By Chris Reid.
A gentle cluck-clucking, punctuated by periodic crowing in the background can be heard near the house of Carla and Henry Allen outside of San Marcos. You realize you’re not inside the city limits anymore the closer you get to the 62 chickens (mostly hens and a few roosters) that live in assorted chicken coops on their 22-acre spread.
About ten years ago, Allen first got the urge to raise poultry after reading an article about backyard chickens in a gardening magazine. She did some research, ordered chicks from a San Marcos feed store and went from having “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” in chicken breeds to what she has today, birds like Barred Plymouth Rocks, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Mottled Javas, Brahmas, Buff Orpingtons and others, along with her favorite breed, the Appenzeller Spitzhaubens, a native bird of Switzerland. It has full and lustrous black and white plumage, an unusual forward-pointing crest and a v-shaped comb. Allen likes the breed best not for its egg-laying ability, which is average, but because “they’re beautiful.”
She gets plenty of eggs from her chickens, of course, and lots of manure that she uses in her garden and shares with friends and others. Chicken manure is rich in nitrogen, something that most soils need around here, and is easily composted. Chickens are also wonderful little recyclers, ready to turn kitchen scraps and yard waste into valuable garden fertilizer after it’s composted. Probably the biggest reason that Allen keeps chickens though, is because she finds them fascinating. She is devoted to their care and keeps them comfortable, healthy and happy in the many coops, shelters and other structures on the land. She takes such good care of the chickens that she has a lot of older ones. While chickens normally live five to six years, if that long, she has some that are ten years old. “I’m running a retirement home for hens,” she laughed. In addition to keeping chickens for herself, Allen also breeds and sells the regal Appenzeller Spitzhaubens, shipping them to customers across the country.
Carla Allen with her chicken, Miss Piggy. (photos by Chris Reid) |
Rachel Sanborn, on six acres outside of San Marcos, also enjoys keeping chickens. For more than 20 years, she and her family have had from two or three chickens to more than 40, at times. Currently, they have ten hens, give or take, and two roosters. “They are definitely interesting creatures,” Sanborn noted. “By far the best return” on raising chickens, she said, are the eggs. “Super yellow-orange yolks, real flavor.”
Fresh eggs, anyone?
When it comes to using eggs, regardless of where they come from, common sense goes a long way in avoiding problems. Always keep the eggs refrigerated and discard any that are broken. Wash the eggs before cracking them open and then cook them thoroughly before eating.
Hens usually start laying eggs around five months of age; many lay an egg every one and a half to two days the first year or two, with egg production dropping off after that, depending on the breed. Their egg-laying is also affected by available daylight hours. In the shorter days of winter, they lay fewer eggs and as the days get longer, they lay more. However, here in Central Texas, when the temperature is at its peak in the middle of summer, the hens may lay few eggs to none for a while. Can anyone blame them for taking a break?
Pest control
Sanborn also likes the bug-eating ability of chickens. In the beginning, she would gladly let the chickens roam the yard and garden to forage for insects. The problem came when it was time to put them in the coop each night for safety. Soon, no amount of coaxing or food treats would get the chickens to come willingly out of the trees or down from railings. After various attempts to corral them each evening, Sanborn gave up and moved the hens full time to the enclosed pen and coop. “The outside rooster takes his chances,” she remarked. She was sorry to lose the pest control and she does have to supplement their feed more, but it definitely makes for a less stressful night time routine!
Can you raise chickens in your neighborhood?
Other than supplying some basics, such as shelter, food and water, keeping chickens is not too complicated. First, and most important, you need to make sure it’s legal to have chickens where you live. If you’re outside a city but within Hays County, you’re in the clear, as there are no restrictions to how many chickens you can have. Each city, however, has its own rules, further complicated by whether you live in a subdivision or not. According to Allen Deaver, who works for Austin-based Sky Realty and does 95 percent of his home sales in Kyle, Buda and southeast Austin, “I don’t know of a subdivision in this area built within the last ten years that allows chickens.” He acknowledged that even with the recent growth in Hays County, “it still feels like a small community” and has a rural atmosphere, which to some people means having the opportunity to raise chickens. Whether you’d like to have chickens in your backyard or most assuredly don’t want them around, Deaver said a realtor can confirm what is and isn’t allowed by checking the deed restrictions of the property.
That’s something that Jennifer Hall, of Buda Animal Control, encourages people to do before purchasing a new home. While Buda, at the moment, has no rules governing backyard chickens, an ordinance is in the works and Hall hopes to have something to put before the city council soon. The City of Kyle already has rules in place, which dictates that people can have no more than six hens and the chickens must be enclosed in a coop, not just a backyard fence. Like most of the cities contacted, no roosters are allowed. In San Marcos, along with barring roosters, residents can have up to eight hens and their pen must be located no closer than 30 feet from neighbors. Check with your homeowner’s association first, if you have one, and then the city, to find out what’s allowed where you live.
A safe chicken is a happy chicken
Keeping chickens in a secure coop is one of the best ways to protect them from predators. Chickens are popular, shall we say, with more than just people. As Sanborn and her family jokes, “All God’s creatures love chicken.” Over the years, her chickens have been attacked by raccoons, foxes, snakes, dogs, eagles, hawks and cats. Sanborn has increasingly fortified the coops over the years.
Allen, who admits to being predator paranoid, has also worked hard to keep her chickens safe, using hardware cloth, doors, fencing and more. Fortunately, “the only predator attack I’ve had in 10 years is a hawk,” Allen said. “Hawks like to swoop in, grab and go.” That’s why, when she leaves the property, she makes sure to put all the chickens in their coops.
And when it comes to coops, the sky is the limit. They can be homemade, from a simple kit, stylish or just plain fanciful. Having something a little different appealed to Judy Telford, a Hays County master gardener who lives outside of San Marcos. At first, “I wanted an outhouse design for my garden shed,” she said. But living in the country made her think about having chickens. Then it struck her, “Oh! I’ll have an outhouse chicken coop!” And so now she does. Her five chickens thrive in their whimsical home and keep busy eating the watermelon rinds and other vegetable scraps that Telford throws them. It’s a good life for a chicken.
People who keep chickens may moan occasionally about the rising cost of feed, and there’s always a predator to guard against, but watching the chickens go wild over some beet tops or seeing them flap their wings on the ground as they take a dust bath or run in a mob after a grasshopper, well, it makes it all seem worth while. And there’s always those tasty eggs to enjoy!
Please email any questions to [email protected] or call (512) 398-6011.
For ideas, inspiration or just to have some fun looking at creative chicken coops, go on the Funky Chicken Coop tour in Austin. This year it will be held on March 30, 2013. For details about tickets, times and more, go to: www.austincooptour.org.
For information about raising chickens:
www.backyardchickens.com
www.feathersite.com
A local group of people who have backyard chickens:
www.meetup.com/austinbackyardpoultry
Chicken coops:
www.allkoopedup.com
