Nothing can beat a good fresh homegrown meal.Chickens can produce that for you.The two common reasons to raise chickens are for egg and meat production. Some people want both eggs and meat from their backyard flock. While some want only one or the other. The first question to answer when you are getting ready to raise some birds is what is the goal? If you look at information on breeds of chickens it will list whether this is a meat or egg bird or a dual purpose bird.

Most of those who are raising poultry in my circle of friends are trying to maintain a flock of layers. Some of those folks will butcher the old laying hens and get meat from the birds as well as some healthy eggs while the chickens are young.

It is not too difficult to raise laying hens. I will concentrate on how to raise them. You need to have a plan in mind for a place where they will live which usually is a henhouse with some windows to let in some natural light, some nestboxes, a feeder and a shallow bowl or pan for water as well as some straw or hay to line the nests and scatter on the floor and some roosts for the hens to sleep on at night. I also have an electrical hookup so that I can have a light in the henhouse in the winter when the hours of sunlight are short enough that the chickens would not lay well without a little boost. My house includes a hen yard which is available for my chickens to enjoy in warm weather.

Your local cooperative extension service is a good source of information on chickens. Another source is your local farmer's cooperative or private feed store. The feed store is going to be the a good place to get baby chicks and buy the feed you will need as well as equipment and straw or hay. The only exception to this would be if you live in an area where you can locate grain,straw and hay directly from farms or if you plan to grow them yourself.

Most feed stores in our area have chick days in the spring as promotions. They take orders in advance of the chick day but they also have some extra birds on hand for those spur of the moment kind of folks. Our feed stores often give you the chicks or charge a minimal amount if you buy a certain amount of feed from them.You can also order chicks from a hatchery which will ship them to you directly.

The chicks are a day old when you start with them. They need to be put in a brooder or a box with an electric light above them to keep them warm. They will need feed and water. Chicks are good at letting you know something

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