Before they are fully grown, chickens can be hawk bait, so we take some care with the little ones. In the fall (and spring.. you'll see why in a moment, the snow gets a little deep) the chickens free range around the property, snapping up bugs and grazing on the grass. If you are going to keep chickens you should know that they will turn any area they are confined to into bare dirt in a matter of days. So free ranging them allows the ground to recover and allows them to boost their diet with stuff you don't have to pay for. Their higher protein diet and exercise makes their yolks much yellower, and changes the flavor of the eggs. Free range eggs are in high demand in some areas, so you should have no trouble getting rid of any excess eggs.

I love to watch my birds charging around the place. The husband, on the other hand, is not fond of free ranging the birds. They are, frankly, not housebroken, and tend to congregate in areas where he has to work. Short of fencing off the garage, we haven't found a happy solution to free ranging the birds, and keeping the driveway clean. They will congregate in the drive for dust baths, and they need the grit they pick up to fill their crops. Since chickens don't have teeth (remember "scarce as hen's teeth?") they fill their crops with grit, which grinds down their feed.

A few words about the coop. Ours is very overbuilt. You can get incredibly creative with a chicken coop. A friend of mine kept chickens for years in an old truck cap set on a couple of sheets of plywood, which were up on cinderblocks. Talk about fast construction! Another couple keep 4 hens in a double-decker coop built into the back of their garage that is about the size of a doghouse.

And then there are these really cool designs for portable coops from England. Check out "Forsham Cottage Arks." The Arks are a variation of an American "Chicken Tractor" which was wildly promoted in a book which claimed you could make dramatic profits from confining your birds in "chicken tractors" and allowing them to graze by moving the cages every day. The chickens would graze, eat bugs, and fertilize... you'd reap huge profits on very little acearage. It was promoted as "pastured chickens" and it is a great idea. We use chicken tractors. But the author has had to recant his numbers. Chicken tractors are a good way to protect your birds, move them around, and yes, even feed them. But they aren't going to suddenly turn you profitable. There's a good set of pictures of a tractor here.

The USDA says a small flock needs about 4 square feet per bird, so our 8x8 coop can handle 16 birds. We've kept 24 in there over the winter without a problem, and now keep 10 in generous digs. Remember, however, if you are not going to heat the coop during the winter you need to fill it with enough birds so they won't freeze in there. The water will freeze (so we take it in at night) but 10 birds will keep each other warm. I don't think I'd try a winter with anything less in a space of this size.

A few things to notice in the interior. Perches. Your chickens will need perches. The one on the right is made out of an old wooden ladder. Chickens aren't fussy.

Because of our cold winters, we insulated the coop with closed cell foam board... then covered it with plywood. Chickens will peck at anything interesting, so if you insulate, you must cover the insulation with something nice and durable.

This picture shows new straw on the floor. During the winter we lay down a base of wood shavings, to a depth of 6 inches or so in November. We then periodically throw the chickens straw to play in... which they stir up into the bedding, creating a nice organic mass which will even begin to compost. If the coop starts getting grubby the chickens don't care, but I do, and I'll throw down a layer of clean shavings. In the spring we clean the coop out down to the floor and throw the shavings in the blueberry bed, or into the compost pile. Chickens have made a huge, massive, unbelievable, difference to our gardens. There should be a sign at the gate "we love chicken poop!" But it isn't something you want to apply directly to your tender plants. Chicken manure is "hot" and will burn the plants. Let it compost a while before using.

It takes a full summer to raise a chick into a laying hen. Just about the time you start despairing of ever seeing an egg... there will be a tiny brown egg in the pullet's pen! The first eggs are really tiny and our neighbor's children love them because they are "child sized."

When the eggs start appearing we establish the new flock in the hen house, using a "decoy" egg to get them into the nesting boxes if necessary. Generally, it isn't. One hen gets the idea, and the rest follow.

After a summer of catching bugs, scooting up and down the field, and being chased away from the garage by Peter, its time for last year's birds to make way for the next crop. After a less than efficient first experience at slaughtering the humor of which might be lost on some, but it does make for a funny tale), Peter and I have become quite expert at culling chickens. For anyone trying it for the first time, or even moving chickens from one place to the next, chickens are very quiet after dark. You can walk into the coop and take a bird out without a squawk or a struggle, and after several afternoons spent chasing chickens in an attempt to move them from pen to pen, or down to the coop, we've finally hit upon around dusk as the perfect time to handle chickens. Much less traumatic for all involved, and they go quickly without ever really waking up.

At which point we skin and bone the birds on the spot (our freezer isn't big enough for roasters), wash the meat, and pack it into the freezer. We can process about 10 birds an hour if we're moving at speed. The meat looks, smells, and I dare say tastes, pretty much like what you buy in the grocery store. We don't keep the birds for the meat. We keep them because they are entertaining little fertilizer units.

And a farm just isn't a farm without chickens running around!

Since we put these pages up we've been cited as a "sensible and reassuring guide for novices" and had folks ask us a number of good questions which aren't answered in the guide. So we've added... (drum roll please!)

The Farm at Morrison Corner's Chicken FAQ!

New: how we slaughter chickens; our killing and processing method

Visit us in Stowe, Vermont

The new Flock of Your Own: Sheep guide!

Now on Ebay...