Chicken Keeping In Tennessee

Chicken-keeping Facebook groups in Tennessee

Find and connect with other chicken keepers across Tennessee with these Facebook groups:

Protecting your flock from Tennessee weather

How many times have you heard, “Welcome to Tennessee - if you don’t like the weather, just wait an hour.” And it’s true… Tennessee is a four-season state, but many days you experience them all within a 24-hour period. Omlet has products to help you navigate them all.

Spring

Let’s face it… springtime in Tennessee is beautiful and tricky. Newcomers learn quickly that we experience about six different ‘little winters’ during springtime. It’s not unusual to see jonquils and tulips shivering amid a March dusting of snow, and Mother Nature loves to trick Tennesseans into planting tomatoes in April, only to have Blackberry Winter swoop through in early May and remind us she’s in charge.

Omlet coops are double-insulated to handle the dips and skips of temperatures and keep your flocks safe during springtime’s particularly harsh thunderstorms; our sturdy covers are great at keeping runs dry.

In addition, tornado season seems to start earlier and lingers longer with the passing of each year. Omlet’s coops and runs are sturdy enough to handle the strongest of thunderstorms, but a chicken tractor can help you get your flock to shelter quickly when conditions are severe.

Summer

Tennessee summers can be brutal; temperatures can get as high as three digits, but the humidity is the chaser that can make the season dangerous; heat warnings are not unusual. There are ways to keep your chickens cool, particularly in those muggiest months of July and August. Cooling dust baths, frozen fruits and veggies in chicken treat dispensers, and plenty of shade with chicken run covers will also keep chickens comfortable during those ‘dog days of summer.’

Be sure to clean your coop at least weekly. Droppings can start to compost, generating heat, which will raise the temperature inside the coop. Add ice to their drinkers on especially hot days—chickens love a cool drink!

Many people worry about whether the Eglu Cube is sufficient for keeping chickens comfortable when Tennessee temperatures rise; the double-insulation helps balance temperatures so that extreme weather doesn’t call for much modification, if any, like fans (or heat lamps in the wintertime).

A chicken’s day is determined by the sun; they get up with the sun, and go to bed with the sun. During summertime in Tennessee, that means as early as 5:00 a.m. and as late as 8:30 p.m. Now that the days are getting longer, summer is a great time to install an Autodoor to ensure they are making the most of their daylight without disrupting your schedule.

Fall

Just like spring, fall is another favorite season for chickens. In Tennessee, temperatures start to cool off around October, and chickens can explore the last of the summer garden crops, falling leaves, and actually help you turn your garden for fall planting season.

Be sure your hens are getting enough calcium, too. While calcium is very important all year round, it is especially important when the weather starts getting cooler. Oyster shell and even baked/crushed-up eggshells are great sources. Hens will only take in as much calcium as they need, so don’t feel as though you have to “measure” portions. If you opt to bake the eggshells, be sure to grind them into a powder before feeding them back to your hens; otherwise, you risk starting an egg-eating trend that’s difficult to break.

With cooler-but-not-cold temps, chickens will want to spend as much time as possible outside. Omlet’s freestanding, customizable PoleTree and other chicken perch options give them a variety of options to casually sun themselves while keeping their feet safely tucked under their warm feathers.

Winter

If true winter arrives in Tennessee, it announces its arrival through bitterly cold temperatures or several inches of ice and snow. Chickens have their own natural insulation in the form of downy feathers, and they fluff them out when the temps drop. Chickens can actually withstand really cold temperatures, even though they may not like them.

What’s riskier for chickens is when their feathers get wet and freeze. Therefore, it’s important that they have a way to keep your flock dry and get out of any harsh wind. The same protection provided by the double-insulation of the Eglu chicken coops in the summer will also protect chickens during Tennessee’s winter.

Extra bedding, adding covers to the sides of your chicken run, and a hot water bottle inside the coop at night will also help keep chickens warm and comfortable on really cold nights. Scatter straw—not hay—on the ground to provide another layer of comfort for your chickens to scratch around throughout the day. On the rare occasion when temperatures drop into single and negative digits, the Extreme Temperature Blanket adds an extra layer of protection.

Chicken breeds most suitable for Tennessee

Most breeds of chickens do well in Tennessee, so think about what you want to get out of chicken keeping:

• Do you want to raise chickens for eggs, meat, or both?
• Will they be considered pets or livestock?
• Is egg production more important than friendliness?
• What color(s) eggs are you interested in?
• Are you okay with a breed that is known to be temperamental or aggressive?
• Do you want larger or smaller breeds?

Many factors should go into your chicken-keeping decision, so be sure to do your research. Some of the more popular breeds in Tennessee include:

Where can I buy chickens in Tennessee?

Baby chicks can be found at most feed stores in Tennessee; Tractor Supply Company, headquartered in Brentwood, hosts biannual Chick Days as a celebration for customers and team members. Scheduled each spring and fall, flock owners can also shop online for various chicken breeds throughout the year. They carry over forty poultry breeds across egg-laying, meat-production, foragers, and ornamental breeds.

Local hatcheries like Poultry Hollow are also popular, and offer pullets, which require less care than baby chicks while maximizing the hens’ laying years once they’ve reached maturity.

Early spring is the best time to obtain chicks, as they will need to be raised in a climate-controlled area with a brooder lamp for several weeks before venturing out into their coop and run. Transitioning brooder-raised chicks to life outdoors is much easier during warmer months, giving them time to acclimate and mature before the hottest months of the year.

If you have a specific breed in mind, check out Facebook groups or contact your local ag-extension office to find a breeder.

Common chicken predators in Tennessee

Omlet’s chicken coop options provide sturdy and secure housing to keep your flock safe from predators. In addition, all chicken runs include skirting to deter digging and tunneling; this keeps predators out, while keeping chickens safe and secure inside.

Common chicken predators in Tennessee include:

• Dogs and coyotes
• Cats and bobcats
• Foxes
• Racoons
• Weasels
• Skunks
• Opossums
• Snakes, especially rat snakes
• Hawks
• Owls

More recently, reports of bears, mountain lions, and armadillos have been cited, but these are less common than those listed above. The grid design on all of Omlet’s chicken runs help prevent entry, but a cover over the run adds another layer of protection.

Most Tennessee predators are nocturnal, so having an automatic chicken coop door to close your chickens in at night will bring great peace of mind. Other predators, like snakes and hawks, will hunt their favorite prey (rodents) during daylight hours. Keeping feed elevated and securely shut, and making sure leftover food isn’t accessible to rodents will help deter unwanted visitors even further.

Do I need permission to keep chickens in Tennessee?

Finding the right chicken coop for your Tennessee hens will ensure your flock gets off on the right foot, but you need to make sure your community allows you to keep chickens first. East Tennessee cities of Johnson City, Kingsport, and Maryville do not allow residents to keep chickens. Other cities allow backyard chickens, some with certain conditions:

• Brentwood – no limit on numbers, no permit required.
• Chattanooga – no limit on numbers, roosters allowed, no permit required.
• Clarksville – no limit on numbers, no permit required.
• Germantown – no limit on numbers, no permit required.
• Jackson – no limit on numbers.
• Knoxville – no limit on numbers, no permit required.
• Maryville – no new flocks have been allowed since 1988, no permit required.
• Memphis – no limit on numbers, roosters allowed, no permit required.
• Murfreesboro – maximum 6 birds, roosters allowed, no permit required.
• Nashville – numbers depend on size of plot.
• Smyrna – no limit on numbers, no permit required.
• Williamson County – no limit on numbers, roosters allowed, no permit required.

Be sure to check with your city’s zoning office, homeowners’ association (HOA), or other official ordinances regarding keeping chickens, because the location of your home or property may be subject to additional local zoning laws and requirements. These ordinances may prohibit owning roosters, restrict the number of chickens you can keep, specify chicken coop size, or location of your hens’ house in relation to other homes or structures.

Caring for your flock with Omlet

Now that you have a clear understanding of what your location permits, you are ready to get moving. Omlet has everything you need for chicken keeping in Tennessee, from chicken coops, chicken runs, toys for your flock, and treats. Keep up to date with the latest news, ideas, and innovations through the Omlet blog.