Chicken keepers have many different reasons for having a backyard flock of chickens. Here are 20 of the best reasons put forth by people with a passion for poultry:
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Chickens lay eggs.
Keeping your own flock of hens ensures a ready supply of freshly-laid eggs right outside your back door.
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Chickens eat insects.
Ticks and other annoying insects don’t stand a chance with chickens around.
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Chickens destroy weeds.
Whatever weeds and seeds your chickens don’t eat, they’ll scratch up or trample.
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Chickens produce fertilizer.
Composted chicken manure makes outstanding fertilizer for any vegetable or flower garden.
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Chickens are recyclers.
A backyard flock of chickens will turn kitchen scraps and garden gleanings into eggs and fertilizer.
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Chickens are colorful.
They come in many colors, including red, white, and blue as well as in beautiful plumage patterns like mille fleur (pictured above).
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Chickens are small.
Nearly every backyard has enough space to house at least a couple of chickens.
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Chickens are unintimidating.
Even the most timid child takes readily to chickens — many a family flock began as a 4-H youth project.
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Chickens are entertaining.
Chickens are playful and inquisitive and, just like us humans, each chicken has a unique personality.
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Chickens are therapeutic.
Watching the antics of your chickens while relaxing in your own backyard is sure to help you unwind after a hectic day.
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Chickens are livestock.
With just a small flock of chickens you can create your own backyard mini farm.
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Chickens are educational.
They provide a great way for kids (and adults, too!) to learn that eggs don’t originate in some back room at the grocery store.
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Chickens are easy keepers.
Routine flock maintenance requires only a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evening.
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Chickens teach responsibility.
Those non-optional twice-a-day few minutes offer a painless way for youngsters to develop a sense of responsibility.
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Chickens create friendships.
People with a passion for chickens enjoy socializing with one another at chicken club meetings and poultry shows.
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Chickens are inexpensive.
Once your coop is set up, keeping chickens is among the least expensive of hobbies, offering hours of amusement with little additional cost input.
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Chickens are sustainable.
If your flock includes a rooster, your chickens will reproduce themselves by hatching their own eggs (or you can have the fun of hatching their eggs in an incubator).
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Chickens make good eating.
Surplus cockerels are tender and tasty grilled or fried, and old hens make delicious stew or soup.
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Chickens earn their keep.
Nearly everyone who keeps chickens ends up selling surplus eggs to friends and neighbors.
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Chickens make terrific pets.
Chickens can be trained to do tricks, learn to recognize their own names, and come when you call.
With all these super reasons for keeping chickens, the serious question is: “Why not keep chickens?”
And that’s today’s news from the Cackle Coop.
Gail Damerow, author, The Chicken Encyclopedia
