Chicken Supplies for a Farm

With a backyard poultry farm, you can have fresh eggs every day and chickens for cooking. Before buying your first hens, get ready with the basic chicken supplies for a farm. Check with your local university extension agent for detailed answers on specific chicken-farming topics. Extension staff can supply you with all necessary information about required permits, possible illnesses and suggested breeds.

  1. Pen Supplies

    • Chicken pens, or runs, are essential, providing daytime protection from predators. They limit the locations where eggs are laid; otherwise, you might hunt all day to find hens' nesting places. Birds in pens get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, both of which are required for healthy backyard chickens. At one end of the run is an opening and door to the chicken coop. Base your design on the needs of your chickens. Heavier birds or those with clipped wings cannot fly away to roost in trees. A fence made from wire netting stretched between study poles is adequate for this purpose. Flying birds require high fences or pens with wire netting covering the top and the sides.

    Coop Supplies

    • A coop is the place where chickens sleep and roost. Most eggs are laid in coops. Chicken wire and wood are the basic materials of most coops. Versions made from plastic pipes, connecters and wire are easier for nonwoodworkers to assemble. Relatively low prices for these basic materials -- compared to the prices of prefabricated coops -- encourage some new chicken farmers to try their hands at carpentry. Beginner carpenters can use free online chicken coop plans for simple A-frame coops; experienced woodworkers can browse similar websites for more complex designs.

    Feeding Supplies

    • Basic chicken feeding supplies for your farm are feed mix, hanging feeders and water dispensers. Hanging dispensers, kept free of ground-level dirt and dust and unpolluted by chicken droppings, are easier to keep clean. Lean and tasty chicken meat features in most weight-loss and reduced-fat diets, and good feeding practices are the key to producing great-tasting birds. While chickens will eat almost anything edible, limit table and kitchen scraps to the amount that the birds can eat in 20 minutes. Commercial chicken feed mixes, which can contain ingredients like molasses, bone meal, fish meal and grain meal, deliver a balanced diet with the right amounts of protein and calcium. Various feed mixtures are available, as some are tailored to the types of birds that you are raising. Chicken feeds are available in pellet, mash and crumble forms.

    Chickens

    • After your equipment and supplies are in place, you are ready to buy your first chickens. Contrary to popular belief, roosters are not necessary to get eggs from your hens, and the noise from crowing roosters can make them unwelcome in your neighborhood. To get a crop of well-bred birds, consult local poultry farmers regarding where they purchase their birds. Feed store staff are another source for recommendations of breeders with good reputations. Contact your local university extension office for additional information about purchasing and raising chickens.