Management of Backyard Poultry

Backyard poultry ownership laws and regulations vary by municipality. Some cities and homeowners' associations have specific rules about chicken ownership; others permit chicken ownership without limitations on the number or type of chickens. It is important to know the regulations about owning poultry to keep peace with the neighborhood.

Fencing in backyard poultry is critical to keep them at home and protect them from predation. Domestic chickens are easy prey for predators such as cats, dogs, skunks, hawks, and foxes. Fencing should extend into the ground at least 30 cm (12 inches) to prevent predators such as raccoons and foxes from digging under it. Fences also should be as high as possible or be electrified at the top and bottom to deter predators from jumping over them or digging under them.

Water holes and vegetation should be avoided around the coop, because they attract wild waterfowl, insects, rodents, and other vermin to the area, potentially harming poultry and transmitting disease. The top of the enclosure should be covered to protect poultry from predators that fly or climb, as well as to prevent exposure to wild birds that can transmit disease.

Overcrowding should be avoided; space allocation must allow for growth of the birds. Enough indoor space should be available to prevent overcrowding, especially during inclement weather. The type of bird helps determine the type of housing. Most chicken breeds are hardy enough to be housed outside at least part of the time (except during temperature extremes); meat-type birds are usually hardier than egg layers. However, show breeds often do not have hybrid vigor and require heated or cooled housing.

Minimum space requirements for backyard poultry should be determined by not only the bird's size but also its activity level. In general, laying hens and larger chickens need a minimum of approximately 0.15–0.2 m² (1.5–2 square feet) of space inside the coop and 0.75–1 m² (8–10 square feet) in outside runs. Ducks and geese need much more space: approximately 0.3–0.6 m² (3–6 square feet) inside the coop and 1.4–1.7 m² (15–18 square feet) in outside runs.

Floor type is an important consideration in building a coop, and owners of backyard poultry need to know the pros and cons of various flooring materials (eg, dirt, wood, concrete) in both the henhouse and the run.

• Putting the birds on dirt or sand is cheap and easy; however, dirt and sand floors make it difficult to remove feces and can become a muddy mess without proper maintenance. When soil becomes wet or contaminated, dirt must be tilled and new soil added after the old dirt is top-dressed with lime or bleach to prevent parasitic and microbial overgrowth.

• Wood is an option, but it must be kept in good condition; old wood can rot and harbor pathogens, and exposed splinters can result in injuries. Wood is also very hard to disinfect, because it is not impervious to urine and feces. In addition, wood should not be treated, because chemicals such as lead can be harmful to birds.

• Concrete flooring is the best option for permanent coops, because it is easy to clean, impervious to vermin, and a good barrier to predators. However, it is the most expensive flooring material and takes the most effort to maintain.

• Some owners prefer using removable dropping boards directly underneath chicken roosts to enable easy cleaning of the coop, which can help keep litter cleaner and can be a great way to decrease ammonia and moisture in the environment.

It is also important to use clean, absorbent litter material for bedding in henhouses. Litter should be dry and free of mold. Sand, pine shavings, rice, and nut hulls are beneficial because they hold moisture well. Straw and ground corncobs have poor absorbent qualities and often become moldy. Poultry should always be provided with various forms of environmental enrichment, depending on the type of bird, to prevent them from ingesting litter and developing GI obstructions.

Litter can become very wet around drinkers, and proper removal of caked litter is necessary. Wet litter encourages growth of pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and parasites, and it leads to problems such as footpad dermatitis. Excessively dry litter, such as sawdust, creates a dusty environment that can irritate birds' sensitive respiratory tracts. Ideally, litter should contain 20–25% moisture; a quick test is to grab a handful of litter and see whether, ideally, it clumps briefly and then crumbles apart.

Wet litter and high ammonia concentrations can lead to serious welfare problems in poultry, including ammonia burns of the cornea, footpad dermatitis, breast blisters, and skin burns. Guidelines for exposure limits of aerosolized contaminants such as ammonia have been published (1, 2, 3). Adequate ventilation enables the proper removal of moisture from the bedding and decreases exposure to mold spores and other potential aerosolized toxins.

Chickens have a body temperature of 40–43°C (105–109°F) and start to feel heat stress at environmental temperatures > 23.8°C (75°F). The ideal temperature range for poultry is 18.3–23.8°C (65–75°F), with a relative humidity of up to 40%. In extreme temperatures, poultry modify their behavior to stay in their thermoneutral zone (12.8–23.8°C [55–75°F]). In extreme heat, chickens pant, decrease their activity, drink more, eat less, and extend their wings away from the body to dissipate heat. In extreme cold, chickens huddle together for warmth and fluff out their feathers to insulate themselves.

To encourage good air circulation, windows should be installed on the south or east side of the coop, with any ledge on the windows kept narrow to prevent birds from roosting and defecating there. Misters and fans help keep poultry cool during hot summer months, and a well-insulated coop keeps birds warm during winter.

The greatest expense in raising poultry is the cost of feed. However, good feed is a sound investment because unbalanced diets decrease performance and can result in nutritional diseases.

Common problems in backyard flocks are insufficient water quality or amount; prolonged feed storage, leading to degradation of vitamins and minerals; dilution of balanced and nutritionally complete rations with scratch or supplemental feed; and provision of diets inappropriate for the birds' life stage.

Poultry require 1.5–3.5 parts of water for every 1 part of feed consumed (waterfowl require up to 5–6 times that amount) and more water in hot weather. Poultry will not consume feed if the amount of water is inadequate, which can lead to serious health problems.

Poultry owners also must consider the possibility of bacteria (eg, coliforms) and other contaminants in the water, including arsenic, calcium, chlorine, copper, fluorine, iron, lead, magnesium, mercury, nitrates, nitrites, sodium, sulfate, and zinc. Water containing these contaminants should not be offered to poultry.

The most common vitamin deficiencies in backyard poultry arise when either a vitamin premix is lacking in the diet or a vitamin premix included in the diet is beyond its shelf life and thus has lost its efficacy. Typically, deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamin D₃, become clinically evident before deficiencies of water-soluble vitamins.

The most common clinical signs in birds with vitamin D3 deficiency are skeletal abnormalities (rickets) that can present in a flock as death; loss of condition; or lameness or reluctance to move because of scoliosis, soft and pliable bones, or lack of bone strength. For more details, see Vitamin Deficiencies in Poultry and Mineral Deficiencies in Poultry.

Owners should be advised to purchase high-quality feed, store it correctly (avoiding temperature extremes to prevent vitamins and minerals from denaturing), and use it by the expiration date. Feed should be stored in a dry, cool area to keep vitamins from breaking down and to prevent fungal growth. Using a black light to check for fluorescence in corn grains is a quick way to screen for harmful mycotoxins.

For poultry owners who choose to mix their own feed, a vitamin and mineral premix is commonly included in feed at 1.5–5 kg/tonne (3–10 pounds/ton). Most feed and premixes are available in large quantities and expire in 3–6 months (as little as 2 months in the summer).

Poultry owners need to be aware of the dangers of feeding old and improperly stored feed or homemade feed that does not meet poultry's nutritional needs.

Backyard poultry owners must know each bird's daily consumption of feed to estimate when to order the next batch of feed:

• A day-old chick eats approximately 30–60 g (1–2 ounces) of feed per day.

• An adult laying hen should eat no more than 0.1 kg (0.25 pound) of feed per day.

• A meat-type bird can consume almost twice as much feed as an adult layer. However, overfeeding or giving feed ad libitum, especially in meat-type birds, can result in musculoskeletal disorders.

Clinical signs of low or inadequate nutrient density include slow growth, poor body condition, slow or absent egg production, and feather loss.

Keeping commercial broiler breeds in a backyard setting is strongly discouraged because these birds need to be on a very strict feed restriction to avoid metabolic disease. Birds with access to the outdoors supplement their diet by foraging and eating insects. In addition, many poultry owners supplement their birds’ diet with table scraps and scratch grains.

Scratch should not be overfed, because overconsumption of scratch can lead to an imbalanced diet. Fat scraps should also be avoided, because they promote the development of fatty liver and acute death from liver rupture. Although foraging behavior might be desired, birds should receive most of their diet from a balanced, nutritionally complete ration.

The recommended feed type for backyard poultry varies with the species, age, and use of the bird. For some species, finding the appropriate feed ingredients can be difficult. In general, game bird owners who cannot find the appropriate game bird starter feed can substitute a turkey poult starter feed, which is typically high in protein (25–28% crude protein).

It is critical not to feed layer diets to nonlaying, growing birds, because the inadequate protein concentrations and high calcium content (3.5–6%) can result in irreversible renal damage. The best way to avoid these problems is to buy commercial feed that is scientifically proven, nutritionally balanced, and life stage appropriate. For any questions about feeding poultry, a poultry nutritionist or local poultry extension specialist should be consulted.

One of the most common problems in mixed-age flocks is urolithiasis (gout). Causes of gout include infections (eg, infectious bronchitis) leading to kidney damage, excessive amounts of sodium bicarbonate in feed, mycotoxicosis, high-protein diets, and, more often, feeding a high-calcium (adult layer) diet to an immature bird.

Diets for growing birds (ie, in the prelay period—ie, < 16–18 weeks old) are typically 0.8–1.2% calcium. Laying birds require 3.5–6% calcium because of the nutritional demand of egg laying (formation of a typical egg requires approximately 2 g of dietary calcium). Egg-laying poultry that are not getting enough dietary calcium to keep up with the calcium demands of egg laying draw calcium from their bones. Adult layers must ingest adequate calcium to avoid cage layer fatigue (osteoporosis) and formation of thin-shelled eggs.

• University of Georgia Extension: Nutrition for the Backyard Flock

• Hartsook C. Establishing a Backyard Poultry Flock. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach; 2014.

• Fanatico A. Alternative Poultry Production Systems and Outdoor Access. National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture; 2006.

1. National Chicken Council. National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist for Broilers. National Chicken Council; 2017.

2. American Humane Farm Program. American Welfare Standards for Laying Hens—Free Range & Pasture. American Humane; 2021.

3. Humane Farm Animal Care. Chickens. Humane Farm Animal Care; date unknown. Animal Care Standards, edition 22.