(Mother Earth News) In my part of the United States, you can't drive down a back road without seeing the remnants of an old chicken coop near a barn or house. Quietly decaying as time passes, they are visual markers of a time when almost every rural family kept chickens close at hand.
No matter where you plan to keep chickens, consideration must be given to housing. Chickens need a place to be protected while they grow, eat and sleep. Chicken housing may be as simple as an existing shed or garden shack, or as big as a poultry barn, housing hundreds.