Raising chickens in your backyard has become a trend not just for aspiring farmers, but for anyone wanting to be even a little self-sufficient. There's also something meditative about watching hens ...

This edition of the Happy Homestead talks about raising your own laying hens from hatching all the way up to full grown hens ...

Chicken in a nest with eggs [iStockphoto] ... So, as farmers go about their farming business, here are 10 things you can do to encourage hens to lay their eggs in clean nest boxes.

"They like to go out of the bright light and go into a nest box to lay their eggs." As we watch, we catch a glimpse of one chicken doing exactly that. A wet, warm egg rolls slowly out of the nest box.

A nesting box should be available in the coop so chickens can lay eggs in a safe place. Purchase commercial feed at feed stores and be attentive to the needs of your chickens.

Enter the fantasy of a little backyard coop with nesting boxes full of warm brown eggs. Buh-bye, $8-for-a-dozen cold white ones in squeaky foam cartons. Not so fast, urban farmers.

Do not excessively darken the chicken house, instead provide a light intensity not less than 20 lux ... P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya. Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111; ...