There are two levels of chicken keeper certification. Backyard Chicken Keeper graduates have completed the ten class Primary Series and passed the final exam. The Master Backyard Chicken Keeper graduates have completed additional classes and a practicum.

Earning your Backyard Chicken Keeper certification means that you have gained the basic knowledge and handling skills to responsively raise, keep and employ small and micro-flocks of chickens healthy and safe.

The old ways of raising and treating poultry are not necessarily good ways, or humane ways. It is the intention of these courses to educate and raise awareness of the benefits chickens bring to local agriculture, and expand a new paradigm of how poultry can enrich not only topsoil and our culture.

Requirements for the Backyard Chicken Keeper Certification
Completion of the ten 10 classes involves about 30 to 40 hours of participation. Participants must pass the final exam to recieve the Chickeneer™ Backyard Chicken Keeper Certification and certificate (suitable for framing). Course materials include class slides and notes, handouts. City Chicks and Chicken Tractor are the text books.

Classes in the Chickens and YOU Primary Series for the Backyard Chicken Keeper Certification are:
1. Chickens! The Enablers of Local Foods and The Chicken Have-More Plan
2. Flock Management from the Chickens' Point-of-view
3. Brooding and Educating Baby Chicks
4. Chicken Whispering: Discover the Chicken You Never Knew
5. Eggs-traordinary Eggs: The Tips, Tricks and Chemistry of Egg Managment & Cooking.
6. Primary Poultry Health Care
7. Introduction to Growing Food With and For Chickens
8. Compost & Biomass Recycling with Chicken Helpers
9. Way of the Hen: Incubating Eggs and Brooding Chicks Naturally
10. Review, Q&A and Final Exam

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Master Backyard Chicken Keeper™ Certification

Completing the Primary Series and 6 additional electional courses awards candidates for the Master Backyard Chicken Keeper. These courses are open to anyone with interest and not just candidates for the Master Backyard Chicken Keeper.