Benefits of Backyard Chickens (2024)

Updated 10/2022

When Green America member Laura Gidney and her husband John were house hunting in upstate New York, they knew their new home had to be in a neighborhood designed for backyard chickens. The Gidneys now have 10 adult chickens, with 20 newly hatched chicks this spring. They make their home in a comfortable coop with plenty of room to roam. Every morning the Gidneys enjoy fresh eggs from their mini flock.

As the Gidneys learned, keeping a small flock of chickens in your backyard has many benefits, from providing fresh, healthy eggs from well-cared for animals, to providing good fertilizer for the garden, to providing lively pets . also as part of the pursuit of local, sustainable food systems.

Why backyard chickens?

Most chicken owners have the same reason for starting their flock: eggs. By getting eggs from your own chickens, you avoid supporting factory farms that produce the majority of eggs sold in the United States. Egg-producing chickens on industrial farms are often kept in such small, inhumane spaces that they cannot stretch their legs or wings, walk around or behave normally socially.

A 2010 University of Cambridge study also found that grass-fed eggs, from chickens given space to peck for food, are more nutritious than industrial eggs, with grass-fed eggs containing twice as much vitamin E and long-lasting omega-3 fatty acids. contain chain. With certified organic chicken feed you can keep your chickens healthy while supporting sustainable agriculture.

These healthier eggs may cost a little more than factory-produced eggs in the supermarket, but they are competitive with, and often cheaper than, the cost of local free-range eggs. Considering only the cost of food, but not household materials or other one-time expenses, most backyard chicken keepers estimate they pay about $3 per chicken. dozen for backyard eggs. Eggs at most farmers markets usually cost from $5+ per egg. dozen.

Backyard chickens also make great composters for your kitchen scraps. Andrew Malone runsFunky chicken farmin Melbourne, FL, says he can't think of much you can't feed a chicken.

“They are omnivores and will eat almost anything that comes out of the kitchen, including meat,” he says. Be sure to supplement leftovers with the right feed, warns Malone, to ensure your chickens get the nutrition they need to stay healthy and lay strong eggs.

You can then add the chicken waste to your compost pile and use it as fertilizer in your garden. In addition, chickens like to eat insects and pests in your garden.

Provided children handle the chickens with care, Jim Dennis, owner of Phoenix-based chicken company Rent-a-Hen, has noted that chickens can be social and even loving pets.

“For my kids, it's a race every morning to see which one of them gets to collect the eggs,” says Laura Gidney. “These days, most kids are in a race to play a video game, so we're happy that our kids can get out in the fresh air and play with their chickens in the mud.”

Check local notices

Before you run out and buy a youngster, make sure you are ready for the commitment. Check with your local officials first to make sure backyard chickens are allowed where you live. Some municipalities have a chicken ban or a limit on the number of chickens you can keep on your property. Due to their infamous early morning co*ckadoodle box, roosters have been banned from many cities.

If your city isn't chicken friendly yet,CommunityChickens.comhas articles on changing local ordinances.

Build a happy home for your backyard chickens

If your local ordinances allow backyard chickens, you will want to provide your birds with a coop or secure coop that will provide the birds with a place to lay eggs as well as a "run" to roam and peck. Make sure your chicken coop also protects them from predators.

“If you've never seen a raccoon on your property, I can almost guarantee you'll see one within the first few nights you bring the chickens home,” says Malone.

Each chicken needs three to four square meters of space in the garden and another three to four square meters in the run. Because chickens are social animals, Malone suggests at least six chickens, which will require a 5-square-foot coop and a run of the same size.

If you're a do-it-yourselfer, the internet is full of ideas and instructions: from copper on wheels that you can move from one spot to another in your garden, to designs for building a chicken coop for less than $ 100.

Your local pet food store and online businesses like itachtertuinkippen.comalso operates ready-made chicken coops.

Experts also recommend having a nest box in the coop for every three to four chicks. You can use a prefabricated wooden box from a feed store or use a variety of items you have around the house, such as old milk crates, plastic bins, and even a five-gallon bucket placed on the side. Or your chickens can choose their own sleeping place. Green America member Rob McLane of Tucson, Arizona, says one of his chickens wanders in every day to lay an egg in the family laundry basket.

Daily worries

Taking good care of your chickens will keep them healthy and help you get the most eggs from your flock. Each chicken needs about ¼ cup of feed per day, as well as a supply of fresh, clean water. Chickens can survive both hot and cold weather and will be fine outdoors in temperatures down to 15 degrees, but their laying patterns will change with the seasons.

Be sure to clean your coop every two weeks and clean your hands and shoes after handling chickens and their eggs. A Center for Disease Control report this summer traced a seven-year salmonella outbreak to a hatchery that shipped chickens to consumers across the country. The outbreak is now under control, but the report emphasizes the importance of good hygiene when handling your chickens.

Picking chickens

From Rhode Island Reds to Plymouth Rocks, there are many breeds available for your flock. Different breeds have different personalities and different egg laying rates. For variety you can combine varieties in one flock. While Malone says that choosing a favorite chicken breed would be like choosing a favorite child, he notes that brown egg-laying breeds tend to be more social and docile.

The home pageMyPetChicken.com's Breed Selector Tool can help you find the chicken breed that's right for you.

Depending on where you live, there are different ways to get your own backyard chickens. Some chicken keepers choose to raise their chickens from chickens. This means that the young must be given extra warmth and special food; chickens can be found at local feed stores and farms. You may also be able to find older chickens locally; old enough to be outside without extra heat, but not yet laying eggs.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, many chickens are brought to shelters and farm reserves with years of egg-laying ahead of them, and while they may not produce eggs at the same rate as younger chickens, they can be a perfect match. for families who want to raise humanely treated chickens and save an adult chicken from slaughter.

Most chickens start laying eggs around six months of age and will lay with the greatest frequency during the first year - giving you around four to seven eggs per week, although this may vary with the seasons. The number of eggs she will produce will decrease by about 10% each subsequent year, and most backyard chickens can live eight to ten years.

Different people will make different decisions about what to do with a chick at the end of her productive laying period. For many, backyard chickens are viewed as pets and their owners will choose to continue to care for them throughout their natural lives. Others slaughter their older chickens and use them as an additional food source. Due to the increased number of chickens given to shelters and shelters, the US Humane Society is asking people not to surrender their non-productive chickens.

If you think chickens are right for your family, remember the words of Laura Gidney: "I always encourage anyone who can to absolutely do it!" she says. "Besides the fact that the eggs taste better, you know the quality of the food you give your birds, you know the conditions in which they live, and it is wonderful to see your children caring for and loving these birds and getting nutritious food from the whole deal.