More families are raising chickens for fresh eggs and sustainability

A few years ago, Barbara Ingebrigsten’s adult daughter, Heidi, was hiking near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon when she spotted three chicks abandoned in a plastic container near the trailhead.

Heidi brought them to her Sandy home, and after struggling to find anyone willing to raise them, she built a chicken coop. Together with her mother, they began raising the hens.

“We didn’t set out to do this, but we’ve loved the fresh eggs which have more Omega-3,” Ingebrigsten said. “It’s been quite a process to learn, but the hens love people. I open the back door, and they know I’m coming; they can recognize 100 different faces. We can hold them, one hops up and down for treats and they’re funnier than heck. Each has a different personality.”

Ingebrigsten isn’t alone. 

There are more than 85 million backyard chickens in the United States, with 17 million households owning an average of five chickens, according to the National Institute of Health. The organization reports this trend grew during the COVID-19 pandemic.

IFA-Draper Assistant Manager Elizabeth Maycock isn’t surprised by the rise in chicken ownership.

“More people own chickens than you think; in my circle alone, four households have chickens,” she said about her Magna neighborhood. “This morning, we got 160 chicks with our weekly delivery at 11 o’clock and they were gone within 40 minutes. It reminds us of COVID, when we were selling out within an hour. Everybody wanted the chicks to kind of start their homesteads then and we're seeing the same kind of a demand.”

Maycock believes the current bird flu, which has reduced commercial egg production, plays a big role in the trend.

“Egg prices have skyrocketed and there’s a push where people want to go back to homesteading and providing their own food. That movement has slowly risen over the last five years, but the panic surrounding the egg prices has really been an issue over the last three or four weeks and I've seen it getting worse. I've seen it creeping into Utah, up in Cache Valley. It's been hitting hard there,” she said.

Maycock, like Ingebrigsten, owns chickens herself. She currently has 14 and was purchasing five chicks to add to her flock.

“We get enough eggs for the five of us living at home and then, we give some to my son and his family every once in a while, because the four he's allowed to have don't provide enough for his small family,” she said.

In the winter, her hens average four eggs per day, but in the summer, it increases to a dozen.

“I’m not selling any right now, but I know people are selling them around $8 per dozen right now,” she said. “The stores are a little cheaper, but these are fresh while commercial eggs are sometimes three to four months old when you get them. The fresh eggs are much healthier. They have better vitamins and omegas. You can choose the feed your hen eats that then produces your egg, whether it be the organic, soy free, those types of things. Then you know what you're eating. That’s another trend; people are trying to understand what they’re eating. They're raising their own animals because they want their children to know where their food comes from.”

Eggs prices reflected the reduced supply because of an ongoing bird flu outbreak as seen here at a Smith’s grocery store in Sandy in early March. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

In early March, a dozen commercial eggs at a South Jordan Walmart were selling for $6.12, while the national average was $8.53, according to the USDA in late February.

Before grabbing those cute chicks, Maycock recommends researching raising chickens.

“Read up on them before you get them. I always recommend that with any animal, so you know everything about them before you invest your time and your money. Basically, if you can take care of a dog, you can take care of a chicken; they need food, water and shelter,” she said.

Maycock said while raising chicks is enjoyable and they bond with their owners, another option is to adopt other people's flocks. Many people sell or give away their chickens when moving, allowing owners to start with adult laying hens rather than waiting six months for chicks to mature. She suggests starting with at least three hens, which will lay eggs for three to four years.

“They’re a flock animal, so they need each other to be happy. A lot of city ordinances won't allow you to have more than six and they won't allow you to have a rooster either,” she said.

Cost is another factor to consider, as it is with any pet. While her family built their hen coop, prebuilt three-hen houses cost about $300.

“It’s an investment initially since you won’t see eggs for the first six months. They need roughly one square foot per chicken. I give them a little bit more because I let them free range a little bit. Mine sleep in the coop, they lay their eggs in there. the rest of the time they're out foraging. They're out mingling with each other, even in the winter,” she said.

While many people don’t have enough space to grow their own food, Maycock estimates one-half to one cup of feed per chicken per day. For three chickens, expect to buy a 50-pound bag for $18 every two months. Her feeder, a treadle feeder which chickens step on to open the lid and access food, costs about $100. She said it helps keep rodents and other birds away.

Maycock mentioned chickens can produce a lot of manure, but it’s compostable and great for gardening.

Another consideration is having someone care for the chickens while on vacation.

“I find one of the drawbacks when people come in is that they still want to take their vacations; many will get their neighbor kids to come on over and they let them keep the eggs for the days they watch them,” she said.

Maycock believes the benefits of her children learning self-sustainability and responsibility outweigh any of her other initial concerns.

“They understand more about their food and what goes in to raising them,” she said, adding in the past they’ve had goats, rabbits and other birds for both food and to make yarn.

Her family got their chickens when her children were in elementary school. After a year of her teaching them, her children took over their care, which includes carrying buckets of water, carrying feed to the coop, gathering eggs and cleaning the coop.

“That’s probably the worse part,” said her daughter, Anna. “Thankfully, we don’t clean it that often. I have a Wyandotte (chicken) and she follows me around. I can call her and she comes running to me. I love her friendliness.”

She and her siblings have named their chickens after founding fathers, states and more. She is considering naming a yellow chick after her favorite flower, a sunflower, because of its color.

“The chicks don't all have to be the same; you can mix breeds,” Maycock said. “You can go about two weeks in between shipments of chicks, and they'll still integrate. They all have their own personalities. Some will be more dominant in the pecking order, and some will be more docile. It’s fun to know each one.”

After enjoying raising their first three hens so much Ingebrigsten and her daughter added three more the following year, which Ingebrigsten’s grandchildren named. They even put party hats on their chickens to celebrate family birthdays.

“I walk outside and say, ‘hi girls,’ and they come running over,” she said. “There’s nothing like raising them and the eggs are delicious.”