Is it possible to keep a chicken in an apartment?

In fact, the question “is it possible to keep a chicken in an apartment?” does not have a clear answer. Today in Russia there is no law that would specifically and clearly regulate the rules for keeping chickens in a city apartment.

But there are some regulations in which you can find a loophole both in favor of keeping laying hens in the house, and as an unequivocal ban on this.

At the moment, a regulation is being developed on the list of animals prohibited for keeping in an apartment. However, the bill has not yet been adopted, the list has not been compiled, and it will mainly focus on wild, aggressive and exotic animals.

But the raising of farm animals is still not clearly regulated by law.

First you need to decide whether the chicken is a pet.

The Federal Law “On the Responsible Treatment of Animals” in Article 4, paragraph 7 defines a pet as “an animal maintained by an owner - an individual, and under his temporary or permanent supervision, cats, dogs, as well as unproductive and wild animals in captivity , not included in the list of animals prohibited for keeping.”

A chicken, even an ornamental breed, is definitely a productive bird because it lays eggs.

Decorative breeds of chickens also include Brama, Shabo, Paduan, Gudan, Minorca, Araucana, Cochin, Phoenix, and Pavlovsk.

Thus, it is hardly possible to talk about the absolutely legal keeping of these birds in a room or on a balcony.

Also, the Federal Law “On the Protection of Animals from Cruelty” states that any pet must be kept in appropriate conditions that correspond to its biological characteristics, satisfy the need for food, water, sleep, walks, vigorous activity, communication with other animals and person.

And the number of animals kept in the apartment must be such that it is possible to maintain the living space in accordance with sanitary and epidemiological standards.

In this regard, we can hardly conclude that chickens in apartment conditions can satisfy all their natural needs. At a minimum, their living space will be very limited, and walking in the fresh air, in their natural habitat, is impossible, even if the laying hens live on the balcony.

So the question of how humane it is for the birds themselves to keep them in the house, according to this law, is quite controversial.

The third law that regulates the keeping of pets is Article 17 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

This article states that “the use of residential premises is carried out taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of citizens living in this residential premises, neighbors, fire safety requirements, sanitary, hygienic, environmental and other legal requirements, as well as in accordance with the rules of use residential premises approved by the federal executive body authorized by the Government of the Russian Federation.”

Thus, raising chickens in a residential apartment building is labor-intensive and difficult to carry out within the laws of the Russian Federation. It is quite difficult to maintain sanitary and hygienic rules with chickens, and neighbors are usually extremely unhappy with such feathered residents because they make a lot of noise.

In practice, we see that some owners, despite all the restrictions, still raise chickens at home.

In most cases, neighbors are very unhappy with this, since roosters begin to crow loudly in the middle of the night, chickens cackle, and the smell from the waste products of birds is quite pungent and unpleasant for city residents.

Did you know? The crow of a rooster is very loud and can be heard to the human ear at a distance of up to 2 km.

On the one hand, such noise in the middle of the night violates the rights of residents, but on the other, law enforcement agencies say that the noise ban applies only to those objects and phenomena that are controlled by humans, but noise from both small children and pets does not. is.

Although at this point it is worth returning to the definition of “pets” according to Russian legislation.

Please note that even if your neighbors cannot stop you from raising chickens on your balcony, you will still have to live with their discontent and the scandals that arise from this.

However, practice shows that keeping laying hens in an apartment is still possible. Some inventive owners approach this matter responsibly - so that neighbors may not even be aware of the feathered “pets”.

With the right choice of the breed of birds, their number, sex and living conditions, it is possible to ensure their existence in a way that does not violate the rights of residents of panel houses and complies with sanitary and hygienic standards.

Chickens in the country are disturbing the neighbors

You can also buy a dacha and farm for your own pleasure; if you really want to start farming, then it would be best to buy your own house or dacha plot instead of an apartment, and have as many animals as you want, without disturbing anyone.

This is the first opinion, but in fact many neighbors will not like the crowing of a rooster, because people come to their dachas and gardens to relax and sleep in silence. And here your Petka is screaming like a siren.

It’s special if he’s a guy of the Yurlov vocal breed. We need to agree!

Neighbors in the dacha can drink and yell, listen to loud music until 3 am. This is the norm - this is how they rest. But for a live alarm clock at 4 o’clock, this company will tear you to shreds and scatter you around your dacha or garden cooperative.

Look at the photo of a quail in a cage in the kitchen.

In a multi-storey building, of course, you can keep laying hens without a rooster if you really want to, but do you need it? After all, you will have a lot of problems with your neighbors; they will make constant complaints and reproaches. After all, no one likes constant noise and discomfort.

Still, a house with a special place for this is best suited for keeping animals or birds, and then it will be convenient for you and will not cause any discomfort to other people.

Advantages and disadvantages

Keeping chickens in an apartment has its pros and cons.

Did you know? It is generally accepted that chickens are rather stupid and do not have any special mental abilities. However, this is not entirely true: these birds are able to remember and distinguish up to 100 objects (other birds and people), mark those who are kind to them, and even show empathy, reacting to a person’s mood.

Advantages of keeping poultry at home:

this provides owners with constant access to egg products;
when the egg-laying period ends, the chickens go to meat, which is always preferable to the product from the store;
you know exactly what the chicken was fed and in what conditions it was kept, and therefore you can be sure of the quality of its products;
apartment maintenance provides homemade meat and egg products to people who do not have the opportunity to live in a village or town in a private house and own an animal farm;
psychological function - it is pleasant to take care of birds, they become not only useful, but also beloved family members;
chickens that are kept at a very young age (about a couple of days from hatching) become very attached to humans, love to spend time with them and even ask to be petted.

However, raising farm birds in the house is not limited to only the advantages, because in urban living conditions they cause a lot of inconvenience:

it is difficult to find a room suitable for chickens and satisfying all their needs, because something will definitely have to be sacrificed (for example, free range);
chickens are quite dirty birds, they relieve themselves absolutely uncontrollably and according to their needs, it is impossible to train them to use the toilet, so you need to be prepared that the birds will shit everywhere they go, and all this will have to be constantly cleaned up after them;
an unpleasant odor, which is difficult to remove, will be present to some extent, even if you meticulously maintain cleanliness;
increased noise produced not only by roosters, but also by hens who constantly cackle;
the need for significant expenses to equip a bird house equipped with everything necessary;
dissatisfaction of neighbors due to bird noise, smell, unsanitary conditions;
the risk of violating the laws of the Russian Federation, which is fraught with a fine or forced sale of the residential premises if the owner of the birds does not vacate the apartment from them or in the case where behavior towards the birds can be considered cruelty.

How to get eggs from broilers

Broilers are a specially crossed breed of poultry. Chickens of meat (Cornish) and meat and egg (Plymouth rock) breeds are used as parents. During breeding, the best characteristics of the maternal and paternal lines are selected. The resulting hybrids have a special physiology. With proper nutrition, chickens weigh 2 kg at 1.5 months. And at 50-60 days of life they are ready for slaughter. The weight of such a chicken reaches 4-5 kg.

Broilers are not raised at home to produce offspring. Their fate is to quickly gain weight. There are specialized breeds for eggs. Therefore, there is no need to “reinvent the wheel”. Laying eggs by broiler birds will lead to problems: disease and death. Domestic breeders are trying to correct this problem by creating universal crosses.

When can you get your first eggs? The period of puberty in broilers occurs much later than in ordinary laying hens - at 6-8 months. Some individuals begin to lay eggs when they are one year old.

Due to genetic predisposition, eggs have two yolks. They cannot hatch into a living chicken. And if there are any offspring, they die at an early age.

Broiler chickens rarely hatch

At home, broiler chickens most often lose the genetic characteristics of their parents. The offspring are larger than ordinary chickens. They lay few eggs (2-3 per week) and are obese.

But if you decide that you need eggs from this breed of chicken, remember some subtleties.

Include plenty of greens and shells in your diet. Birds are prone to obesity, so a diet is necessary. Don't allow yourself to overeat.
There may be problems with the oviduct. Monitor your pets' behavior. If the bird does not eat or drink for several hours, this is a cause for concern. Large egg shape and excess weight will become a problem for the health and life of the bird. Gently massage the abdomen so that the egg can come out.

If desired, you can breed broilers and get large eggs with two yolks from them. However, the profitability of such production is much lower than that of conventional layers. And health problems will overshadow the whole process. As a result, you will lose not only the egg, but also several kilograms of meat.

As professionals note, when broiler chickens reach puberty, the meat loses its distinctive taste. It becomes dry, hard and has an unpleasant aftertaste.

The meat of mature broilers is very tasteless

Popular types for home keeping

Owners who are responsible in choosing birds for home maintenance understand that any type of chicken is not suitable for living in an apartment. Each breed has its own characteristics, differs in temperament, character, and behavior.

And some bird species are better suited to being raised indoors than others: due to their calm temperament, they have no need for increased activity and produce the least noise.

The breeds most suitable for keeping in residential premises include the following.

Leghorn - these laying hens are able to adapt to any living conditions. They are unpretentious and can adapt well to life on the balcony or in the room. In addition, they are distinguished by early puberty and produce their first eggs at the age of five months. And the number of eggs received during the year can reach 300 pieces.

Hisek Brown is a crossbreed from the Leghorn breed.
These chickens have compact sizes and very high egg production - up to 350 eggs per year. Such breeds of chickens as Poltava, Legbar, Master Gray, High Line, and Hamburg are also distinguished by high egg production. Moreover, they mature even earlier than Leghorns, producing their first eggs at the age of 4 months. What makes them good tenants is their flexible character, phlegmatic and calm temperament; they are obedient, not fussy, not conflict-prone, and are very attached to people. These birds will not make too much noise, will not cause much trouble and will feel quite comfortable in a confined apartment space, since they do not show much physical activity.

The Kuchin Jubilee breed is a small meat-and-egg chicken. Their meat is very juicy, rich in proteins and surpasses even broilers in quality. But egg production is slightly less than that of its predecessors - about 180 eggs per year. These birds eat little and should not be overfed. However, they are quite fussy and noisy, curious and do not tolerate closed spaces well.

Bantams are dwarf ornamental chickens that come in many breeds. They are distinguished by their very small sizes - on average from 500 to 700 g. They look very miniature and cute, they take up little space. Their egg yield is small - depending on the breed, from 45 to 150 eggs per year. But the meat of these laying hens is tender, juicy and dietary. Among this species, the Hamburg Black breed is best suited for home keeping, as they have a very docile and phlegmatic character. Otherwise, these birds are quite noisy and active.

The Pushkin breed of chickens are another calm and phlegmatic representatives.
Important! Remember that a phlegmatic, calm disposition, low need for physical activity and unpretentiousness do not mean that the chickens will be absolutely silent and that they do not need the most suitable arrangement of the room for their needs. They are very unpretentious in terms of keeping conditions, undemanding in nutrition, can easily tolerate frosts, are hardy, and easily approach people. They are quite small in size, produce about 220 eggs per year, and mature in 5 months.

Why turkey and chicken can't be neighbors

If we consider the issue of keeping poultry together in general terms, then the proximity of chickens and turkeys is the most successful, unlike other birds, since both species prefer to sleep on wooden perches and build nests at the top. But that's where their similarities end. In all other respects, these birds are completely different, from the diseases that they can give each other to the dissimilarity of morals.

Character traits

Different personalities are one of the main reasons why turkeys and chickens cannot get along together. Chickens are more active and mobile, in addition, some breeds are quite aggressive, so they can be the first to attack turkeys, despite their formidable appearance. In particularly conflicting cases, chickens can simply peck at them. At the same time, male turkeys love to show character and often get into fights with chickens. And this is a serious matter - given the dimensions of both types, it is not difficult to predict who will emerge victorious in such an unequal battle.

Conditions of detention

Among all types of poultry, turkeys are considered the most demanding to keep. Firstly, they are quite large (some broiler breeds can reach a weight of 30 kg), and therefore they need a lot of space. And, secondly, they are very sensitive to cold, dampness and drafts. When arranging a poultry house, it is necessary to pay a lot of attention to creating favorable conditions - the room should be clean, dry, well ventilated, and, preferably, heated.

Therefore, it is necessary to always monitor the cleanliness of the floor mat and change it regularly. Considering the high sensitivity of turkeys’ paws to cold, warm natural materials should be used as bedding: hay, straw, dry soft sawdust.

Chickens are less demanding on conditions. They feel comfortable in small chicken coops, the main thing is that there are perches for sitting and sleeping, as well as nests for laying eggs. Chickens live well in flocks; in cold weather they often crowd together to keep warm, therefore, any room can be suitable for keeping them, even without heating, which is completely unacceptable for turkeys.

It will also not work to feed turkeys together with chickens. First of all, because turkeys, due to their size, eat a lot and quickly, which is why slow blackbirds do not have time to grab the food and remain hungry. There is a more significant reason - these are different biological characteristics of the birds’ bodies. In turkeys, the pH level is shifted towards the alkaline side, while in chicken it is almost neutral. This circumstance dictates certain feeding rules.

If a chicken, in principle, can eat grains and pasture, then turkeys require a balanced and varied menu, in which not the least place is occupied by products that equalize the pH: chitin and bitter plants, which are contraindicated for chickens.

Diseases

It is known that turkeys are more susceptible to diseases than other birds. And this is due, first of all, to the same increased pH level. It is because of this that bacteria that enter the turkey’s body develop faster than those of chickens and other birds. Elevated pH levels cause a disease such as histomoniasis, which leads to inflammatory processes in the liver, stomach and intestinal tissues. Chickens suffer from histomoniasis much less frequently, however, being a carrier of the disease, they can easily infect their neighbors.

There is also a downside to this situation. It is believed that turkey feces contain many microbes, in particular, pathogens of infectious diseases, and since chickens often row and peck various debris, there is a high probability that these microbes can enter their body. There are cases where the entire population of chickens died from infectious typhus.

Another danger that awaits both species of birds when living together is helminths, which they can become infected with from each other. Heterakis gallinarum is the most dangerous microorganism that chickens can infect turkeys with. For the chickens themselves, these protozoa do not pose any particular danger, while for turkeys they can cause death.

Keeping chickens at home

The first thing you need to do before you bring chickens into your home is to decide on their purpose: meat, eggs, companion, or all three. Having determined the purpose of raising birds, choose a breed that best suits this purpose. It is better to choose the calmest, most unpretentious and compact chickens so that they feel comfortable in a limited apartment space.
The next question is the number of goals. Usually, when keeping chickens in a free range, when arranging a poultry area, it is assumed that at least 1 square meter is required per individual. m of free space. This is impossible at home, so at least assume that birds need about 30-40 cm of space on their perches.
The fewer chickens there are on the premises, the less work there is to care for them and the less noise and dirt they will produce. A couple of individuals will be enough to periodically delight yourself with completely home-made scrambled eggs.
Give preference only to laying hens. Roosters are noisy birds: every morning they will emit a piercing vocal trill that will wake not only you and your household, but also all your closest neighbors from bed. In addition, chickens do not need roosters to lay eggs. Its only function is to fertilize eggs for reproduction.
Having decided on the goals, breeds and number of chickens, think about the room where the birds will live. To do this, you can use one of the rooms or a glazed balcony or loggia.
An improvised chicken coop should be a well-ventilated room with an exhaust hood or ventilation. At the same time, the air here should not be too dry or too humid.
If the choice fell on a balcony or loggia, then they must be closed and well insulated so that the chickens do not freeze in the winter. The minimum temperature in winter should not be below +10°C.
In the summer, it should be possible to create shading on the balcony so that the chickens do not overheat in the sun.
The birds should always have access to fresh air, but the windows should be protected with mosquito nets to prevent any other wild birds from getting into the company of your chickens.
To protect your neighbors from excessive noise, take care of soundproofing, especially if you have a rooster in your small flock. Plastic windows are the bare minimum to protect the neighbors’ psyches from constant noise.
The premises must allow for regular and frequent cleaning and disinfection.
The “poultry house” must contain all the attributes necessary for chickens - feeders, drinkers, perches and nests.
Chickens need long daylight hours - at least 11-12 hours. Therefore, it will be necessary to equip the room with additional lighting.

Possible problems and their solutions

Keeping laying hens and broilers in the same coop can cause many problems. After all, breeds can behave aggressively towards each other. Moreover, each of them has an advantage: broilers are superior in weight, and laying hens are superior in terms of activity.

If fights break out between them, there may be losses on both sides. Sometimes chickens are so aggressive that they peck individuals to death. Therefore, if you need to introduce representatives of another breed, you need to do this at night. This way they will spend time together until the morning, which will reduce the risk of fighting between them.

Broiler and laying hens have different daily routines. While the latter are actively walking in the walking area, broilers take their places in the chicken coop.

Therefore, it is better to make baskets and cages for them in the lower part of the room, where other birds will not disturb them.

Sometimes in the morning after opening the coop, a farmer finds dead chickens on the ground.

Since broilers sleep in the lower part, and laying hens on top, a crush may occur, during which some birds die.

Therefore, you need to equip the chicken coop so that the individuals do not interfere with each other. To do this, the lower tiers are deepened and a stepladder is placed along which the hens can climb up.

Fights between roosters of different breeds are often observed. Moreover, they can bite to death. Therefore, you need to either keep only roosters of the same breed for all the chickens, or make different walking areas.

Caring for birds in an apartment

Caring for chickens living in an apartment is a difficult and responsible task.

Important! Keeping chickens in cages saves space and allows you to accommodate more chickens. The finished products already contain drinkers and feeders, and under them you can place baking trays on which droppings will accumulate. This makes cleaning the impromptu “poultry house” very easy.

You need to monitor the temperature and humidity of the air, turn on additional lights, clean, feed the birds, and let them wander around the “chicken coop” so that they can warm up and communicate with each other.

Feeding chickens should meet the needs of the breed you have chosen, be regular and as rich as possible in proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Laying hens should be fed grain, wet mash, fresh greens and grass, vegetables, and be sure to be given gravel, chalk, and crushed shells.
Bird cleaning must be done daily, or even better, several times a day, otherwise the room will very quickly begin to smell bad of droppings. In addition, be prepared that during the molting period, feathers from birds will fly in all directions, and cleaning will be needed even more often.
Once a week, it is necessary to disinfect the room to prevent parasites, fungi, mold and pests from infesting it.
All leftover food should be removed from feeders, floors and cages immediately after feeding. This is important because, firstly, excess food leads to overfeeding of birds and their obesity, the risk of which increases several times with a sedentary lifestyle, and secondly, food left lying on the floor will attract some of the most dangerous carriers of infections - cockroaches, which, if you get them, will soon spread throughout the whole house, and after that it will be quite difficult to get them out.
Chickens should have constant access to fresh and clean water.
The room must be ventilated daily to avoid air stagnation, but at the same time avoid drafts, because birds are very afraid of them.
If you nevertheless decide to take such a step as keeping laying hens in an apartment, then try to equip the premises as much as possible to suit their needs and characteristics.

As we can see, raising chickens in an apartment or house is a completely feasible activity, but very problematic. Birds are time consuming and require constant care.

Did you know? Chickens have very ancient roots. Today, scientists have proven that these domestic and familiar birds are distant descendants of the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus, as evidenced by the similar protein structure of the found fossilized remains of the Tyrannosaurus and modern chicken.

In addition, be prepared for the discontent of your neighbors, since keeping farm animals and birds in a residential building violates at least three laws of the Russian Federation.

One day, while visiting friends, I accidentally went out onto the balcony of their apartment on the tenth floor of a seventeen-story building in the city center and was almost taken aback - a dozen neat cells were stacked on top of each other. Of course, what surprised me was not the cells themselves, but their inhabitants. They turned out to be... chickens! Yes, yes, the most ordinary chickens! As I found out a little later, the owners had been keeping them for several years, because they were obsessed with healthy eating and organic products. In this regard, eggs from balcony hens were far from the last place on the menu of this family. The chickens laid eggs regularly, which allowed the owners to even sell some of the laid eggs to their neighbors.

Chickens on the balcony, or How I made a chicken coop in an apartment

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Of all the bird species, chickens are the most popular in many regions. This is due to their unpretentiousness, high reproductive rate, rapid weight gain, immunity to low temperatures, and also the fact that they constantly lay eggs and are a source of dietary meat with excellent taste.

Therefore, poultry is raised not only by residents of the countryside, but also by summer residents who go back to city apartments for the winter. The latter have to cut off the laying birds each time and then buy new ones, which creates not only costs, but also inconvenience. Therefore, experts explained how you can transport chickens to a city apartment for the winter without creating difficulties for neighbors and the owners themselves.

Keeping chickens on the balcony

It should be noted right away that the best place to keep chickens would be a balcony, since birds require ultraviolet radiation and fresh air. Therefore, despite the chickens’ tolerance to low temperatures, it must be glazed. Otherwise, the cells will have to be wrapped in film and additionally heated.

The presence of window frames on the balcony will provide sound insulation, and this is the key to the absence of complaints from neighbors. It is worth noting that chickens are not such noisy birds, but it is still necessary to ensure comfort for people living in neighboring apartments.

Aviaries or cages for chickens

Many people know that keeping chickens outside ensures more active laying of eggs, which are rich in vitamins. But you shouldn’t let chickens roam freely around your balcony or apartment. Therefore, an aviary or cages are suitable as an alternative.

The latter can be made from multilayer plywood, at least half a centimeter thick. But the wood material will need to be coated with drying oil. Each cell should be 70 centimeters high and 60*70 centimeters wide. It is necessary to house two chickens in one cell - this will provide convenience in caring for the birds and cleaning up the droppings. The main thing is not to forget to clean the cages regularly, otherwise the smell will instantly spread throughout the apartment, and then may be heard by neighbors.

Nests for chickens in the apartment

A place for laying eggs can be made from any materials that are at hand. It is also worth remembering that there is a perch for which an ordinary stick is used. It is better to place a separate sheet of plywood under the perch, which will ensure quick removal of droppings. The same goes for cleaning the roost.

Author: Maria Sukhorukikh
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Why I decided to have chickens on the balcony

I didn’t delve into the details and all the nuances of keeping chickens on the balcony at that time. First, I needed to somehow digest for myself the very fact of what I saw. Chickens in the city! Until this moment, I would not have even imagined that this was possible in principle. Nonsense! And if someone had told me that within a year I myself would become interested in the topic of keeping chickens at home, I would simply laugh in their face.

But now, a year has passed. It just so happened that I was left without work for some time. I sat at home, counting every penny. Roll it in the refrigerator. It was precisely in those days that the idea came into my head to try to have chickens in my own apartment. At least I won’t die of hunger; there will always be a fresh egg on the table, I reasoned.

In addition, I believed that raising chickens in small quantities is the simplest thing. Actually, nothing is required from you. I fenced off a corner, stocked up on food for my laying hens, and then just do all you can do - collect eggs. If you want, eat them yourself, but if there is a surplus, you can sell them.

Problems of shared content and ways to solve them

The main problem when introducing birds to each other is possible fights. Moreover, chickens can peck their relatives until they bleed or cause injury. These troubles reduce the growth of broilers, and laying hens are worse at laying eggs.

You can reduce the number of fights between birds by increasing the length of the feeders or their number and placing them in different corners of the chicken coop. Then individuals of different species will contact less often.
It is better to place such violent individuals in separate cages, and place other birds in their place.
Separately, it is worth noting the keeping of roosters. They should be only one breed, and even better, one rooster for the whole chicken coop.
If there are several roosters, then they should be separated into different enclosures or walked at different times.

In dense housing conditions, diseases in broilers and laying hens are not uncommon. Infectious diseases are more common due to dampness, low temperature, and drafts.

Symptoms in chickens are:

Treatment is carried out with the drugs Tetramizole, Enroxil, Baycox. The chicken coop is insulated and disinfected.

Diarrhea in broilers occurs due to both colds and salmonellosis and colibacillosis. Sick birds are isolated from the population and treatment is prescribed.

Broiler breeds are more often than others susceptible to leg diseases; when a bird falls out of the blue, an uneven gait appears. The cause of this disease lies in the lack of vitamins and microelements.

How I built a chicken coop in the corner of the loggia

I didn’t see a problem with allocating a place in the apartment for a mini-chicken coop. I had a fairly spacious glazed loggia, a third of which could have been devoted to useful work.

I immediately imagined how I would partition it with a lattice made of some kind of chain-link mesh, arranging a small door in this partition. Then all that remains is to put a feeder and a bowl of water there, after which you can safely let the chickens into the pen. All I could do was sit in a chair and “smoke bamboo,” waiting for the first eggs from them, as a reward for my righteous labors.

Perhaps it was the fact that this matter from the outside seemed quite simple to me, and pushed me to implement the idea with the chicken coop. I didn’t shelve it. True, I didn’t find chain-link in hardware stores near my house (this is definitely not a popular product for the city), but I did get a roll of wire mesh, the kind that finishing workers usually use when plastering walls.

At the moment when I was already walking around my loggia with a tape measure in my hand to determine which piece of this lattice I should cut off first, I suddenly thought: wouldn’t the amount of space be too large for several chickens? Not the area of the loggia allotted to them, but the space.

I admit, at that moment I thought not so much about the chickens themselves, but about the possibility of somehow saving on their maintenance. Although I had no experience in raising chickens, I still knew some general principles of handling poultry. It’s not for nothing that when I was a child, my parents sent me to my grandmother’s village for summer and winter holidays, and now they themselves keep chickens there!

So, for example, I knew that in winter in village chicken coops they often leave a light bulb on all night, so that at least some heat comes from it. And particularly advanced village poultry farmers even install a special infrared lamp for heating.

In the future, closer to winter, I was also going to get one like this, but even the thought of it was enough for me to draw a logical conclusion - I would have to use it to warm not so much the chickens themselves, but the under-ceiling space of the loggia! After all, heat, according to the laws of physics, rises.

After thinking a little, I decided to reduce the height of the future chicken coop to one meter, providing it with a removable lattice roof. According to my calculations, this option will provide several advantages at once. In winter, for example, you can put glass on it, which will allow you to retain some of the warm air under it.

In addition, a low roof will help solve the lighting problem. After all, city lights literally flood my loggia with light at night, which, as I thought, could disorient the chickens regarding the time of day. I assumed that if I threw a blanket over this makeshift roof at night, the problem with light would be easily solved, and my chickens would get something like a small but cozy bedroom.

The height of the balcony chicken coop should not be too high so as not to heat the air in winter. © backyardchickens

How to maintain optimal temperature?

Despite the chickens’ love for warmth, they also do not tolerate heat well and stop laying eggs.

Therefore, it is important to maintain acceptable temperature conditions not only in winter, but also in hot summer

Winter insulation methods

You need to prepare the chicken coop for wintering in advance, before the onset of the first cold weather. The first step is to try to establish comfortable conditions so that frost and bad weather do not affect the chickens’ lifestyle and their productivity.

Wall insulation

Domestic chickens can catch a cold if they have been walking for a long time in the cold or in strong winds. Drafts and ice-cold drinking water negatively affect them. A favorable temperature can only be achieved by creating a warm, windproof room. It is better to build the walls of the poultry house from thick logs and cover the outside with boards.

Today there are many ways to insulate walls. At the same time, all cracks are sealed, window openings and doors are insulated. The following materials are used as insulation for walls:

Styrofoam;
mineral wool;
expanded polystyrene;
roofing felt;
old warm clothes or blankets.

Window openings are insulated using rubber insulation tapes or window putty. The door block is installed on polyurethane foam, and the door itself is sheathed with insulation on the outside and inside, and covered with leatherette on top.

Insulation of ceiling and floor

As a rule, to thermally insulate the floor of the poultry house, it is enough to equip deep litter, which will subsequently turn into compost for fertilizers. To begin with, slaked lime (1 kg per 1 sq. m) is poured onto the floor, then an insulating substance (sawdust, large shavings, chopped reeds, peat, hay, straw, dry moss) is scattered in a layer of 5-8 cm. As soon as the litter is trampled down, it will be reported. By spring, the insulation layer will already be 25-30 cm. To maintain looseness, the litter is turned with a pitchfork from time to time.

The litter performs several functions: maintains temperature, delays the putrefactive decomposition of droppings, and serves as excellent insulation. If the top layer of litter becomes very dirty, it can be replaced with a new one. The ceiling is made of wide beams, which are laid on the walls and secured with forged brackets. The beams are covered on top with boards 40 mm thick.

Organizing a roost for chickens in a balcony chicken coop

As a result, having already thought about the convenience of living in a chicken coop directly for the bird itself, I remembered that, in addition to a feeder and drinking bowl, it is advisable for chickens to also have a perch. In this regard, the idea immediately occurred to me to secure a couple of perches (as if in two steps) near the far end wall of the designed chicken coop. And so that the birds located on the upper perch would not rest their combs against the ceiling grid, I came up with the idea of placing this very ceiling not horizontally, but at an angle, raising it an additional 30 centimeters above the upper perch near the end wall. I made the ceiling in this way with a slope towards the front of the chicken coop.

This decision seemed right to me. The only thing that was confusing was that cleaning droppings from under the roosts would not be very convenient. So I was also puzzled by the topic of cleanliness in the home of my future chickens. In general, how to clean such a small chicken coop? What with a dustpan or a garden hoe, this is understandable, but where do you put the chickens? They will interfere!

The idea of installing retractable trays under the slatted floor was not my innovation. For many townspeople it worked quite successfully in the construction of small cages for all sorts of parrots and canaries. Of course, making a giant pallet with a total area of more than two square meters for a chicken coop is probably just not very reasonable. But the principle itself...

He interested me, as a result of which I figured out how to reduce the floor area of the pen so that the size of the tray for collecting litter could be proportionally significantly reduced.

According to my estimates, this can be achieved using a sheet of iron, if it is fixed under the perches, with an appropriate slope, parallel to the sloping ceiling. In addition, it will be more convenient to clean droppings from smooth iron.

I saw a similar design in village chicken coops, but there the iron fixed in this way was used mainly to protect the chickens wandering under the roosts from the excrement of their friends located above.

Considering that all the materials were prepared ahead of time, it only took me a few hours to build a chicken coop according to this plan. I didn’t expect that I would cope with this task so quickly. I didn’t forget to make a feeder and put together a couple of nesting boxes from planks where the chickens could lay eggs.

The chicken coop should have nesting boxes where the chickens can lay eggs. © tolkostroyka

Buying chickens

The chicken run turned out to be a success! Now I just couldn’t wait to move it in as quickly as possible. Having estimated the optimal number of future residents, I settled on five hens and one rooster. Where would we be without him?

The next day I went out of town to a small private poultry farm, where, as knowledgeable people told me, it was possible to buy pullets that would begin to lay eggs within a month or a month and a half. I didn't know much about chicken breeds. I just bought those that were offered to me by the seller. As he transplanted them into a cardboard box, he kept praising his product. I, looking at the pullets, naively asked him: where is the rooster?

The seller, grinning, enlightened me that, of course, I could buy a cockerel from him, but these hens of his do not necessarily need a “man in the house”; they will lay eggs without him. The only thing is that the eggs from under them will remain unfertilized, and if I decide to put a hen on them or try to hatch chickens in an electric incubator, then nothing will come of this idea. Otherwise, eggs from “unmarried” hens will be no different from those in the appearance of which a rooster would in some sense be involved.

I thought that it was for the best. In the depths of my soul, I was even afraid that if a rooster settled on my loggia, I would have to listen to complaints not only from the neighbors, but also from the residents of the entire microdistrict, who were unlikely to like the fact that they would have to wake up early in the morning to the sound of roosters crowing. Well, that's one less problem.

The young girls got used to their new home quite quickly. On the first day I couldn’t find a place for myself. Almost every hour he went out onto the loggia to check on his birds. Or maybe, rather, yourself. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that… chickens now live on my loggia.

But a month later, to my great joy, I was already holding in my hand the first egg they laid!

Summer dacha life brings adults and children not only a lot of trouble, but also joyful moments associated with animals. Okay, the dog and cat are used to them, but no less interesting moments will be associated with the chickens that will become your pets.

What to do if you are complained about

Filing an administrative complaint against a person who breeds and keeps poultry on an owned or leased land plot is intended to protect the rights of those citizens who have been violated by improper implementation of poultry farming standards by the owner of the land plot.

If the owner has no errors in keeping the birds and in the location and condition of the outbuilding where the chickens are housed, and does not allow the birds to illegally leave the yard, then there should be no cause for concern. However, an inspection of a poultry farmer’s farmstead may turn out to be so thorough and scrupulous that it would not hurt to prepare for the meeting in advance and take the following steps:

prepare a plan of your site with a poultry house built on it and indicating the distances from this outbuilding to its borders , and also request from the BTI or when analyzing a complaint a site plan of a neighbor who is dissatisfied with the keeping of the birds;
collect testimony from witnesses confirming the absence of violations of public peace - roosters crowing, chickens clucking, poultry leaving the defendant’s property;
enlist the support of adequate neighbors and the SNT committee, the quarterly or the eldest on the street and document the absence of complaints in terms of failure to comply with sanitary, hygienic and veterinary standards , as well as violations of epidemiological well-being. It is necessary to indicate the absence of an unpleasant odor, flying debris and feathers, regularity of droppings removal, compliance with standards for walking and keeping birds;
carry out an extraordinary general cleaning on the farmstead and in the poultry house, eliminate the slightest clues in terms of unsanitary conditions, improper diet or uncertified feed additives , check the availability of preventive measures to prevent contacts of chickens with wild relatives, check the suitability of the poultry house and its communications for operation;
seek help from a lawyer practicing in the field of administrative law , due to the fact that litigation with neighbors can drag on and develop into a large-scale court hearing.

Excellent 14

Breed selection

Chickens at the dacha produce eggs that taste completely different, bring joy to children and teach them to work. And if the kid refuses to pick the grass for his charges, the next day he can be shown an empty nest for eggs - an educational moment.

So, it’s decided, we choose the breed of laying hens:

Leghorn.
Hisex breed.
Loman Brown.

The best of them is Loman Brown. A large chicken with a stable mentality and good egg production. You can also choose white laying hens of the Leghorn or Hisex breed. The egg production of these birds is excellent if they are well fed. But in the fall it will be a pity to part with such productive laying hens. The easiest way to keep chickens in the country from hybrids. And the motley herd looks more cheerful and is more unpretentious.

Equipment of the place of detention

For summer maintenance, the chicken coop must have two compartments and a walking area attached to it. The chicken coop itself is made as a dense covered room with a door, designed for such a number of chickens that they are allocated 30 cm each on a perch on one level. The perch should be located 60 cm above floor level.

For such a room, part of the utility block, which is always available at the dacha, may be suitable. In addition to the perch, you will need to place nests there, in a secluded place, for laying eggs. A grill can be used to separate the front free part so that the hens can hide from the weather.

Next immediately there is a covered run where the bird spends the whole day. The rain does not get there, and the sun's rays and fresh air pass through the picket fence or chain-link mesh. A feeder and drinking bowl are attached to one wall of the run outside so that there is no fuss when eating food. Water should be in the container at all times, mineral supplements and chalk should be kept in the compartments at all times. The bottom of the feeder with protein food should open and the container should be cleaned so that there are no sour residues in the heat.

The walking area should be on the ground or grass. It’s great if there’s a dried tree left there, the chickens will climb the branches with pleasure. Such a structure with a bottom lined with a layer of sawdust requires almost no maintenance, just sweep away the night's feces in the morning and close the door to the night light from the coolness.

Maintenance in late autumn and winter

Keeping chickens in the country in winter is more difficult. It is necessary to organize ventilation, heating the chicken coop in severe frosts, lighting and provide dry bedding. This is difficult, since the chickens are in cramped conditions, there is a lot of fumes from them, and insects can appear in cramped conditions. Therefore, the best option would be to build an extension to the main bath wall.

In this case, you should create a room that is convenient for maintenance. It is better to make it two-story, then the sleeping place will be located on top, like on a shelf in a bathhouse, and below you can equip a walk with feeders and an ash pan. This will make it convenient to clean up the night guano and create space for the laying hens. It is better to locate nesting sites in a secluded place on a shelf, where the birds feel safer.

Brooders for raising chickens

Chicks that are born are quite sensitive to the environment. Temperature fluctuations, changes in humidity, low lighting, and drafts are unacceptable for them. A brooder will help solve all these problems. Design Features:

Small dimensions, length – meter, width and height – 0.5 meters.
Made from dense material to provide thermal insulation. Shouldn't get wet.
A removable pallet is added to the structure, which is filled with a layer of sand. This will make it easier to change the layer contaminated with droppings.
Feeders and drinkers are equipped in such a way that chickens cannot turn them over or trample inside.
40 or 60 W incandescent lamps are installed.
The temperature is maintained at about 20-26°C.

With a brooder size of 100x50x50, the population can be up to 60 chicks.

How to care for chickens

The birds quickly get used to the calm voice of the mistress and the food they receive on time. They are independent, but jealous of signs of attention from the mistress. If you had to take one of the pets in your arms to examine something, then you should pet the rest too.

It is forbidden:

overfeed chickens;
disturb during egg laying;
swear or talk irritably.

Feed base

Chickens are omnivores. They can eat chopped or simply cut root vegetables, minced meat or fish from waste with bones, and green chopped grass. But they cannot do without grain. Therefore, every day 60% of the daily diet should be a mixture of cereals, and preferably wheat. To obtain adequate nutrition, a chicken must peck half a glass of grain per day, and all other feed in the required quantity.

Space, clean feeders, balanced feed and fresh air will create all the conditions for productive maintenance of the herd. Chickens love mash very much. This is fresh, finely chopped nettle, midge, and onion mixed with bran and porridge. It is difficult to overfeed a hen that is laying eggs, and if it is underfed, the clutch is sharply reduced.

A good stimulator for egg production are special additives called premixes. They should be given in microscopic doses. Special chicken feed will reduce the hassle, but will not replace grain mixtures. In winter, all table scraps will become welcome food. Sometimes you can get hold of green food at vegetable stores from entrepreneurs. Winter eggs become incredibly tasty after such feeding.

Feeding

The productivity of egg-laying chickens directly depends on their nutrition. The feeding process is carried out at least twice a day, provided that the chickens have access to grass. It is allowed to feed the poultry with special feed for egg breeds, or you can prepare grain mixtures yourself.

Stern
Recipes
Supplements

Compound feed pk-1

Description of food for egg breeds. Instructions for feeding laying hens Read

Compound feed pk-2 and pk-3

Mineral and vitamin compositions, feeding standards Read

Compound feed pk-4

Used to feed laying hens aged 15-17 weeks Read

Compound feed pk-5

Composition and instructions for feeding broiler chickens Read

Purina Pro

Important differences from the previous line, application patterns Start, Growth, Finish Read

Germination and steaming of barley and wheat for chickens: how to do it correctly and how to give it to laying hens

Wheat for broilers

Rules for feeding broiler chickens with wheat. Dosage for chickens from the second day of life and adult birds Read

Mash

Making mash for broilers at home Read

Rice and buckwheat

How and in what form you can use rice and buckwheat to feed chickens. Standards for adult birds and chickens Read

Bread

What kind of bread can you feed chickens and how to do it correctly Read

Fish

The product is given in limited quantities: overfeeding can cause serious harm to the bird Read

Chalk

Chalk as a food additive for chicken feed. Feeding standards for chickens, young animals and laying hens Read

Meat and bone meal

Meat and bone meal is a mandatory additive for feeding chickens, containing protein and fats of animal origin Read

Fish fat

How to give fish oil to chickens, layers and broilers. What are the benefits of the drug and are there any contraindications Read

Limestone

Limestone (dolomite) flour in the diet of chickens. Advantage over chalk and feed shell Read

Salt

Daily dosage of salt for adult birds and young animals and cases of unwanted use Read

Chickens can eat various mashes with the addition of vegetables and various herbs - dandelion, nettle, plantain, clover, alfalfa, etc. Do not forget about the need for minerals in the diet of laying hens, since they form the shells of eggs. The mineral component is provided by crushed shells and chalk, bone and fish meal.

On average, one chicken eats about 150-160 g of food per day. In the spring, the diet should be richer in whole grains and silage; in the summer it is diluted with fresh greens and grass, crushed grain, and fresh vegetables.

If there is no fresh grass in the walking yard, it is brought from other areas. If there is no access to worms and insects, meat and fish trimmings are added to the chickens' feed to ensure complete nutrition. There should also be small pebbles in the area, which act as “teeth” in the bird’s stomach and help grind large lumps of food.

Shell as a mineral supplement for chickens. What is the benefit, at what age and in what form can it be given? Look

Can broilers be given sand? More details

Chalk as a feed additive for chickens - why is it needed? Read

Feeding chickens with barley: can it be given to broilers? More details

Using whey as a source of animal protein Read

Eggshells in the diet of chickens and chickens. How to give correctly? More details

How to give fish oil to chickens, layers and broilers? Look

Feed tricalcium phosphate for adult chickens, chicks and broilers More

Each breed has its own dietary requirements, which must be taken into account before purchasing young animals. Some breeds are more demanding when it comes to nutrition, while others can be very unpretentious.

Buy laying hens or raise chickens

Bird breeding can begin with the acquisition of adult birds. Young chickens are good because they will immediately begin to lay eggs and delight their owners. But they need to be chosen correctly. It happens that instead of young ones you can buy rejects from the factory.

Buy young stock

It would be better if young animals are purchased from a farm that specializes in poultry breeding. When choosing, you should examine the chicken carefully:

the feather at the anus should be clean without traces of feces;
the comb and beard are bright red;
legs are yellow without growths;
the feather is dense, smooth, shiny;
The chicken is mobile and has difficulty getting into the net.

A healthy chicken will quickly begin to lay eggs. It is necessary to ensure that the chickens do not have any external damage to the skin, as their friends will immediately begin to intensively peck at the bleeding area. This is their nature; the weak ones are pecked to death.

Breeding chickens

The best time to purchase a squeaky family will be February or March. Chickens raised at this time produce a full clutch in the summer. Breeding chickens in the country is possible only with a one-year stay. Then the pullets will lay full eggs for a long time. It is profitable to purchase broiler chickens for seasonal residence. During the season you can get a decent amount of first-class dietary meat with intensive feeding. Grass growing in abundance at the dacha at this time will help you save on feed.

The most adaptable and strong chickens are the ones raised by the hen. Depending on her weight, she can warm from 11 to 20 eggs with her warmth and after three weeks fluffy balls will come out. Experienced housewives bribe daily allowances from the factory at the time the chicks are hatched. The chicken does not notice the trick, warms and guides everyone. Less worries for the hostess, the kids are under supervision.

Special food for babies. First, an egg is fed, and then crushed grain mixture, cottage cheese, fish and other protein feeds. The main thing is that the food is always fresh. Free and safe access to water must be ensured at all times. The chickens grow quickly and after two months they no longer need the mother hen.

You can breed chickens in an incubator and become their mother for the first week, providing almost round-the-clock control.