How to know if you’re ready to keep peeps

If the thought of having fresh eggs every morning intrigues you, you are already on your way to making the “chicken decision.”  Start dreaming of the kind of coop you’d create (what I refer to as “Archicoopture”) and you’re more than half-way there!  The chicken decision, whether to raise a flock yourself or not, really comes down to four things: desire, space, time and funds.  If you’re reading this, you probably already have the desire.  If you have 3 square meters of outdoor area available or more (and no zoning restrictions), you have the space to keep 3 peeps (the minimum flock size).  If you have 5 minutes a day to tend to your girls, plus an hour or so every 6 months for a thorough coop cleaning, you’ve got the time.  And if you have a few hundred bucks to build or buy your infrastructure (coop and run area), all that remains is getting started. 

Of course, sometimes it’s not that easy.  Sometimes you have to convince a spouse of the benefits of your agrarian dreams.  In my case, naming our 5 girls after cars helped.  True story :) Sometimes, you have to wait for the right season.  Here in the PNW, it’s best to get chicks in the spring so they are big enough to handle the cooler temps of the winter.  And sometimes you REALLY have to make sure the chicken decision will lead to happiness by reading every book you can.  Here are a couple that helped give me the confidence to make the leap: 

Storey’s Guide to Keeping Chickens , By Gail Damerow – Truthfully, this book might scare you because it covers every possible thing that could go wrong.  Don’t read it to gain assurance, but to know you’ve got a strong resource available should the need arise.  Other than the first perusal, I’ve only cracked my copy open once.   

A Chicken in Every Yard , by Robert & Hannah Litt – The authors of this book seem to hold your hand as they guide you through the process of selecting, raising, and maintaining healthy chickens.  Definitely start with this book.  It’s like having a knowledgeable friend. 

Also see my posts on coop design (Archicoopture), and building the chicken run, parts 1 & 2.