Checklist: Getting My First Backyard Chickens

Review Baltimore City's backyard chicken regulations to determine if it is legal to keep chickens at your residence and if so, determine how many chickens can you keep and where you can build their home.
  • Understand the responsibility of keeping chickens. You need
    • A plan to protect chickens from predators. This includes your dog, if you have one.
    • The ability to provide adequate space inside and outside of the coop, along with daily clean water, food, and supervision.
    • A waste management plan
    • A healthcare management plan: How will you care for a sick chicken? Are you prepared to cull? If your answer is to let a sick chicken suffer, that is considered animal abuse and you are not prepared to have chickens.
  •  Follow Bmore Chickens on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook »
  • Join the Bmore Chickens Facebook Group »
  • Build or purchase your chicken coop. A coop should have:
    • Indoor Space & Outdoor Space
    • Secured from predators
    • Protect your chickens from environmental extremes
    • A roosting bar for chickens to sleep on
    • Nests for the hens to lay eggs 
    • Room inside for the chickens to walk and spread their wings, along with room for a sandbox, a waterer, and a feed dispenser
    • Room outside to scratch for bugs and dust bathe in the soil
  • Purchase chicken supplies:
    • Pine Chip Bedding
      *Do not use cedar chips or hay/straw*
    • Waterer
    • Food Dispenser
    • Oyster Shell
    • Chick/Pullet/Chicken Food
  • Apply for the Baltimore City chicken permit »
  • Acquire your chickens: see Getting Chicks or Getting Pullets/Hens below.
  • Register your flock with the Maryland state »

Getting Chicks

Chicks are newly hatched chickens, male or female. Chicks require special care that is different from pullets or adult hens, such as temperature control and special high-protein food. We recommend ordering sexed chicks from an official hatchery that vaccinates for Merek's Disease. ​Reputable hatcheries will offer sexed chicks with a guarantee. ​When purchasing chicks through a farm store, be sure to purchase sexed chicks, not straight run. Strait run chicks have not been sexed, therefore you may end up with a flock of roosters instead of hens, and it is not legal to keep male chickens in Baltimore City. Baltimore City Chicken Rules »

Getting Pullets or Adult Hens

Pullets are young hens that are old enough to not require temperature controls or high-protein chick feed. They are either not laying eggs, or have just begun laying. Adult hens are fully matured chickens that are laying eggs regularly. Unlike chicks, pullets and adult hens can live in your established chicken coop without additional care. When purchasing pullets or hens from a non-hatchery, be sure to research the farm/supplier. Poorly cared for pullets/hens could introduce disease or parasites into your environment.