Keeping chickens as pets can be a wonderful and often rewarding experience for you and your family. Do you live in the city and are looking at getting chickens, but are just a little bit unsure whether it is right for you?
Well, here are 10 fantastic reasons to help convince you.
1. You don’t have to live in the country to keep chickens.
You don’t need as much space as you might think to keep chickens. As long as they are free to roam around and have access to warmth, shade, fresh water and vegetation to rummage around in, they don’t mind too much about not having a large space.
2. You’ll have a plentiful supply of fresh eggs.
Depending on how many hens you get, a supply of fresh eggs is generally assured. You might even end up with a surplus like many hen owners and be able to make some money by selling excess eggs to friends!
(ps. You might want to start collecting those empty egg cartons now!)
3. The eggs that you get will be fresher and healthier than anything you can buy in the supermarket.
Ask anyone who has ever had hens and they will tell you the same thing. The quality of the fresh eggs and the bright golden yellow color of the yolks from backyard hens is completely different from the stale orange yolks of supermarket eggs. The fresher the eggs, the healthier and tastier they are for you. It has been scientifically proven that fresh eggs are lower in cholesterol and higher in omega-3 fatty acids than old and less fresh eggs.
4. Chickens can be good pets and are easy to look after.
Compared to more conventional pets such as cats, dogs and fish, chickens are very easy to look after. For one, the cost of food is substantially cheaper. Furthermore, chickens are relatively independent and don’t require much looking after or any supervision. As long as you feed the chickens and put them back in their coop at the end of the day, they will be live just fine.
5. They are very child friendly as long as you choose the right breed.
Chickens are surprisingly child friendly and pose no more danger to a child than a cat, rabbit or dog. Hens aren’t known to attack humans and are generally fine minding their own business and pecking away at grass.
6. Chickens can add greater meaning to your life.
Like a lot of pets, just coming home to a flock of hens can make you feel that just bit special. That’s not even mentioning the feeling that you get when collecting the eggs each morning.
7. You know where your food is coming from.
These days, with the increasing commercial farming methods, many people are wanting to simplify their food sources and know where their food is coming from. And what could be more local and reliable than the hen house in your backyard!
8. You’ll save on food waste.
Chickens will eat most fruit, vegetable and table scraps that would otherwise be composted or thrown away, saving on your waste bill and bringing the cost of feeding your pets down.
9. Chickens can teach you and your children to be responsible.
Having to feed a family pet can help teach you or your children vital responsibility skills. Chickens are generally easier to feed than cats or dogs in terms of preparing their food, and as an added bonus you can collect the love of your labor (the eggs) while you are feeding them!
10. Chickens can help control backyard pests and weeds.
Do you have a problem with bugs or weeds in your backyard? Are you sick of using pesticides and want an organic solution to your problems? Chickens absolutely LOVE picking at worms and bugs. And that sounds like a win-win situation to me.
Are you convinced to go out and get your own chickens today?
Or do you know of any other reasons to keep chickens as pets in your backyard?
