chickens in the 6ix: what you need to know to raise backyard chickens
from where to get chicks to building a happy coop, toronto's sandra grilo writes a blog that offers advice on how to successfully raise urban chickens.
6 minute read
sandra grilo started her blog, chickens in the six, to answer some common questions about caring for urban chickens. source: chickens in the six
you may never get a definitive answer to the age-old question of which came first, but you can learn how to have both chickens and eggs right in your own backyard. and it’s surprisingly easy, as many canadians discovered while flocking to the practice during the pandemic.
the first thing to know is you don’t need acres of land in the countryside.
sandra grilo grew up around chickens on a small property in toronto. “my parents’ background is portuguese, and it’s what everybody did,” she says of her childhood backyard filled with ducks, pigeons and rabbits. “it brought a bit of the old country into the city.”
soon after she moved into her own home 15 years ago, she naturally added a veggie garden and laying hens to her yard. her husband, however, cried foul.
“he never had pets of any kind growing up,” grilo says, “so it took a bit of explaining that it’s not as big a job as he imagined.”
he had many of the same concerns that most people have when contemplating keeping backyard birds, so grilo started a blog, chickens in the six, to answer some common questions.
check your municipal bylaw office for chicken and egg rules
since laws differ from region to region, check with your municipal bylaw office to see if you’re legally allowed to keep hens.
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“some municipalities may require a license or permit, and part of this process may include property inspection,” says melissa speirs, manager, farm animal welfare, at the bc spca. she says regional bylaws may also prohibit selling your eggs, since they’re ungraded.
where do you get the chickens from?
there are plenty of places to buy chicks — even from sites like kijiji and craigslist — but be sure your source is legitimate and knowledgeable, such as a poultry farm. also, you want to buy a hen and not a rooster, since they look similar when they are chicks. unless you plan to raise a flock yourself, you don’t need a rooster, which fertilizes the eggs for hatching. (and some communities have rules governing roosters, whose noise can ruffle some people’s feathers.)
how big a flock depends on the size of your property and hen house, as well as how many eggs you plan to scramble. some areas have restrictions on flock size but you should have at least two birds to keep each other company. if you want to expand as you go along, there are procedures for introducing a new bird safely. if not, an established brood could bully the newcomer — there is literally a pecking order.
what breeds make the best eggs?
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grilo and her family don’t eat chicken, but are voracious egg eaters. on her site, she explains the various breeds for egg laying, meat consumption, and dual-purpose birds.
egg-layers will drop an egg every day in their first year, five to seven a week in their second year, three to five a week in their third year, when they usually stop producing entirely. they normally take a break over the winter unless you hook up a light system in their coop, which grilo does not do in order to give them a rest.
she says the colour of the yolks is the result of the birds’ feed not the breed.
“i have brown, white, black and white spotted, and solid grey chickens,” says grilo. “the outside of the eggs is all different — blue, white, brown, speckled — but the insides all look the same.”
eggshells come in a variety of colours and depends on the chicken breed. source: chickens in the six
speirs agrees, noting that the colour of the yolks can range from pale if fed a wheat-based diet, to dark if fed a corn-based diet.
“eggshell colour depends on the breed, and, more specifically, the colour of the hen’s earlobe,” she says.
grilo keeps all her eggs in one basket on the counter, unrefrigerated, for up to a month. when an egg is laid, it is covered with a wet film, which when dry forms a protective cover over the porous shell.
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“in canada, eggs go through an egg washing station to clean and sanitize them before they can be sold in stores,” says speirs. “however, this process removes the natural protective outer layer, called a cuticle. without the cuticle, eggs need to be refrigerated to discourage bacterial growth.”
meat chickens grow big quite quickly, so you don’t have to feed them for as long before processing. they’ll also lay eggs, but not as frequently as egg-layers. dual birds are simply prolific layers you can eat at the end of their laying life.
whichever breed you choose, speirs says it’s important to be aware of proper handling, as well as the diseases spread by wild birds, such as avian influenza, and to use a veterinarian who treats chickens.
how to build a happy hen house
chickens need a safe, warm place to live and lay. you can buy ready-made hen houses from hardware stores, or if you’re handy, you can build your own. either way, there are certain specifications that have to be met.
according to the spca’s site, which has a wealth of information on raising backyard chickens, regulations stipulate a clean, comfortable, safe and well-ventilated hen house with enough space for the birds to walk around and flap their wings, perches for roosting and nest boxes for laying. you should also provide fun diversions, such as treat dispensers, dust baths, and foraging toys. if they get bored, they could take their frustrations out on their feathered friends.
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your birds should have an outdoor area where they can explore and scratch around in the dirt, grass and gravel. ensure the outside enclosure has secure fencing to protect against predators, and to keep your chickens from crossing the road. you’ll also need to winterize the coop to keep the flock warm when the temperatures drop.
a hen house needs to follow certain regulations to be deemed safe for chickens. source: chickens in the six
grilo says it takes only about 10 minutes a day to clean house. in the morning, her hens let themselves out through an automatic door opener. she gathers the eggs, and then uses a scooper to collect the droppings from their bedding — a flax hay mix — and tosses it into her composter which she uses in her garden. once a week she does a deeper clean and once a month rakes the courtyard, adds more flax hay and generally tidies up.
what do chickens eat?
a healthy diet is the key to a healthy chicken. the spca recommends a good quality commercial poultry feed, as well as grit, such as gravel, to aid in digestion, and enough calcium to produce the eggs.
“i pay a premium price for organic pellets,” says grilo, who says it’s not necessary to buy organic. “then throughout the day we [give them] our kitchen scraps — vegetables, fruits, leftovers — which assures they’re getting vitamins and minerals for egg laying, because it’s very taxing on their body.”
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and though speirs says chickens are omnivores, she warns against feeding them chocolate, avocados or raw potatoes.
after her morning chicken chores, grilo goes back to her day job as a health coach and certified hypnotist.
“my chickens really are my hobby, my passion project,” she says. “there’s no reason that, if you have the space, you can’t bring a touch of farm to the city too.”
robin roberts is a vancouver-based writer.
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