fun that watching the news
• And they help with relaxation - watching animals, especially baby animals, raises your endorphins & oxytocin levels. They're also a good focus for mindfulness meditations.

Come join the party!

About me & my chickens: I free-range my 17 chickens on the outskirts of an upstate NY city on a 1.3 acre rented home plot. I'm a single mom, with 2 college-age kids living at home, and I handle the vast majority of the chicken duties by myself.

Note: This course includes a small number of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) projects, which are entirely optional and only comprise a small portion of the course materials. They are rough guidelines and ideas for things you can do with upcycled or inexpensive materials that will save you money, time, or enhance your chicken experience. The projects may require tools, supplies, and some experience in handling them, or a friend or neighbor who is willing to help you out. But they are all entirely optional, and you are responsible for your own safety.

This course is not meant to fulfill requirements for any jurisdiction or issue a certification that is required by law for you to have or raise chickens.  I have not seen the requirements of such a course for your jurisdiction, nor do I condone or issue the certificate that Udemy provides all courses when completed.  The certificate is not a credential saying you are ready to raise chickens or to prove that you paid attention, learned anything, or have met anyone's standards in chicken-rearing.  If you have a list of requirements, contact me with the list before purchasing the course and I'll let you know whether I think this course meets the requirements.

Instructors

Criss Ittermann – Owner, Coach & Adventurer - The Eclectic Tech