6 Benefits Of Backyard Chickens

Keeping backyard chickens can be a nerve-racking experience for anyone, especially if you’ve never done it before. However, it really is quite simple, as long as you have all of the equipment, know what you can expect, and aren’t afraid to get up close and personal with your new delightful, feathered friends.

Nowadays, there are also many benefits of raising backyard chickens, such as the positive impact they have on the environment and the joy they bring you just as pets. Furthermore, these days, the ideas of organic farming and greener living have become more than just buzzwords.

Most of us are looking for ways to go greener, make a conscious effort to give back to the environment, and lead healthier lives. Raising chickens is a great first step towards taking care of yourself and others, the environment, and living a more sustainable life.

Interested in learning more? Keep reading to learn about the benefits of owning backyard chickens.

All About Backyard Chickens

Simply put, backyard chickens are chickens that are raised in your backyard and are suitable for domesticated life. They are generally kept as pets and owners enjoy collecting their eggs and caring for them.

Why Are Backyard Chickens A Good Choice?

Raising chickens is actually quite a simple activity, as they are independent creatures that largely look after their own needs. To start with, they clean themselves, which staves off disease and parasites, they only eat when they are hungry, and they consume a wide variety of food that makes it easy to keep supplies up.

Moreover, they know to go to bed when they need to and they also don’t need your help to lay their eggs. The main thing you need to do as an owner is to provide them with care, a safe, secure environment, and plenty of room to stretch their wings.

There are many benefits of backyard chickens. Raising chickens can be a wonderfully rewarding experience, not just because of the little feathered friends you will make, but because they also contribute positively to the environment. So, if you’re interested in sustainability and considering getting some new pets, raising chickens can be the perfect choice.

In contrast, however, there are also challenges to consider, from interactions with other pets to health issues. Many chicken parents struggle to handle chicken health or their behavioral issues, especially in the first few years of having a flock. So doing your research and knowing what to expect is vital.

The Simple Steps To Keeping Chickens

Keeping chickens is a relatively easy job, as long as you establish a strong routine. Here are some of the things you’ll need to do every day for your flock.

• Ensure that they have plenty of food and water.
• Spot check the chicken coop to make sure it is clean and sanitary.
• Empty the nesting box of any eggs your flock has left for you.
• Leave the door of the chicken coop open so they can come and go as they please.
• Make sure to count your chickens at the end of each night to ensure that everybody is safe and well.

Other jobs will come up from time to time, like giving your chicken coop a deep clean, bathing your chickens, or attending to any mite infestations. Although, for the most part, day-to-day life with chickens is usually relaxed.

What Is The Cost Of Keeping Chickens?

After the initial start-up costs, like choosing from the many chicken coops for sale, chickens are one of the most affordable pets available. On average, chickens might only cost you approximately $25 per month, with the addition of animal bedding in the chicken coop, which will cost less than $10 per month. Of course, these figures will fluctuate depending on how many chickens are in your flock. If you want to possibly save even more money, check out our article on used sheds!

The Benefits Of Backyard Chickens

Raising chickens means so much more than just fresh eggs every morning. Chickens are marvelous creatures whose everyday habits positively contribute to their environment. When you give them the right lifestyle, they will also contribute to making yours more sustainable. The benefits of raising backyard chickens are endless.

A Natural Fertilizer

Chickens poo a lot. They go so much that they can excrete waste up to 50 times a day and their waste is incredible fertilizer. Many people pay good money for bags of organic fertilizer, but when raising chickens, you could have a constant supply of it.

Due to chickens being omnivores, their manure is free of the diseases and bacteria normally found in the manure of meat-consuming animals. Raising your chickens on an organic diet also ensures that your fertilizer will also be free of any harmful chemicals. Collecting and adding the manure to your garden beds and vegetable patches will provide a brilliant range of nutrients for your plants.

Compost

Moreover, the perfect recipe for compost is not complete without chicken manure. If you would like to get the most out of the fertilizing capability of your chickens’ waste, you can also add the wood shavings from your chicken coop, plus any bits of excess plant life you may have lying around. This natural fertilizer can be useful to help grow your flowers around your new she shed!

Moistening the compost is going to activate its fertilizing properties, so will mixing it to incorporate oxygen. You could even throw empty eggshells into the compost heap to get it going. This will save you from needing to use synthetic fertilizers that can damage the environment. The toxic runoff from synthetic fertilizers used in garden beds ends up in our waterways and eventually our streams and the ocean, which is a serious concern.

Minimize Waste

Another of the many benefits of owning backyard chickens is that your feathered friends will make good use out of leftover food scraps you may be hesitant to put into the bin. Raising chickens on a diet based on scraps will ensure that they are getting lots of great nutrients. Feeding your kitchen scraps to your chickens is definitely a great way to minimize waste and reduce landfill; plus, once the chickens have digested it and excrete it, it goes on to fertilize your lawn. Thus, the cycle of sustainability continues.

Natural Pest Control

Many of us may turn to chemical sprays and pesticides to protect our garden plants from the clutches of insects, but raising chickens is a great method of pest control. Chickens have a healthy appetite for insects and love to eat grasshoppers, slugs, snails, and beetles. Your chickens will prevent bugs from leaving your plants riddled with damage. Moreover, raising chickens on a diet rich in bugs and insects is extremely beneficial for them, and will actually also make your chickens’ eggs taste better as a result. 

Teach Your Kids About Sustainability

Chickens are great family pets and very child friendly. Most chickens love a cuddle just as much as any other animal does. So, another of the great benefits of owning backyard chickens is that they are a great way to teach your kids about the environment and how to live in a sustainable and eco-friendly way. Involve your kids with collecting the eggs, or you can get them to take out the scraps at dinner time. Educating your kids on the needs of our planet while they’re young will make them more aware of their footprint on the earth.

Fresh Eggs

Probably one of the most obvious benefits of raising backyard chickens is having a constant supply of fresh eggs. These days, raising chickens yourself is sometimes one of the only ways to ensure that no chemicals, hormones or other nasty interferences have gone into the making of the eggs you consume. Furthermore, you get fresh, organic eggs for free, and you will often likely find yourself having a surplus to give to your neighbors and friends.

Start Raising Backyard Chickens Now

There are many benefits to raising your own backyard chickens. From helping you to live a more sustainable and eco-friendly life to providing your children with exciting new pets, you can’t deny that the idea of owning chickens seems fun and enticing.

Chickens are incredibly easy to take care of; you only need to choose from the many available chicken coops for sale and educate yourself on their dieting and comfort needs. The rest is incredibly simple to navigate. To find the very best chicken coops for sale, visit Esh’s Utility Buildings. With their extensive range of coops (and other animal shelters), you will definitely be able to find the right coop that is perfect both for you and your chickens. So, visit Esh’s Utility Buildings today and start your journey of becoming a chicken parent by purchasing a top-quality coop!