Keeping Backyard Chickens

Build A Small Chicken Coop

Rob Brooking — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:36:57 +0000

Many experts and materials have emphasized the importance of size in a chicken coop. A chicken coop should have ample space for the chickens. A coop that’s too small for the chickens may cause certain adverse effects. However, there are instances when a small chicken coop is most ideal for your flock. But why is this so? Doesn’t the use of a small chicken coop negate the standard rule that chickens should have a spacious living space? Why should anyone raising a chicken flock build a small chicken coop? Simple: because when done correctly, a small chicken coop can be as efficient as a big one. Of course, there are some factors to consider when building one. In any case, why should you build a small chicken coop?

For one, a small chicken coop is more convenient, in more ways than one. Needless to say, a small chicken coop is much cheaper to build since it will require only very minimal number of materials. But despite being small, it should have the usual amenities for your flock—nesting boxes, a chicken run, feeders and water dishes. If you really cannot afford to build a chicken coop big enough to have a consequent run, you can do the next best thing and release your flock out of their coop to allow them to roam freely in your backyard. Needless to say, when you do this, you need to actively check your chickens from time to time, especially if your backyard is not secured enough against predators that can attack your chickens. Your backyard should also be clean and free of any waste and trash that your chickens may eat or ingest. One of the reasons why chickens get sick is due to the items they eat.

A small chicken coop is also so much easier to clean, mainly due to its size. The usual chicken coops you see can be extremely spacious that even it will take more than a few hours to clean the entire structure. Of course, you should not decide to build a small chicken coop manly because of the convenient. Naturally, a small chicken coop should be chosen out of necessity or capacity.

Space is one of the more viable reasons why people choose small chicken coops. If you do not have the backyard space to house a big chicken coop, then you’re most likely going to build a small chicken coop. Small, of course, should still mean sufficient—you still have to adhere to the required space requirement set per chicken vis a vis the small chicken coop. So technically, a small chicken coop means you also have a small number of chickens in your flock. You can only raise the chickens you can accommodate.

Another reason for choosing a small chicken coop: portability. Needless to say, a small chicken coop is so much easier to move around. This is advantageous for a number of reasons. For instance, you can easily move the coop when needed: when the weather is cold, you can move the coop to much a warmer location; when it’s hot, you can move the coop to a colder location within your backyard or any other place in your residence. Chicken owners who are on the move may also opt for the much smaller chicken coop compared to the bigger, more permanent chicken coop structure.

However, you can only choose to get a small chicken coop if necessary. This is a decision you do can decide due to a whim. Even with a small chicken coop, you still have to give your chickens the best that you can, the best that they deserve.

Hatching Chicken Eggs

Rob Brooking — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:18:05 +0000

Hatching chicken eggs artificially may seem incredibly hard—but it isn’t. In fact, many chicken breeders and chicken owners would rather hatch their own chicken eggs, for a few very sensible reasons. Here are some of them:

When a hen hatches the eggs, it does nothing but that—hatching chicken eggs. While this may seem rather fun for casual chicken owners, this isn’t the case for chicken owners who raise chickens for profit, whether for their egg or for their meat, or for other reasons.
Hatching chicken eggs artificially ensures the safety of the eggs, since you will not leave the process to chance. This process is meticulous and you can do certain things to make sure everything is proceeding properly.
Remember that while hens may be considered by some as the best chicken egg incubator, not all chicken breeds are adept in hatching chicken eggs. Some chickens are better at hatching chicken eggs than others. So if your hen isn’t exactly the perfect candidate to hatch the eggs, then the only option you have is to hatch them yourselves.

With those to consider, it is easy to see why hatching chicken eggs artificially is the best way to go. Here, you will only need a chicken egg incubator, the device that will facilitate the artificial hatching. There are two kinds of chicken egg incubators:

The forced-air incubator, a more advanced device that can automatically turn the eggs and can hatch more eggs than the other type of chicken egg incubator.
The still-air incubator does not turn eggs automatically, and can hatch fewer eggs compared to the forced-air incubator.

Needless to say, you are better off with the forced-air incubator. However, the still-air incubator or a custom-made one may be your only options if you cannot afford the forced-air one. You will have to spend more time with the chickens, though.

However, you do not simply put every egg your hens hatched in the incubator, since some of these eggs may already be damaged prior to hatching. Hatching these chicken eggs will only be a complete waste of time. Check the eggs for cracks, marks, or any sort of damages before hatching them. Choosing what eggs to hatch means you’re making sure every resource you have using is used properly.

When hatching chicken eggs, you have to keep note of the turning, the ventilation, the temperature, and the candling of the eggs and the cooling period for the hatching chicken eggs.

Hatching chickens eggs should be placed in an incubator set at the right temperature, which is 100 degrees Fahrenheit. To know the temperature, place the thermometer on top of the hatching chicken eggs since you are trying to find out the temperature of the hatching chicken eggs and not the incubator itself. This is why you have to occasionally adjust the temperature of the incubator to achieve the desired temperature.

You also have to turn the hatching chicken eggs at least once or twice a day, although this wouldn’t be a concern if you are using a forced-air incubator. Ventilation is also important when hatching chicken eggs, although, again, an incubator you bought commercially should have this problem already fixed. As for the candling, this is to ensure that every hatching chicken eggs you are handling are properly maturely; it is also a way to allow you to know which ones to dispose of.

Although many say that hatching chicken eggs naturally can produce certain benefits, hatching these eggs yourself is still the best way to go to ensure safety and health. You do not want to waste what was given to you, after all.

Incubating Chicken Eggs: How To Guide

Portable Chicken Coop

Rob Brooking — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:39:05 +0000

Raising chickens is not exactly an extremely difficult task, but does require one to devote time and effort. One of the many tasks that chicken owners and breeds have to contend with is the building of the flock’s living space. One such option is a portable chicken coop. Chicken coops are necessary for the proper growth and well-being of these chickens. And any chicken enthusiast would know that any owner would be a fool not to consider these, especially since chickens are very sensitive and easily affected creatures.

As a chicken owner, you need to make sure that they are kept in a controlled environment so you can minimize the risks, hence making sure that your chickens are properly bred and taken care of. Chicken coops protect chickens for pests and predators, keep them warm during the colder seasons, and make their food, water, and nesting boxes easily accessible. There are some owners who raise their chickens free range, but unless you really have the luxury of time, you shouldn’t even consider this.

Using A Portable Chicken Coop

One of the questions that are often raised regarding this issue is the issue of portability. There are times when one would need a portable chicken coop. Is there such a thing as a portable chicken coop? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing a portable chicken coop over the usual, more permanent chicken coop.

An owner may opt to use a portable chicken coop if the flock he or she is raising consists only of a few chickens. Because a portable chicken coop is, as the name already implies, portable, it is usually small. The materials used for a portable chicken coop may also vary. Most of the commercially available portable chicken coop can house five to six chickens per coop, although this may depend on the size of the chickens.

This means, if you have more chickens than that, you will have to buy more portable chicken coops. The more popular portable chicken coop brands may cost to as much as 500 dollars—a very hefty price considering how little money is spent when building a coop.

However, a portable chicken coop is also easy to maintain. Therefore, if in case you do plan to get several of these coops, cleaning and maintaining them wouldn’t be much of a problem, mainly because of their size.

They are also very easy to assemble, since that’s the point of it being portable—the convenience of assembly and disassembling. And since they are commercially made, they already have the essentials—nesting boxes, feeders, the works. Because of the popularity of chicken raising, these portable chicken coops come in various designs.

A popular brand, Eglu, come in a very simple design, much like that of a doghouse’s. Another brand, hen Condo, built their portable chicken coop to look like a trash bin, saying that this makes the chickens inconspicuous. With the very basic and deceiving design, it makes the portable chicken coop blend so much easier to the surroundings.

It is possible to build a portable chicken coop, of course, but due to the needs of this structure, it is still has to be much smaller than your usual chicken coop. In any case, building one can definitely save you a lot more money.

Portable chicken coops are convenient for chicken owners who own only a few chickens, who are constantly on the move, and who do not have enough space for an actual chicken coop. But for anything else, building a standard sized chicken coop can save you much more time and much more money. Still, those will special needs cannot do wrong with portable chicken coops.

What Kind of Chickens Should You Raise

Rob Brooking — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:12:21 +0000

If you have considered taking care and raising chickens, one of the things that must have crossed your mind is…

…what kind of chickens should I raise?

When you look at the experience of other chicken owners, you can easily classify them into two types… those who raise chicken for fun and those who raise chicken seriously.

When one raises a chicken for fun, it rarely matters what kind of chickens they raise, as long as they do not crow or do not make unnecessary noise that will make one’s neighbors complain.

On the other hand, when one is a serious breeder or owner, he or she is very precise when it comes to what kind of chickens to take care of. This is because the breed of the chicken will dictate characteristics present in a chicken. And these characteristics should correspond to what you want or what you are looking for in a chicken.

So how do you find out what kind of chickens you should take care of? Simply by assessing yourself.

Why do you want to raise a chicken in the first place?

This will dictate what kind of chickens you should raise. This will help you assess your long-term goals for your practice of raising chickens. You need to find out for yourself: what do I want from my chickens? What do plan to do with them? When these are already taken aside, you can easily figure out what kind of chickens you really want.

Do you want a chicken that lay eggs? Maybe raising chickens for meat is your thing? Or do you want a chicken that will be perfect for exhibitions? Heck, why not raise a chicken that is perfect for all three.

I know it can be confusing sometimes. But what I encourage you to do is sit down and decide what is most important to you at this time. Sure, raising chickens for show sounds cool, but it isn’t necessarily the best place for a beginner to start.

So use this as your guide… you can easily figure out which of the numerous breeds available is best suited for you. The previous step is a way of narrowing down your choices, as there are literally hundreds of chicken breeds you can choose from.

You assess what you want from your chicken so you can find out what kind of chickens you should get.

If you want an egg laying chicken, you have already eliminated chickens that do not lay many eggs. The most common egg laying chicken is the White Leghorn, mainly because of its capacity to produce more than 200 eggs a year. But the While Leghorn is very simplistic in terms of looks. Will you choose something else to accommodate your need to find an egg laying chicken that you can enter in exhibitions? In this case, the Bantam is a popular choice—a chicken breed that is not only popular in exhibitions but can also produce eggs.

Choosing what kind of chickens to get for breeding is a more difficult procedure, something that requires trial and error. Here, you choose what kind of chickens you want to breed, get the best types among your criteria, and eliminate the ones with the bad characteristics you want out of your products. Many experts say that diversity is the key in chicken breeding.

The important thing to remember when choosing what kind of chickens to choose is what you need and what you can afford to own. What you can afford to own is not just in terms of monetary, but also in terms of committment and resources.

Chickens have needs, and specific chickens have specific needs you need to fulfill if you want your chickens to grow properly, healthy, and become productive. Researching the different kinds of chicken breeds can help you decide can help for sure.

Incubating Chicken Eggs: How To Guide

Rob Brooking — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:09:24 +0000

One of the most fascinating and rewarding parts of raising backyard chickens is incubating chicken eggs. You can let the hens incubate and hatch their eggs. Natural incubation actually offers many benefits… it allows you to be free of work, since the hen does everything, and chickens incubated and hatched naturally tend to be more robust.

However, there are also various disadvantages when you incubate your eggs naturally. Hens that incubate eggs do not lay eggs, so your productivity is decreased.

If you intend to be a serious flock owner, you should understand the basics of incubating chicken eggs.

The first thing you need to do when incubating chicken eggs, oddly enough, is choosing the egg to incubate. They may seem weird—why not incubate them all?—but choosing what eggs to incubate will save you time and resources.

First off, choose the eggs by their physical appearance. There is no point incubating chicken eggs that are deformed, cracked, or have holes. The size of the eggs should be regular. If their size is smaller or bigger than the eggs your chickens usually lay, then there must be something wrong.

But more than the physical, you need to consider the chickens that laid the eggs when incubating chicken eggs. Choose eggs from chickens that have good fertility percentage. Also, choose eggs from chickens that were not disturbed in any way during their mating season. This is to ensure that the eggs they lay are in perfect condition.

Before incubating chicken eggs, they should be properly taken care of. You should not wash them or wipe them, as this will cause their natural coating to be removed. This coating protects them from harmful organisms that can damage the eggs.

Also, before incubating chicken eggs, they should be stored in an area with 55 degrees Fahrenheit temperature and with 75 percent humidity. You should turn the eggs daily, every eight hours for seven days; use markings so you can distinguish the ends of the egg.

As for the actual process of incubating chicken eggs, you first have to choose what incubators you will use. You can use force-air incubators or still-air incubators for incubating chicken eggs. Force-air incubators require less work compared to still-air incubators, and they also hatch more eggs at a single time. Of course, you can use hens, which can serve as your incubator and your brooder. But, again, you will have to be ready for the repercussions of choosing this process.

When incubating chicken eggs, you need to maintain the incubator’s temperature to 100 degrees Fahrenheit for force air incubators. For still air incubators, the temperature should be 102 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity should be set to 58 to 60 percent until day 18 and 65 percent until day 21. This way, the eggs remain moist. Ventilation is also important.

You should try to turn them four to six times a day. However, three times per day is sufficient enough to properly incubate the eggs. You do not need to turn them after day 17. At this stage, the egg is already close to hatching; turning them can potentially damage the eggs and injure the chick.

Forced-air incubators require less work because they have automatic turners. Needless to say, your hands should be clean before handling the incubating chicken eggs. Eggs, after all, are like babies… they are delicate and should be handled with care.

Clipping Chicken Wings

Rob Brooking — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:06:52 +0000

Many urban cities now allow the raising of chickens, but only because chickens can easily be domesticated. Chickens cannot be as domestic as cats and dogs. They cannot be trained to do tricks, and they are not as friendly, although they can easily be trained to be docile around their owners or other humans.

City laws require owners to control their chickens fully. Chickens should not cause any ruckus by making any loud, disturbing sounds. They should not also crowd around outside their dwellings and in public. This is why clipping chicken wings are important when you own chickens in your house.

Clipping chicken wings is necessary because it prevents them from flying. Of course, chickens can’t fly the same way other birds can. However, they can take flight for a few inches that can allow them to go places…

…this ability may enable them to escape your backyard when they are not in their coop. If you think you can afford for them to have the ability of limited and temporary flight, then maybe you don’t need to clip their wings. However, this is almost always not the case… in turn, clipping chicken wings is almost always necessary.

Many misinformed owners of chickens may think that clipping chicken wings is cruel. However, the parts involved in clipping chicken wings are not at all connected to any body part that might cause pain. In a way, what you clip is similar to your hair. If you do not feel any pain when you hair is cut, then your chickens will not feel pain when their wings are clipped.

But how is clipping chicken wings done anyway?

Although the procedure may seem hard, it is actually very simple. All you need to do is clip around two-thirds of the first ten feathers of their wings. So while clipping chicken wings may seem like you are cutting their wings, the truth is, you are simply cutting a part of their feathers. These feathers give them the ability to balance when in flight. Without it, they cannot fly.

The first thing you have to do is catch the chicken. This may be hard for some, but if you have been raising these chickens, catching them should be easy, especially since most backyard-raised chickens are already docile. It may be best if you make them more accustomed to human contact when they are young. Besides clipping chicken wings, this will make other related procedures easier.

Once you have caught them, calm them down. While clipping chicken wings will not hurt them at all, they will be disoriented with the procedure if they are not calmed or prepared. Pet them, coo them—do whatever works. This is a case by case procedure.

After this, you invert the chicken so you can identify the feathers to be clipped. Once you know what to clip, you can now cut them. After clipping the chickens wings, you can now release them.

At first, they will seem disoriented, but they will not feel pain or shock.

Others may ask if clipping chicken wings is something best left to veterinarians. Although this is a case by case basis, there is actually no need to go to the vet for this simple procedure. Besides, the cost of this procedure if done by a vet is insane, considering you can do it on your own without anything else by a clean pair of scissors. You may feel a bit uncomfortable when you first try clipping chicken wings, but you will get the hang of it.

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Chicken Coop Building Plans – How To Build A Chicken Coop

Rob Brooking — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:04:49 +0000

When raising backyard chickens one of the most important decisions you have to make is building a chicken coop. The chicken coop will serve as your flock’s home.

There are several ready-made chicken coops available commercially. However, many experts say that these coops will not satisfy the need of people raising backyard chickens. After all, the only way you can guarantee that your coop will indeed cover everything you need is if you build it yourself.

Many may balk at the idea of building a chicken coop. However, if you consider how easy it is to make one, you will surely reconsider.

The key to making a good chicken coop is by proper planning…

…and by assessing what you need and what you can do.

This calls for chicken coop building plans before you embark on the task of making the coop.

So what should be included in your chicken coop building plans?

First you need to plan the size of your chicken coop as well as the ventilation.

Size matters since it will dictate how much space your chickens will have for themselves while they are inside the coop. When deciding on your chicken coop building plans, you need to make sure that the dimensions are thoroughly thought out.

The chickens should always have ample space since, just like humans, they will experience adverse effects without it. You will only have minimal time to take your chickens out of the coop, if at all. Therefore, even if they are inside the coop, the chickens should have ample space so they can roam around and move, the same way they will when released.

While giving them as much space as possible seems like the way to go, this isn’t always possible. For one, not everyone has a huge backyard.

Bigger chicken breeds require more space. Baby chickens, on the other hand, will not need as much space. Geese and ducks, however, actually require more space. The convenience of raising chickens is that they do not need water to swim on and they do not need to fly.

Ventilation and insulation are also important in your chicken coop building plans. Ventilation means the movement of air in an area. In your chicken coop design, this means your coop is ventilated enough so air can move from the outside. Good ventilation reduces or eliminates odors and the carbon dioxide collection in the coop. This isn’t a problem with open-air coops. However, the problem here would be insulation.

Insulation protects the chickens from the elements. Proper insulation keeps the chickens warm at night and protected from the elements such as rain and snow. Your chicken coop building plans should combine good ventilation and insulation, which means incorporating both open-air and close-air coop styles.

One element in chicken coop building plans that is often neglected is protection. Coops should protect the chickens from other hazards besides the weather.

For instance, can your coop protect the chickens against snakes, dogs, foxes, and other wild animals? More than a dwelling, your chicken coop building plans should ensure that their coop is a safe haven. It is should be their safe zone.

When your chickens are inside the coop, you should be assured that they are safe and well-protected…

…so you can sleep at night knowing that nothing will happen to your chickens.

This is what your chicken coop building plans should make sure of, more than the design of the coop and its appearance.

Building and Using a Chicken Brooder

Rob Brooking — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:01:29 +0000

When raising chickens you will need certain things and equipment so you can properly raise them. One of these things is the chicken coop which serves as the dwelling of your chickens. If you plan on raising chicks, then you will also need a chicken brooder.

The chicken brooder is an important piece of equipment when your chicks have started hatching from their eggs. You may question the need for the chicken brooder since don’t animals just let their babies be in the wild?

Your backyard is not “the wild,” and while your home may be tamer than the chickens’ natural habitat, it is still your responsibility to make sure that your chickens are properly housed especially during the most delicate time of their lives.

If you can’t provide your chickens with a chicken brooder, you should reconsider raising them.

What Is A Chicken Brooder?

A chicken brooder is where you place your baby chicks are they are hatched. As with most living things, a newly-born chick is not equipped to face harsh elements. The chicken brooder serves as the environment where babies are placed until they are fully equipped for the “outside world.”

Ideally, chicks remain in the chicken brooder for about a month. After this, the chicks will shed their baby feathers and grow permanent ones. These feathers are more suited for their protection.

Like an incubator, a chicken brooder is primarily a heated controlled space. Chicks are easily overwhelmed by cold weather. The chicken brooder enables you to control the environment where the chicks are staying.

In commercial operations, chicken brooders are very complex. After all, they could not afford to lose their chicks.

Owners of backyard chickens need not resort to this complex machinery since they can simply create a controlled environment of their own. A chicken brooder made from a simple box with a heat source is sufficient enough, as long as it maintains certain requirements.

First, the chicken brooder should have ample space. According to experts and various materials, your chicken brooder should have half a square foot per chicken to be placed in the brooder.

Too little space will mean the chicks will not have ample room. Too much, however, will mean the chicken brooder won’t be heated sufficiently. As it is, half a square foot per chicken should be sufficient enough.

Just like a chicken coop, the chicken brooder should be well ventilated as well. You simply want to control the temperature… you do not want them to be thoroughly heated.

The ideal temperature of the brooder is 95 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week. After a week, you lower the temperature by five degrees until the temperature of the chicken brooder is the same as the temperature outside. This way, the chicks will not be overwhelmed or shocked by the temperature outside their controlled environment.

To control the temperature you need a heating source. Light bulbs are good substitutes, but you will need a heat source you can control. After all, you need to change the temperature of the brooder from time to time. This is why a brooder bulb is more efficient.

You need to plan and build your chicken brooder properly and thoroughly. But as this demonstrates, building one can be every easy. As long as it is well ventilated, has a reliable heat source, and has ample space, your chicken brooder is sure to be effective.

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How To Build A Chicken Coop

Rob Brooking — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:11:29 +0000

Many cities across the country have allowed people to raise backyard chickens. However, many of these laws allow the practice if the owner of the chickens keeps them as pets (and not meat) and if the owners will build their pet chickens a chicken coop.

A chicken coop, basically, is where your chickens should be kept. It can be an elaborate structure, although it can also be a simple box frame covered by wires to prevent the chickens from coming out. Many chicken owners are divided on what chicken coop is more appropriate for these animals, which is why there are open-air chicken coops (which is the more simple among the chicken coops available) and the closed-air chicken coops (which is the more elaborate one).

Many owners, however, build their own chicken coop. Although there are commercially made ones available in the market today, the custom made ones are more efficient since it allows owners to build the coop according to what they think are the needs of their chickens. This is perhaps why there are many materials on how to build a chicken coop available.

Those searching for ways on how to build a chicken coop should be pleased that the process is actually very easy. First, before you delve on how to build a chicken coop, you need to decide what type of chicken coop you want to build. As mentioned earlier, there are essentially two types of chicken coops. Open-air chicken coops are easy to build since they only require you to build a box frame. You only need to attach the wire fencing and you’re done. However, while easy, this gives your chickens little protect against the harsh outdoor elements. People who search steps on how to build a chicken coop such as this one believe that chickens are best left to their own devices when it comes to this.

On the other hand, the open-air chicken coop is harder since it is more elaborate. Here, you will need to provide covering for the chickens, meaning it wouldn’t be as simple as building a frame with wires. You will also need to make adjustments so that part of the chicken coop that provides the chickens with sunlight, something every living thing needs. In short, it’s making two chicken coops in one. People who research on how to build a chicken coop of this are those who keep chickens essentially as pets. Open air coops, after all, are mainly used by people who raise and breed chickens commercially as meat. They do not really care for the overall well-being of their chickens, as long as they are healthy and they survive until they are butchered.

When searching on how to build a chicken coop, you will see two essential elements that you need incorporate on your chicken coop, regardless of what type you plan to build. First, you need to make sure that your chicken coop has ample space for your chickens. This means the chicken coop isn’t crowded and it allows the chickens to move freely. They need exercise; after all, you won’t have the time to let them graze open spaces always. Of course, as mentioned earlier, ventilation is also extremely necessary. When searching on how to build a chicken coop, you need to find a plan that gives your chicken coops ventilation. This shouldn’t be a problem when you are building a simple open air coop, but this might be an issue with the closed air ones.

Of course, you also have to provide the coops with the necessary amenities. Besides the feeders and the waterers, your coops may need nests (if you expect your chickens to lay eggs, for instance).

Raising Chickens In Your Backyard

Rob Brooking — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:09:50 +0000

If you have been paying attention, in the last few months, many media outfits have reported on the rise of raising chickens. Suddenly, raising chickens in your backyard has not only become acceptable; it is now popular, a growing trend that even the powers that be have anointed as a notable trend and practice.

High-end magazines, for instance, have featured fashion chicken coops. Community papers as well as national publications have tried to understand why, all of a sudden, this trend is starting to grow. But with the onslaught of material and reports on this matter comes the backlash. Lately, many people have questioned this practice, saying that, really, raising chickens in your backyard cannot be legitimate growing trend or practice. Why would anyone think raising chickens in your backyard is an ideal practice, they say.

But as much as their concern seems to have reason, a backbone for their being, they fail to understand why raising chickens in your backyard is the real deal. True, anyone can make it seem as if something is becoming popular even when it is not, using a few choice marketing tools and techniques. And while the practice of raising chickens in your backyard may seem guilty of this, a few things indicate this is no false trend.

For one, many states and cities in America have changed their law in favor of allowing raising chickens in your backyard. And surely, government officials and lawmakers will not change laws just because of a marketing hoax. This only means that there is an actual clamor to change the laws to allow raising chickens in your backyard. There is also a sizable number of people lobbying for the change in the law. Now, if raising chickens in your backyard is indeed a false trend, then why are these things happening?

A more solid proof, however, is time. True, there have been a number of reports and articles on the issue and idea of raising chickens in your backyard recently. But if you search on the topic more thoroughly, you will find out that the articles on raising chickens in your backyard did not start coming out this year or last year—articles on the subject have been in print since the early 2000s. And these weren’t just articles published either. The Wall Street Journal, Seattle Times, Newsweek, and a score of other publications have reported on this topic as early as the late 1990s. These are reputable publications, back in the day when the Internet still has no say on what is newsworthy. This means these stories were published due to the interest of people on backyard chickens outside the realm of the Internet, a true measure of the issue’s relevance and importance.

Therefore, if the topic of raising chickens in your backyard has been discussed as early as then, it is only safe to say that it is no trend. In fact, raising chickens in your backyard is actually a long standing practice. People have been raising chickens for a long time; not just recently. This means that the practice is merely catching and that people are only responding to a practice that has been in existence for years. The longevity of the trend or its popularity is actually questionable, no doubt. What isn’t questionable is that even after the novelty subsides, people will still continue to raise chickens. Even when articles on the topic ceased to be published, people will still clamor for attention and for information on raising chickens in your backyard. This is because the benefits of raising chickens in your backyard are undeniable. That is something a marketing hoax can never fake.