Northwood News ♦ June 2021

Chickens in Our Neighborhood

By S. Xiah Kragie, Mónica O’Malley de Castillo, Kate Meaker, Sarah Stecher, and Sara Agu

One of the storylines of the pandemic is families flocking to get their own backyard chickens.  But raising chickens has been an increasingly common pastime in urban and suburban households, even prepandemic.  Our five NFCCA families are just a few of the millions of households in the U.S. and hundreds in Montgomery Country that have had backyard chickens.

Since the Kragie-Bates backyard is visible from the sidewalk, they have had the joy of sharing their little flock with passersby, meeting “chicken fans” and answering questions from the chicken-curious since October 2020.  But there are actually many families in the neighborhood with chickens!  Here are a few of the most common questions we have heard and some answers from a few of us chicken owners.

A few common chicken terms to get us started:

• Brooder:  a heated enclosure where chicks (without a broody mother) live until their full feathers grow in.
• Coop:  where the chickens sleep and generally where their nest boxes are.
• Pullet:  a teenage chicken, usually 15–22 weeks old, before they start laying.
• Run:  an enclosed area where they play and hang out the majority of the day.
• Nesting box:  where the hens lay their eggs.

Why Chickens?

They’re affectionate little creatures and they produce eggs!  “We actually chose to move to this neighborhood seven years ago because we knew it was chicken-friendly (and didn’t have a restrictive HOA),” said Xiah. “Being home during the pandemic and wanting any excuse to be outside helped us finally make it happen.”

“Eggs!  We weren’t sure what was going to happen with grocery stores in March of last year, so what better time to move forward?” said Mónica.

“My daughter took care of a cow at Accokeek Colonial Farm in 4H,” said Kate.  “She couldn’t do that during Covid.  My sister raised chickens in 4H with my nieces and she offered us some to try out.  We are hooked.  We started with two adults then added two pullets.”

“It was for the learning experience,” said Sarah.  “We took in two chicks for a CSA farmer who had a litter of kittens, a batch of new chicks, and insufficient space inside for both.”

“We loved the idea of ‘free’ eggs!” said Sara, “although, not so ‘free’ once you add up the startup and maintenance costs, but still very worth it!  It’s been a great family hobby to share and a learning experience for our toddler, who helps collect the eggs and tend to the flock.”

How Many Eggs Do You Get?

• A half dozen eggs per chicken per week. — Xiah
• Production depends on chicken breed, age, and even time of year!  We have hearty New England breeds that are known for being strong layers, so our girls generally give us an egg a day. — Mónica
• We have four different breeds (one each) and get three to four eggs a day, all slightly different shades of brown. — Kate
• One hen laid green eggs and the others brown.  We could identify which hen laid each egg by shape and coloration.  Hens lay fewer eggs after a couple of years, but older hens lay larger eggs. — Sarah
• Our six gals produce about five to six eggs daily (about one/day each).  Our two breeds, Welsummers and Hy-Line Browns, both make brown eggs but the Hy-Lines are much larger.  We’ve noticed that our fresh eggs are more dense/rich and ‘eggier’ in flavor than store-bought eggs. — Sara

Did You Raise Them From Chicks?  Where Do You Get Your Chickens?

• We bought pullets that were fully feathered and ready to be outside from farms we found on Craigslist. — Xiah
• We’ve raised all of our girls since they were chicks, about a week old.  We started with three ISA Browns and three Golden Comets that we got at Tractor Supply Company.  We’ve discovered an amazing independent shop called “The Feed Store’’ in Glenndale where we get all our supplies and feed now, including two new Salmon Faverolle chicks just a month ago.  Be ready for an up front (small) investment if you go the chick route:  they’re much more high-maintenance than pullets or full-grown chickens and require a (generally indoors) brooder and heat source. — Mónica
• My sister has raised chicks for many years.  She raises them until they are pullets for me.  She lives near Virginia Beach and has a big flock.  This year we picked Easter Egger chicks. — Kate
• We got our second batch of chickens after a raccoon ate the first two.  We ordered them online and picked them up at the post office. — Sarah
• We sadly had to restart our flock after a fox got the first ones we raised from chicks in a brooder, after only about 10 weeks.  We were letting them free-range in the open yard at the time without supervision (lesson learned).  Our current Welsummers are originally from Deer Run Farm in Emmitsburg, Md. (highly recommend!) and the Hy-Lines are from a private seller in Va.  Fun fact:  it’s really hard to tell if baby chicks are male or female (there is literally a profession called chick sexing), so oftentimes when you purchase chicks they are “split-run” and there’s no guarantee you’ll get a hen.  This is why it’s ideal to buy pullets or sexed chicks, so you don’t end up with a rooster. — Sara

What is Your ‘Coop’?  Is it Heated?

“Our coop and run are all ordered online from Omlet,” said Xiah. “They were expensive but they are easy to clean, quick to assemble, and predator-resistant.  The coop is mobile and can be easily moved around the yard.”

Mónica, Kate, and Sarah all built their own coops and runs.  “It was a lot of work,” said Mónica, “but it’s strong and pretty, and handmade!”  Kate and her family used leftover fence material.

None of them have heaters.  “Depending on your breed,” counsels Mónica, “you most likely won’t need a heater for your chickens; they like to snuggle together in the coop when they get cold.”

How Do You Protect from Predators?

After losing chickens (once an entire flock) to foxes and racoons, they all only let the chickens out when they’re around.  The coops have strong foundations and roofs (against hawks).

Do They Smell?

“Like all animals, chickens come with their own perfume, mainly because they poop.  A lot!” said Mónica.  But “if their manure is on an absorbent surface, it does not smell much,” added Sarah.

Using sand, wood shavings, or sawdust on the run dries out all the poop and makes it easy to clean up or rake over, which makes for great compost for gardening.

What Do The Chickens Eat?

You knew this one was coming:  “Chicken feed!”  Omega-enriched feed makes for bright orange yolks, said Mónica.  Hens also forage for insects, slugs, worms, crickets, grubs, mealworms, and green plants.  “Cicadas have been incredibly delicious and supplanted all other foods,” said Xiah.  They also eat most table scraps.

Anything Surprising About Keeping Chickens?

• I knew they were hard on the grass, but I didn’t realize they would completely conquer the zoysia grass.  There’s not a blade left where they range! — Xiah
• They have such personalities!  There’s a reason we have so many chicken related sayings (pecking order, playing chicken, bird brain) because they are all so different and really fun to watch. — Mónica
• So true about those sayings.  Also hen-pecked and [madder than a] wet hen.  Their personalities surprised us, too.  One is bossy but clueless.  Another is very sneaky.  A third is vocal and into anything going on.  And we still laugh every time we see chickens running. — Kate
• They were so enjoyable to watch.  Two or three times, one hen laid a miniature egg, about ¾" long.  Another hen was gravely ill yet would churr to me when I picked her up to care for her.  Our last hen lived to be eight years old! — Sarah

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