1. Eggs for Breakfast: Backyard Chickens 101
Anne-Marie Anderson
The Celtic Gardener

2. What your chicken can do for you
Eggs
Meat
Fertilizer
Integrated pest management
Income
Disaster preparedness

3. What’s involved Open up Feed/water Free range/visit/play (as desired)
Collect eggs
Close up
Clean out (weekly or annually)
Check birds (monthly)

4. Are you allowed to keep chickens?
Your local zoning, codes or ordinance office
Watch out for HOAs
Roosters

5. First, build your coop Hen house/coop Food, water, shelter
Predator proofing/rats
Size matters
Chicken tractors
Bedding/cleaning
Budget

6. Then add chicks (or eggs or pullets)
Feed stores, internet, locally
Chick care

7. Breeds
Heritage, hybrid, layer, broiler, dual purpose

8. Feed your chicken Chick/grower/layer food Organic or not Supplements
Treats, scratch
Weeds, bugs, infested plants, prunings
Avoid…
WATER

9. Chicken health No annual physicals
Clean, spacious living area, good diet
The first egg
Molting
Biosecurity
NPIP Certification
GPLN necropsies
Chicken first aid
Your aging chicken

10. Resources
Handout
Harvey Ussery ‘The Small Scale Poultry Flock; An all natural approach to raising chickens and other fowl for home and market growers’ (Chelsea Green, 2011)
Classes:
Atlanta Urban Coop Tour: March 27-29,
The Chicken Whisperer magazine
Backyard Poultry Meetup Group:
Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network (GPLN)
National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP)
UGA Poultry Extension