An Open Letter To People Who Want To Raise Their Own Chickens

My Brother And I Raised Chickens In Choteau, Montana

I grew up on a farm about 10 miles out of Choteau.  I really didn't have experience with farm animals on a daily basis until my parents decided it would be a good lesson for my brother and I to raise chickens and sell the eggs.

Raising Chickens Is A Daily Chore

• Chickens need to be fed and watered daily
• Once they're laying, you need to gather eggs regularly
• The coop needs to be cleaned a time or 2 a week. It's gross but imperative for a healthy flock

Lucky For Me I'm Allergic To Hay

I'm allergic to hay, so my brother had to clean the coop.

Not So Lucky For Me, I'm Allergic To Hay

That meant I had to do all the other chicken chores most days.  Sometimes the brother had to feed them, but usually it was me as he was in the field or whatever with my dad.

Chickens Can Be Brutal

Most days they'd just pluck around my feet happily eating their chicken feed.

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Some days they were just angry, and they'd attack me. Ever been attacked by a chicken? It's NOT COOL. They are BIRDS and they attack like a BIRD and they're BIG BIRDS with BIG BEAKS and BIG TALONS.

They're A Bit Of A Cannibal

Sometimes our hens would go completely berserk and attack me when I was gathering eggs so I'd drop the eggs and they could eat them.  That always freaked me out.

Eggs Fresh From The Coop Are Dirty

They naturally have quite a bit of poop on them.  They're not completely COVERED in poop, but job number one in the house was to wash the eggs then weigh the eggs. It's not vomit inducing, but you need to be aware.  You don't have to candle them unless there's a rooster.

If Chickens Are Stressed, There Will Be Blood In The Eggs

That was how my dad knew my brother or the dogs were scaring the chickens.

And Speaking Of Dogs And Other Predators

Do NOT get attached to your laying hens.  The production life for a laying hen is max about 10 years.  They are much skinnier than chickens we're used to eating.

It's not unusual for a coyote or neighboring dog to get into the chicken coop.

We didn't name them or play with them or treat them like a pet.  If you do that, you'll just be let down eventually.

Chickens have quite a few natural predators from smaller animals like weasels allllll the way up to bears.  Don't get attached.

If you want to try your hand at raising chickens, more power to ya.