Is it difficult to build your own chicken coop in your backyard? If you are good with hand tools and able to read a building plans, it is actually quite easy.

How much time should you allocate if you are planning to raise chicken at home?

What I am referring here is the actual time needed to take care of the daily chores.

Just like any other household pets such as dog, cat, gold fish or parakeet, you will need to allocate some time every day to take care of them.

To have bantams in your backyard, you begin by spending time preparing their living area such as the chicken coop and the grass for the birds to forage.

If you are good with hand tools, you can get a DIY chicken coop plan and then build the housing yourself. That will take you maybe one or two weekends.

To save time, you can just purchase a chicken coop off the selves. But doing so will cost you some money. It is a trade off if you want to get the birds in quickly.

The actual time you have to spend looking after the chicken ranges from 15 to 30 minutes in the morning or evening. Most probably you will spend longer because it is so much fun observing their antics.

If you use an automatic feeder or waterer, you may have to check on the flock once or twice a day. The feeder might get stuck or water spilled all over the chicken coop.

If you have hens laying eggs, you should check on them once a day to collect the eggs. Preferably do this in the morning and you’ll have fresh organic eggs for breakfast. It is best to design the chicken coop with easy access to make the eggs collection process fast and easy.

All in all, you don’t need a lot of time and attention on the chicken in your backyard. They are pretty self sufficient.

Make sure the chicken coop area is enclosed to keep predators such as dogs, cats, raccoons, large rats away from the birds.

There are many advantages of raising your own chicken at home. The best benefit of having your own chicken is the fresh organic eggs that you can gather every morning for breakfast.

But do you have what it takes to have a chicken coop with lots of bantams running in your backyard?

The following are 3 basic requirements anyone should have if they are planning to have poultry at their home.

1) Construction time.

Do you have time to build the chicken coop for the birds?

Building a functional chicken housing can take some time. You need to acquire a proper chicken coop plan and then finish the construction before you get the chicken.

Just like any home improvement job, you have to plan how much time you are willing to put into the project.

How’s your building skill?

Your knowledge on handling building material and experience will also determine how much time you have to devote to the project.

2) Preparing the right living space.

An adult full-sized chicken will need a minimum of 2 square feet of floor space for shelter. If the bird cannot go outside during cold climate, it needs at least 3 square feet of internal chicken coop space to run around.

Here’s a quick space estimate for 4 hens in your backyard. You need to have 2 feet by 4 feet and the outside pen another 2 feet by 6 feet so that your total space used would be 2 feet by 10 feet.

Obviously, if you have more chicken, the space required will increase. Make sure you have sufficient space for the chicken coop in your backyard.

3) Capital investment.

Finally, you need money buy the chicken. Rooster, hen and chicks are not really expensive. Unless you are planning to get the rare breeds, the budget to purchase the bantams are quite small.

Adult hens that are healthy and capable of laying eggs cost less than $10. Chicks of most breeds cost a few dollars only. If you have other friends breeding their own chickens at home, you may get the chicks for free.

If the place you are staying does not allow you to raise chicken, you can confront this restriction by finding out the procedure for amending the law or zoning in your location.

Sometimes, all you need to do is a request a zoning variance. Doing so will allow you to keep the chickens based on your particular circumstances.

Sometimes, getting the permission to raise chicken at home is just a formality. If you are unlucky, it can turn into a major court battle. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to go that far because of all the hassle. In other cases, you’ll probably be required to attend a commission meeting and state your case.

Go to your local town office and check with the city clerk, the township supervisor or other local government official in regards to your request.

They will advise you whether a planning commission meeting or other committee meeting is required. Find out the date, time and location of the meeting. You want to make sure you attend the meeting to present your case. Sometimes, you need to make an appointment to speak at the meeting or to bring up certain issues.

What do you need when you want to raise chicken at home and you are confronted with local restrictions?

You will need lots of patient. Some of the zoning changes can take months of discussion and mulling over. If you do not succeed the first time, ask what you can do to change the outcome the next time.

Then try and present your request again. It will take some iron will on your part. Sooner or later, you will get what you want if you have a compelling case.