CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 13 C hristi and Jim Hartman grew up in the Missouri countryside and are accustomed to open spaces. Eight years ago, they bought a 17-acre farm in Linden that came with a pond and a barn. "We love the quiet," says Christi. "We love being out here." ree years ago, they added chickens because they figured it might just be cool. "We have plenty of property, including a pond," she says. "We got ducks and chickens at the same time, and my husband built two coops out of the barn for both of them. "Raising chickens is pretty easy. We started out with 10 of each and now we have 23 ducks, two roosters and eight egg-laying hens. We will probably get a couple more chickens this year." Along with the cool factor and the chance to take advantage of the great outdoors, the Hartmans now have another motive for raising chickens: e price of eggs at the supermarket has risen dramatically in the past few months. at, in turn, has sparked renewed interest in raising backyard chickens to supply those sunny-side-ups and scrambled breakfasts without adding to the grocery tally. e Hartmans' chickens are free-range, meaning they can roam the yard, reducing the need to spread a lot of feed for the chicks. "ey have plenty of bugs and don't need as much feed," says Hartman. "We keep their water clean and clean their coop at least once a week. I put down fresh cedar chips for them and sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth, which is a food-safe powder that helps kill bugs, mites, fly larvae. It helps keep the chickens healthy. "We've had some attacked by hawks, and we use a wound spray to treat them and keep them confined until they get better," says Hartman. "Because they are free-range, it's harder to protect them from predators like foxes and coyotes." She says adding cameras in the coops to catch predators and automatic doors to ease access has been a lifesaver when she and her husband can't be at home to guard the flock. "We have automatic doors that open and close. Once you train the chickens to when it opens and closes, they know and will come and go. ey are ready to get out when it opens in the morning and then come back before it closes at night to put themselves to bed. When you are training, you have to watch them, just in case, but they learn pretty quickly," says Hartman. Her advice for anyone who wants backyard chickens is to not start with babies, install automatic doors and join Facebook Opposite, a colorful rooster roams the Hartman farm. Above, Christi Hartman holds one of her Rhode Island Red chickens on her farm near Linden.

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