Chicken Keeping

At Pistils, we love our chickens. And we love to spread that love. In recent years, Portland has become a hotbed for urban chicken farmers. With new clutches of baby chicks arriving every week through the spring and early summer, our year-round offering of chicken keeping supplies and our frequent “how-to” workshops, we’re here to help you tend to your backyard flock.

Baby Chicks

Starting at the end of February through early June, our shop is alive with the captivating sights, dulcet sounds, and, yes, “earthy” smells of baby chicks. Our selection changes week-to-week — from the forever-exotic bantams to the good old standards. Beyond the chickens we bring in, we’re always open to special requests … let us know and we’ll do our best to get you sorted.

Chicken Keeping Supplies

Year-round, we offer a broad range of supplies for the urban chicken keeper. From feeder/water containers, grit, cracked corn, oyster shell and organic feed to books on care and maintenance and how-tos on building the exact style and size of coop you’ll need for your particular set-up, Pistils is here to help you keep your backyard flock happy and healthy.

Learn Chicken Keeping Here

Pistils offers many educational opportunities for the would-be chicken keeper. Sharing what we know and bringing in chicken keeping experts to host frequent workshops helps us fulfill our passion for serving the community. Check out our workshops page for updates.

Further Resources:

Here are few links to chicken keeping sites we dig. If you know of any chicken keeping sites that may be of use to the Pistils’ community, email us.

• The City Chicken Tons of great down-home info here: thoughtful Q & As, lots of photos and ideas, and many helpful links. A fun and insightful place to explore.
• Happy Hens Blog This is definitely one of our favorite chicken keeping blogs. A wonderful site for exchanging info and photos and connecting with folks who are sincerely passionate about their backyard flock.
• Concentrates Concentrates in southeast supports organic agriculture and has a great selection of bulk livestock feeds, pet food, soil amendments and more.
• Growing Gardens Growing Gardens is a local non-profit that actively supports urban homesteading for a great cause: fighting hunger. On their “chickens” page, you’ll find many valuable resources for chicken keeping.