4 Reasons to Get Chickens
Becoming a keeper of chickens can seem overwhelming. Below are four simple reasons that may sway your decision if you’re on the fence.
Sustainability in uncertain times:
Raising chickens will allow you to produce your own food locally. By keeping chickens for eggs or meat, you’ll reduce your reliance on industrialized agricultural systems, which often require long-distance transportation and can be vulnerable to disruptions in uncertain times. Local food production promotes self-sufficiency and reduces the carbon footprint associated with food transportation. In uncertain times, such as during natural disasters or supply chain disruptions, having a backyard flock can help ensure a steady supply of fresh eggs or meat. By having a self-sustaining source of food, individuals and families become less dependent on outside food sources. This promotes food security and resilience in times of crisis. Chickens are also excellent at recycling our food waste. They can consume kitchen scraps, garden waste, and even insects, turning them into valuable fertilizer and reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfills. This contributes to sustainable waste management practices and minimizes environmental impact, which matters!
2. Teaching children responsibility & husbandry
Keeping chickens provides an excellent opportunity to teach your children responsibility and the principles of animal husbandry. The below eight reasons were prominent in our decision to keep chickens.
Daily Care: Caring for chickens requires daily attention, such as feeding, watering, and checking their well-being. By assigning age-appropriate tasks to children, such as filling feeders and waterers, they will learn about the importance of consistent care and meeting the basic needs of animals.
Routine and Schedule: Chickens thrive on routine, and involving children in establishing a regular care schedule helps them understand the significance of commitment and consistency. They learn to prioritize responsibilities and develop time management skills.
Observation and Awareness: Your children can observe and interact with chickens, learning to recognize signs of health, behavior patterns, and individual characteristics. This cultivates their ability to be attentive and empathetic towards animals, understanding their needs and responding accordingly.
Animal Welfare: Teaching children about the well-being of animals is an essential aspect of chicken keeping. They can learn about providing appropriate shelter, ensuring a clean living environment, and monitoring for signs of distress or illness. Understanding the importance of animal welfare fosters compassion and empathy in children.
Problem-solving: Keeping chickens often presents challenges that require problem-solving skills. Children can participate in finding solutions to issues such as predator protection, preventing escape, or addressing minor health concerns. Engaging in these problem-solving activities encourages critical thinking, creativity, and resourcefulness.
Life Cycles and Responsibility: Chickens go through different life stages, including hatching from eggs, growing into chicks, and eventually becoming mature birds. Children can witness and participate in these processes, developing an understanding of the natural life cycle and their role in caring for living beings. They learn about the concept of responsibility and the impact their actions have on the well-being of others.
Harvesting and Food Production: If keeping chickens for eggs or meat, children can be involved in collecting eggs or assisting with the processing of chickens for meat (if appropriate for their age and comfort level). This teaches them about the origins of food, the value of sustainable and ethical food production, and the connection between animals and the food we consume.
Stewardship: Through chicken keeping, children can learn about the importance of environmental stewardship. They can understand how chicken manure can be used as fertilizer, the benefits of composting, and the role of chickens in promoting sustainable practices. This cultivates an appreciation for nature and an understanding of our responsibility to protect and preserve it.
By involving children in the care and husbandry of chickens, they gain hands-on experience in responsibility, animal welfare, problem-solving, and environmental consciousness. These valuable lessons can be applied to various aspects of their lives and contribute to their personal development and understanding of the world around them.
3. Providing A Clean Source of Nutrition to Your Family
Keeping chickens can provide a clean source of nutrition to your family in several ways:
Fresh Eggs: Chickens produce fresh eggs, which are a nutrient-dense and versatile food source. By keeping chickens, you have direct access to eggs that are free from the potential contaminants and preservatives often found in store-bought eggs. You can ensure the cleanliness and quality of the eggs your family consumes.
Control over Feed: When you raise chickens, you have control over their diet and feed. You can choose to feed them organic or natural feeds without additives, antibiotics, or hormones. This allows you to have a direct influence on the quality and purity of the food that goes into your chickens, which ultimately affects the nutritional value of the eggs they produce.
Reduced Chemical Exposure: By keeping chickens, you reduce your family's exposure to potential chemical contaminants that might be present in commercial egg production. Industrial egg production often involves the use of antibiotics, pesticides, and synthetic additives. By opting for home-raised eggs, you can minimize or eliminate exposure to these substances, promoting a cleaner and healthier source of nutrition.
Know Your Source: When you keep chickens, you have a direct connection to the source of your food. You know the conditions in which your chickens are raised, the feed they consume, and the overall care they receive. This transparency allows you to have confidence in the cleanliness and safety of the eggs your family consumes.
By keeping chickens, you can provide your family with a clean, nutritious source of food in the form of fresh eggs. It allows you to control the feed, reduce chemical exposure, increase omega-3 content, minimize food miles, and have confidence in the quality and safety of the eggs you consume
4. Great Segway into Deeper Homesteading
Chicken keeping can indeed serve as a great segue into deeper homesteading practices. Here's how:
Self-Sufficiency: Raising chickens for eggs or meat is an initial step towards self-sufficiency in food production. As you become more comfortable with chicken keeping, you might consider expanding your homesteading endeavors to include growing your own fruits, vegetables, or even raising other livestock. Chickens can be a gateway to developing a more comprehensive and sustainable homestead that meets a larger portion of your family's food needs.
Waste Management and Composting: Chickens contribute to waste management by consuming kitchen scraps and other organic waste. As you explore deeper homesteading practices, you can use chicken manure as a valuable resource for composting, which can be used to nourish your garden and cultivate healthy soil. This encourages a closed-loop system on your homestead, minimizing waste and maximizing resource utilization.
Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture: Homesteading often involves practicing permaculture and regenerative agriculture principles, which aim to create self-sustaining and ecologically balanced systems. Chickens can play a role in these practices by foraging for insects, helping to control pests, and contributing to soil health through their manure. They can also be integrated into rotational grazing systems, where they follow other livestock to help break pest cycles and improve pasture health.
Energy Independence: Deeper homesteading often involves exploring alternative energy sources and reducing reliance on the grid. As you expand your homestead, you may consider integrating renewable energy systems such as solar panels, wind turbines, or micro-hydro systems. Chicken keeping can provide valuable experiences and insights into managing energy usage and conservation, preparing you for more sustainable energy practices on your homestead.
DIY Skills: Homesteading often involves a variety of do-it-yourself (DIY) projects, such as building coops, constructing raised beds, or making repairs. By keeping chickens, you can develop skills in carpentry, basic construction, and problem-solving, which can be applied to more complex DIY projects as you deepen your homesteading journey.
Water Conservation: Homesteading typically emphasizes water conservation practices. Chicken keeping can be an opportunity to learn about water management, such as collecting and utilizing rainwater for the chickens' drinking needs or integrating water-saving techniques in their coop or run design. These experiences can translate into a broader focus on water conservation as you expand your homesteading activities.
Connection to Nature and Land Stewardship: Homesteading fosters a deep connection to the natural world and a sense of responsibility as land stewards. By keeping chickens and observing their interactions with the environment, you gain insights into the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the impact of your actions on the land. This awareness can inspire further exploration of sustainable land management practices and conservation efforts on your homestead.
Chicken keeping can serve as an entry point for individuals and families to embrace deeper homesteading practices. It provides opportunities to develop skills, expand self-sufficiency, explore regenerative agriculture, practice DIY projects, conserve resources, and foster a stronger connection to nature. As you progress along your homesteading journey, you can gradually incorporate additional elements and practices that align with your values and goals.