Why Keep Chickens? The Benefits Of Urban Chicken Farming

Keeping free range hens and seeing them roam around the yard is something that brings me immense pleasure and it really pleases me to see that chicken keeping and poultry keeping in general is on the increase.  

Collecting the eggs fresh in the morning is probably the best way to obtain them since you can be sure that your birds have been well cared for and that they haven’t been kept in the cruel and confined conditions that so many commercially kept chickens have to endure. You can also be sure they have been fed on quality food and let’s face it, what your hens eat is ultimately what you consume yourself when you collect and eat the eggs. 

It is safe to assume that many more urban households could comfortably keep a few chickens in the yard and I would have no hesitation in encouraging people to do so. They don’t need much space- only a few square feet per hen and a small patch of earth or grass to graze in and are an almost essential part of keeping an organic vegetable garden.

 
Keeping chickens doesn’t take a whole lot of commitment either, certainly not the same as keeping a cat or dog. If your night out carries on a bit longer or you stay away an extra day on your weekend break, no problems. As long as the chickens have fresh water and a food trough with some meal in it they will be perfectly happy to carry on as normal. 

Eggs of course, are a beneficial ingredient in our daily diets. Full of nutritional goodness, packed with protein and selenium, they could well be considered essential to our well being. In the past we have been led to believe that eating more than a couple of eggs per week were bad for your health but this has been disproven in recent times. In fact, we now know for certain that eggs don’t even have a high level of cholesterol, eat them aplenty! 

In these days of frugal living, recycling and organic living there are many benefits to keeping chickens. The inevitable food waste from the kitchen can be kept in a container and fed to the hens at the end of the evening to supplement their regular diet. Vegetable scraps, bread crusts and bacon rinds can all be put to good use feeding your flock of hens and the waste removed from the chicken coop can be used on the compost heap to make good quality organic compost. In fact, it is far better to feed cooked food to animals and use the animal waste for the compost heap than to put the food directly into the compost. Consider the amount of organic waste that fills our waste bins every week and how it could be put to better use feeding a small flock of hens and ultimately making organic compost. Add to this the amount of fuel and energy wasted taking this ‘waste’ to landfill and you can be assured that your left over potato skins and uneaten pasta will be of far better use feeding a group of grateful hens. If your kitchen skills are any good this food will be of excellent quality and very beneficial to your birds. 

Perhaps you don’t have the time or inclination to keep your own free range hens but even the simple act of buying your eggs from a neighbour who does is of enormous benefit. If more of us did this consider the number of battery hens, kept in their thousands in inhumane conditions that would be spared a lifetime of misery and suffering. 

When you think of these simple reasons and a few others besides, it’s not difficult to see why you should consider keeping your own flock of free range hens. 

See also ~ Organic Vegetable Gardening 
            ~ 5 Good Reasons to Keep Chickens