7 Reasons to Raise Backyard Chickens

1. Rewarding and exciting - whether you raise your hens from chicks or buy already laying hens, it is very exciting to collect freshly laid eggs from your backyard and rewarding to know you are able to raise chickens to produce some food for your family. With our hens, it is sometimes like an Easter Egg Hunt to find the eggs they decided to lay in the yard as opposed to the nesting boxes, so they will keep you on your toes!

2. Quality Eggs - avoid the factory farmed eggs with your own supply of fresh, free-range eggs from your happy hens. Some chickens can even consistently lay about an egg a day!

3. Pest control - they are great at catching small pesky critters in your yard.

4. No food goes in the trash - chickens will eat just about anything, so your food waste can go to help feeding them as opposed to in the trash. It's also fun to see how excited they get when you give them new foods. Scraps are a great to feed on occasion, but your chickens will still need a chicken specific layer feed to thrive.

5. Fun for the whole family - like any animal, they each have their own personalities and are very fun to watch. They are low maintenance, so are great for the kids to help with and even learn responsibility. They also come in so many different colors and sizes, which can make for very interesting flock combinations. We love to watch them dance, run, scratch, jump and fly.

6. Entry step to self-sufficiency - they are a great entry step in learning to raise animals that provide for your family. For me, they are easier to raise than plants, so we do not have a garden yet.. but would love to have future plans for an edible garden as well!

7. You can keep them in a backyard - they do not need as much space as other backyard or livestock animals, so you can keep them even if you're in the city with a small yard. Roosters are loud and will crow (ALL DAY).. so if you are in a city you may only want hens. However, our roosters are some of my favorite animals on the farm. We have many roosters and not a single one has ever attacked me. To touch on the benefits of roosters, ours keep a good eye out for predators, find food for our hens, prepare nests for hens, protect the hens from predators if they see them, and even dance for the hens. I wouldn't recommend keeping chickens in a small area for an extended amount of time, but to let them free range the yard during the day or have an area set up with netting for them that is large enough for them to explore and be happy.

BONUS - if you keep a rooster, your eggs will most likely be fertilized. You can eat them just fine like non-fertilized eggs, but if a hen goes broody and sits on them you can end up with baby chicks! A momma hen raising her chicks is a sight I am more than grateful to have witnessed and I would highly encourage others to enjoy the same experience.

If you want the benefits of farm fresh eggs, but aren't able to raise chickens yourself, check out your local farmers markets for local egg contacts. Most farms would be more than happy to help in any way they can.

As with any animal, please do your research beforehand to ensure you are prepared and that they are the right fit for you.