Reasons for having backyard chickens range from wanting a taste of homesteading and enjoying the soft cluck-cluck-clucks to preferring fresh eggs and leaning into a greener lifestyle. Their numbers run somewhere more than 80 million across the U.S., and the State of Texas has no laws governing backyard chickens.
Local municipalities manage those regulations and permits, if you need one. While the City of Austin does permit backyard chickens within their guidelines, some HomeOwners Associations (HOAs) may prohibit them. If you are a home buyer who wants chickens, check the HOA or neighborhood association rules before touring properties.
Most people who raise or keep chickens do so for fresh eggs. Eggs are one of the most compact, economical, low-calorie, high quality foods on the planet. Chock full of vitamins and minerals, they are good for muscle strength, weight management and brain function. The protein found in these little oval bundles can help build muscle and prevent muscle loss, and they’ve been credited with maintaining brain cell membranes and reducing age-related blindness.
There is a real homestead, pioneer spirit in gathering eggs, akin to those who settled Texas centuries ago. Farm fresh eggs, like most farm fresh food, are richer in nutrients and taste than store-bought. Additionally, backyard chickens are:
- fairly inexpensive
- easy to keep
- produce wonderful fertilizer
- help control bugs and weeds
- have personality and beauty
- lay eggs all by themselves
Inside the Austin city limits, chickens must be confined to your own property and kept 30 feet from neighbor houses or commercial businesses. A chicken coop must be well-constructed and sized correctly for the number of chickens. Every flock needs shelter, nesting boxes, food, clean water and medical care (if required). The City offers a self-guided chicken keeping class and provides a rebate to those who complete it.
Half the fun of having backyard chickens is letting them out during the day to go bug-hunting and fertilize your lawn and garden areas. The cool thing about chickens is that you don’t have to round them up at dusk. They will naturally find their way back to the coop and fly up to a roosting bar for the night. Most of the time, they will also lay eggs in their nest boxes, as long as they can gain access. If something prevents them from the nest box, then chickens will lay eggs under a shrub or somewhere else, and you may or may not find them.
Since chickens do not require large blocks of time or big money for care, they are wonderful to teach responsibility to children. Many 4-H groups and farm shows have a chicken category. From getting chicks at a farm store or through the mail to watching them grow up and produce that first egg (around 5 or 6 months old), it’s fun for all ages.
Roosters are generally not permitted in urban backyard chicken flocks. They are noisy and protective, making it more difficult to handle the hens. It is advisable to raise chicks all together as once a flock is formed, it can be tricky to introduce new hens. While they cluck, cluck, cluck around the clock, the ones who grow up together seem bonded in one tight clique. They can peck at newcomers, assuring that the recent additions are lowest on that proverbial pecking order.
If you don’t want chicken manure on your deck or in the driveway, they can be perfectly content in a large fenced area adjacent to the coop. It’s wise to either enclose this over the top with chicken wire, or better yet, hardware cloth, and latch the door to their coop every night, safe from predators. Seems foxes, coyotes, dogs, cats and other critters enjoy chicken as much as humans.
According to the National Health Institute, chickens are likely the third most popular pet in Western countries. Move over, Fido. Or, not so fast. In a place with many predators, especially birds of prey, dogs can be beneficial and can peacefully coexist with your feathered friends, but know your breed and your dog well. Some dogs get too riled to be able to share their territory with chickens. If your dog gets jumpy at a squirrel, there could be some conflict. Some dog breeds are trained to guard livestock, so it may be advantageous to research those if you live in a place with numerous predators.
Places in and around Austin like Callahan’s General Store, Bird and Bee Farm, Blue Star Ranch and Tractor Supply have chicks and all the supplies you need. You can order them online for delivery via the U.S. Postal Service. Whether you raise chickens for meat, eggs, profit, show or some combination of objectives on your big or small Texas property, you’ll find them interesting. Get in touch with a Habitat Hunters Realtor® to find your perfect property to raise chickens. Cluck, cluck, cluck.
