Beginner's Guide to Owning Chickens
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Chickens are relatively easy to keep and with the right care, they can provide your family with eggs, manure, and companionship.
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Below are fact sheets and resources for people who homestead, have small acreage farms or who raise livestock other than cows and horses. Please contact Carrie Brausieck with feedback or suggestions for our resources page at cbrausieck@snohomishcd.org or 425-377-7014.
Use of Poultry Wastes as a Soil Amendment
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A quick reference guide to the application and handling of chicken manure as a fertilizer
Soil fertility and crop yields can increase significantly with the addition of nutrient-dense poultry manure and litter. Litter is what is used as bedding in poultry housing. Liquid poultry waste is especially rich in nutrients. Poultry wastes are good for crop production and can provide a significant cost savings over purchasing processed fertilizers for a farmer. When a crop farmer receives manure from a poultry facility, it provides an outlet for poultry operators who may have an excess of wastes for the amount of land they have to spread on - a win-win all around.
The poultry guide was originally published by Snohomish Conservation District in Lake Stevens Washington. Excerpts are from document HS973, one of a series from the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institution of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date:April 2004/Revised January 2012.
Using Manure, Including Chicken Manure, as Compost
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A chicken produces an egg every 24 hours, and it is wonderful to have your own home-produced fresh eggs. Your average-size hen also produces 1 cubic foot of manure every six months. Manure simply can’t continue to accumulate in your coop. It stinks, attracts rodents and flies, and the ammonia is not healthy for your chickens to breathe.
Download this fact sheet from the Washington State University King County Extension.
WSU Extension Master Gardener Program | kingcountyMG.org | Center for Urban Horticulture | Seattle WA 98195-4115 |
Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.
City Chickens 101
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This short checklist from Tilth Alliance goes over the basic requirements for raising chickens in a healthy, sustainable way!
Read MoreSmall Ruminant Sustainability Checksheet
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This checksheet—focused on small ruminants, sheep, and goats—is designed to help farmers think about individual aspects of their farms, as if each aspect were part of a puzzle, and then to consider how the pieces best fit together to form a whole farm.
Read MoreSmall-Scale Sustainable Rabbit Production
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This publication provides an introduction to small-scale rabbit production, focusing on meat rabbits
and sustainable rabbit management.
Photo credit: Kari Quaas
Read MorePastures: Sustainable Management
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This publication addresses grazing systems, pasture fertility, weed control, and pasture maintenance. It also discusses planning and goal-setting, and offers an appendix item on trees in pasture settings.
Read MoreMultispecies Grazing
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Mixed species grazing has many advantages. Learn more and download the fact sheet.
Read MoreSustainable Soil Management
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How do forests and native grasslands function in the complete absence of fertilizer and tillage? Understanding native soils can help farmers develop and maintain productive and profitable soil both now and for future generations. Learn how soil, the environment, and farms can benefit when the soils natural productivity is managed in a sustainable way.
Read MoreGoats: Sustainable Production Overview
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This publication provides fundamental information relevant to all goat owners, especially regarding feeding, reproduction, and health. An extensive resource list is included.
By Linda Coffey, Margo Hale, and Ann Wells
NCAT Agriculture Specialists
August 2004
© NCAT 2004
