What you'll learn

Plan a small chicken flock around purpose, welfare, law, land, budget, and daily labor.
Choose birds, sourcing paths, quarantine routines, and integration methods that reduce preventable flock problems.
Design a dry, ventilated, predator-resistant coop, run, and shelter system that can be cleaned and repaired.
Manage feed, water, bedding, eggs, manure, compost, and weekly routines with practical homestead systems.
Recognize common stress, weather, parasite, predator, and health warning signs early enough to respond.
Build a realistic first-year operating plan for a backyard or small homestead flock.

Course content

8 sections • 72 lectures • 3h 7m total length

Chicken Keeping For Homesteaders2:22
Chicken keeping works best when it is treated as a small livestock system rather than a casual backyard add-on. Practical focus: A practical welfare-first training for planning, building, and running a small flock.
What The Training Builds2:38
A good chicken course should give the learner a sequence that can be followed in real life. Practical focus: The learner builds a flock system in the right order: purpose, welfare, site, shelter, care, records.
The Homestead Reality Check2:40
The reality check prevents a beginner mistake: buying birds because the idea feels charming, then discovering that the site, law, budget, or household rhythm cannot support them. Practical focus: Before chickens arrive, the keeper needs a clear answer for time, money, law, noise, predators, and exits.
The Welfare Baseline2:38
Welfare is easiest to understand by watching what chickens try to do when they have choices. Practical focus: Good keeping lets chickens perform normal behaviors while protecting them from preventable harm.
Egg Expectations2:28
A homesteader should expect eggs, pauses, surprises, and decline. Practical focus: Eggs follow biology: maturity, breed, daylight, feed, stress, molt, age, and health.
The Flock Size Decision2:42
Flock size should be calculated from the household goal and the site, then reduced until the work feels sustainable. Practical focus: The right flock size is the smallest number that meets the goal and fits the site.
Local Rules And Neighbor Plan2:28
Chicken keeping is local. Practical focus: A legal and neighbor-aware setup prevents conflict before birds arrive.
Cost And Labor Budget2:51
A first-year chicken budget should be separated into build costs and operating costs. Practical focus: The first year is a build year; eggs arrive after the system has already consumed money and labor.
The Readiness Gate2:32
The readiness gate is a practical stop point. Practical focus: Birds arrive only after shelter, feed, water, bedding, storage, quarantine, and routines are ready.

Chicken Body Map2:32
A keeper can keep chickens well without becoming a veterinarian. Practical focus: Basic anatomy explains feed, water, heat stress, laying, roosting, and warning signs.
Daily Behavior Pattern2:35
Chicken behavior follows a daily rhythm. Practical focus: A healthy routine cycles through feeding, ranging, dust bathing, laying, resting, and roosting.
Flock Social Order2:45
Chickens organize themselves socially. Practical focus: Pecking order is normal; injury, starvation, and constant fear are management failures.
Stress Signals2:46
Stress is easiest to read when the keeper knows normal behavior first. Practical focus: Stress appears in posture, appetite, droppings, egg changes, noise, and avoidance.
The Laying Cycle2:50
A laying hen is doing demanding biological work. Practical focus: Egg production depends on maturity, light, nutrition, calcium, water, and low stress.
Broody Hens And Roosters2:32
Broodiness is the instinct to sit on eggs and hatch chicks. Practical focus: Broodiness and roosters can serve a homestead, but both require deliberate management.
Heat And Cold Tolerance2:30
Chickens can tolerate a range of weather when the housing matches the climate. Practical focus: Chickens handle many conditions, but wetness, poor airflow, heat, and drafts create preventable harm.
Predators From A Chicken's View2:36
A chicken is prey for many animals, and predator design has to think like the predator. Practical focus: Predator protection covers digging, climbing, reaching, flying, squeezing, and human error.
The Keeper's Observation Routine2:40
Observation should become ordinary, quiet, and repeatable. Practical focus: A calm daily scan catches health, social, feed, water, predator, and weather problems early.

Choose Egg, Meat, Or Dual Purpose2:47
Different chicken goals create different systems. Practical focus: The flock goal determines breed, feed, housing, timing, processing, and ethics.
Breed Fit For Homesteads2:37
Breed choice should begin with purpose and climate. Practical focus: Breed choice balances climate, temperament, egg color, body size, broodiness, and purpose.
Chicks, Pullets, Or Adults2:38
Chicks are the classic beginning, and they teach a keeper a lot. Practical focus: Each starting point trades cost, timing, disease risk, labor, and certainty.
Sourcing Healthy Birds2:49
Bird sourcing is a biosecurity decision. Practical focus: Healthy sourcing reduces disease, mis-sexing surprises, and welfare problems from the first day.
Quarantine New Birds2:54
Quarantine is the discipline that keeps enthusiasm from endangering the flock. Practical focus: Separation protects the home flock from disease that may not be visible yet.
Sexing, Roosters, And Rehoming2:39
Rooster planning has to happen before chicks are ordered. Practical focus: Every chick order needs a plan for males, mistakes, aggression, and legal limits.
Integration Without Drama2:52
Integration is one of the hardest social events in a small flock. Practical focus: New birds enter the flock through sight, space, multiple resources, and supervision.
Retirement And End-Of-Life Planning2:36
A homestead flock ages. Practical focus: A humane flock plan includes aging hens, chronic illness, injury, and loss.
Records Before Birds Arrive2:28
Records should begin before the birds arrive because early details are easy to forget. Practical focus: Simple records make health, production, feed, and build decisions visible.

Site Selection2:28
Site selection is the first building decision. Practical focus: The best coop site is dry, accessible, shaded, visible, legal, and defensible.
Coop Size Math2:41
Coop capacity should never be based on the most generous number in the plan. Practical focus: Capacity is set by the tightest limit: floor, run, roost, nest, ventilation, feeder, and water.
Run Size And Rotation2:42
The run is where many chicken systems succeed or fail. Practical focus: The outdoor area must handle movement, scratching, weather, manure, and recovery time.
Drainage And Mud Control2:44
Mud is not a cosmetic issue in chicken keeping. Practical focus: Dry footing comes from roof water, ground slope, litter choice, and traffic management.
Sun, Shade, And Wind2:35
A coop should be designed for the difficult regular weather, not the prettiest week of the year. Practical focus: Climate design uses shade, winter sun, wind breaks, airflow, and seasonal flexibility.
Water, Feed, And Electric Access2:29
A homestead coop is used every day, so service access shapes the keeper's life. Practical focus: Service access determines whether daily care stays easy in rain, snow, heat, and illness.
Predator Map2:33
Predator pressure is local. Practical focus: The predator plan changes with local wildlife, dogs, night pressure, aerial pressure, and feed handling.
Cleaning Access2:32
Cleaning access should be planned before the frame is built. Practical focus: A coop should be built so the dirty jobs are easy enough to do on schedule.
Build Sequence2:47
A build sequence keeps enthusiasm from creating expensive compromises. Practical focus: Build in the order that prevents trapped compromises: site, base, frame, roof, wire, interior, routine.

Foundation And Floor2:39
The foundation and floor decide how the coop handles water, predators, cleaning, and repairs. Practical focus: The base must stay dry, resist predators, support cleaning, and match the site.
Wall Framing And Sheathing2:29
Wall framing should begin with the openings. Practical focus: Walls must hold weather out, hold hardware tight, and leave planned openings for air and light.
Roof, Overhang, And Gutters2:22
The roof is one of the strongest welfare tools in the coop. Practical focus: Roof design protects litter, walls, doors, feed, and the run surface from water.
Ventilation Without Draft2:27
Ventilation is often misunderstood because humans feel cold air and want to seal the building. Practical focus: Fresh air removes moisture and ammonia while roosting birds stay out of direct wind.
Windows And Light2:32
Windows make a coop easier to inspect and more pleasant for the birds, but they must be designed as part of the climate system. Practical focus: Light supports behavior and egg production, but heat, glare, drafts, and predators must be controlled.
Doors, Pop Door, And Latches2:39
Doors deserve more attention than they usually receive. Practical focus: Every door is a chore point, weather point, and predator point.
Hardware Cloth And Dig Apron2:33
Hardware cloth is one of the most useful materials in a small-flock setup, but it works only when installed well. Practical focus: Predator wire works only when mesh, fasteners, seams, corners, and edges are strong.
Roost Design2:30
Roosts are where chickens spend long hours every night, so perch design affects comfort, cleanliness, and social order. Practical focus: Roosts need comfortable width, safe height, enough length, clean placement, and easy access.
Nest Box Design2:29
Nest boxes shape egg quality and hen habits. Practical focus: Nest boxes should be quiet, clean, dry, accessible, and less attractive for sleeping than roosts.
Interior Layout2:24
Interior layout should start with the jobs that happen inside. Practical focus: The interior should separate sleeping, laying, feeding, watering, manure, and human work.
Bedding And Litter Depth2:37
Bedding is the working surface of the coop. Practical focus: Bedding must absorb moisture, protect feet, support scratching, and stay manageable.
Modular Repairable Details2:37
A coop will need repairs. Practical focus: Small replaceable parts make the coop easier to clean, adapt, and repair.

Daily Chore Loop2:39
Daily chores should be simple enough to happen on busy days and thorough enough to catch failures. Practical focus: The daily loop is feed, water, observe, collect, clean small failures, secure the flock.
Feed Types By Age2:47
Feed should match age and purpose. Practical focus: Feed changes with growth stage, laying status, and purpose.
Water System2:42
Water is the fastest daily failure. Practical focus: Clean water must survive heat, freezing, dirt, social pressure, and equipment failure.
Grit, Calcium, And Treats2:31
Grit and calcium solve different problems. Practical focus: Supplements support digestion and shells; extras should never crowd out balanced feed.
Pasture, Garden, And Scraps2:37
Chickens can fit beautifully into a homestead, yet they need boundaries. Practical focus: Homestead integration works when access is timed, contained, and matched to plant stages.
Egg Collection And Storage2:39
Egg handling starts with nest management. Practical focus: Clean eggs begin with clean nests, frequent collection, gentle handling, and clear storage rules.
Litter Management2:43
Litter management is the daily meeting point of manure, bedding, moisture, and airflow. Practical focus: Litter management balances moisture, carbon, manure load, odor, foot health, and cleaning labor.
Manure Compost2:42
Chicken manure is nutrient-rich, which makes it valuable and risky. Practical focus: Chicken manure is useful only when collected, composted, cured, and applied responsibly.
Weekly Reset2:20
Daily chores catch obvious failures. Practical focus: Weekly care catches slow failures that daily chores can miss.

Brooder Setup2:21
Chicks need a brooder that provides warmth without trapping them in heat. Practical focus: A brooder must provide warmth, dry bedding, clean feed, clean water, space, and escape from heat.
Brooder Temperature And Behavior2:29
Brooder management should use both temperature guidance and chick behavior. Practical focus: Chick behavior tells the keeper whether heat, space, water, and feed are working.
Move From Brooder To Coop2:39
Moving chicks from brooder to coop should be based on feathering, weather, and the safety of the receiving space. Practical focus: The move depends on feathering, weather, coop safety, feed transition, and flock integration.
Winter Management2:44
Winter management is built around water, moisture, wind, and routine. Practical focus: Winter care prioritizes dry air, unfrozen water, wide roosts, wind control, and safe routines.
Summer Heat Management2:32
Heat can kill birds quickly, especially heavy breeds, crowded flocks, and birds without shade or water. Practical focus: Heat plans need shade, airflow, cool water, lower stress, and fast response.
Molt And Production Breaks2:30
Molt is the process of replacing feathers. Practical focus: Molt is a normal feather renewal period that changes feed needs, behavior, and egg expectations.
Common Warning Signs2:36
Warning signs should trigger action before the whole flock is affected. Practical focus: Early warning signs guide isolation, observation, and professional help.
Parasites And Dust Bath2:37
Dust bathing is a normal behavior and a useful part of feather care. Practical focus: Parasite control combines inspection, dry dust bathing, clean housing, and targeted treatment.
Biosecurity Routine2:57
Biosecurity sounds like a large farm word, but it belongs in small flocks too. Practical focus: Biosecurity reduces disease movement through birds, people, tools, water, feed, wild birds, and vehicles.
Sick Bird Isolation2:47
A sick bird isolation space is part of the basic setup. Practical focus: Isolation gives the bird rest, protects the flock, and creates a controlled observation space.

Predator Event Response2:43
A predator event is emotional, but the response has to be orderly. Practical focus: After a predator event, secure survivors, close the entry point, document, and redesign.
Broken Eggs, Pecking, And Bullying2:36
Broken eggs, feather pecking, bullying, and floor eggs should be treated as system feedback. Practical focus: Behavior problems usually point to crowding, boredom, nest issues, diet, light, or resource guarding.
Feed Waste And Rodents2:28
Feed waste is more than a budget problem. Practical focus: Feed waste costs money, invites rodents, and increases disease and predator pressure.
Garden Integration Plan2:29
Garden integration should be seasonal. Practical focus: Chickens can support the garden when timing, fencing, manure safety, and plant protection are clear.
The First-Year Operating Plan2:36
The first-year operating plan should be modest and strong. Practical focus: A successful first year uses a small flock, a strong coop, simple routines, and honest records.

Requirements

No previous chicken keeping experience is required.
A notebook or spreadsheet is useful for flock planning, budget, space, and routine calculations.
Learners should check their local poultry rules, zoning, nuisance rules, and disease-reporting requirements.
Basic household measuring tools help with site planning, coop sizing, and run layout.

Description

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

This course teaches chicken keeping as a practical homestead system, not as a collection of disconnected tips. It starts before the coop is built, because the early decisions shape almost every later outcome: how many birds to keep, which breeds make sense, where the shelter belongs, how much labor is realistic, and which risks must be handled before animals arrive.

The first part builds a welfare-first foundation. You will work through purpose, household readiness, local rules, budget, flock size, egg expectations, and the basic behaviors that chickens need space to express. From there, the course moves into planning: sourcing birds, choosing starting age, quarantine, roosters, integration, end-of-life decisions, and flock records.

The middle of the training focuses on the physical system. You will learn how to place the coop and run, calculate useful space, manage drainage and climate, map predator pressure, and build shelter details that stay dry, ventilated, cleanable, repairable, and secure. The build section covers foundation choices, walls, roof, windows, doors, hardware cloth, roosts, nest boxes, bedding, and interior layout.

The final parts turn the setup into daily practice. The course covers feed, water, supplements, garden integration, egg handling, deep litter, compost, brooding chicks, seasonal care, molt, parasites, health warnings, isolation, predator response, behavior troubleshooting, feed waste, and the first-year operating plan. The goal is a flock that fits the site and can be cared for consistently, even when weather, workload, and surprises show up.

Who this course is for:

Homesteaders planning a first chicken flock.
Backyard keepers who want more practical structure and fewer avoidable mistakes.
Gardeners and food-system learners who want eggs, compost, pest pressure reduction, and better land use.
Families or smallholders deciding whether chickens fit their site, budget, and daily rhythm.

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Expectations And Welfare9 lectures • 23min

Chicken Behavior9 lectures • 24min

Flock Planning9 lectures • 24min

Site Planning9 lectures • 24min

Coop And Stall Building12 lectures • 30min

Daily Care9 lectures • 24min

Chicks, Seasons, Health10 lectures • 26min

Homestead System5 lectures • 13min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: