US college offering crash course in raising chickens

With more towns in the US allowing homeowners raise chickens in their own backyards, a community college in Connecticut is offering a crash course to cash-in on this growing fad.

In March 2015, Manchester town in Connecticut amended its zoning law to allow residents to raise up to 12 hens. The planning and zoning regulation, which excludes roosters, says single-family homes can raise chickens if they provide necessary shelter.

While in Manchester the new chicken law allows the raising of backyard chickens, the laws for other communities vary depending on where you live.

The fad is catching on as more and more people want to know where their food comes from.

Bettylou Sandy is an instructor at Manchester Community College, and she also has three hens who she treats as pets, and knows a lot when it comes to raising them.

"When you first buy a baby chick, they're so cute but they need special care, extra heat, food and medication. They need a large space and different food," Sandy was quoted as saying by WFSB channel.

Now, the Manchester Community College (MCC) is offering a two-day course which will cover-everything from purchasing hens, where to keep them, what food they eat, and how to get them to lay eggs.

Sandy says her three chickens lay between two and three eggs per day, and it is fresher than anything you'll ever find in a grocery store.

"Brown eggs and some give blue eggs and some give blue eggs, most of the eggs we get in the grocery stores are weeks old and sometimes months old," Sandy said.

"The course will provide participants with information about what to consider before purchasing the first flock and how-to information for creating and maintaining the living quarters for birds," the MCC says on its website.

The two-hour course costs USD 55. It will be offered on March 7 and on March 12.