When we have friends over to our house for the first time, and they notice we have chickens in our backyard, one of the first questions most of them ask is: “why do you keep chickens in your backyard?”.
To people who already keep chickens, no explanation is needed. However, this got us thinking, what are our top 5 reasons for why we keep chickens?
1. Keep Chicken for a Healthier Lifestyle
The first reason we keep chickens is that we want to try and become more self-sufficient.
There’s something unexplainably rewarding when you walk down to your chicken coop and scope up freshly laid eggs.
Maybe it’s the fact that we are a small part of this process, or perhaps it’s caring for these incredible animals.
We’re unsure but what we do know is it’s a great feeling!
Although we consume much more in our household than just eggs, it’s satisfying to know that a small proportion of what we eat comes directly from our garden.
We know exactly where it’s come from, what the chickens have had to eat, and how the egg has been handled and treated since they’ve been laid.
Being self-sufficient also includes not relying on other people to remove our waste, and our girls help with this! They tend to eat all of our leftover food and scraps.
Be sure to read 7 Surprising Rules for Feeding Chickens to learn precisely which kitchen scraps you can feed them.
2. Fresh Eggs When You Keep Chickens
Ok, although this one is obvious, it’s sometimes taken for granted, and we wanted to draw attention to it again.
If you haven’t managed to try freshly laid free-range eggs before, you are missing out.
We couldn’t believe the first time we tried our hen’s freshly laid eggs.
The taste was something you can’t explain, and we knew as soon as we tried that first egg, we were never going back to buying eggs from the supermarket ever again!
If you read our blog post from last week, How To Store Your Chickens’ Freshly Laid Eggs, you’d know that supermarket eggs can be up to a month old before they hit the shelves- so maybe they taste better. Because they are so much fresher?
We think it’s plain and simple, though- it’s because you love and care for your hens, and that shines through to the taste of their eggs!
3. When You Keep Chickens They Help the Garden
We didn’t consider this until we read online about chicken muck being used as fertilizer.
So we started using our chicken muck on the flower beds, and it turns out chicken muck makes for excellent fertilizer because it’s full of nitrogen.
Not only can you use the chicken muck, but if you have a compost heap, you can also use old bedding (straw and sawdust) and throw this on the pile- it all helps!
Chickens can also really help your garden if you trust them enough to have roamed free over your garden, including your garden beds. They will eat bugs and insects in the beds and scratch around, and turn over the soil.
We tried this a few times, and our chickens got a bit too friendly with the garden bed and started pecking at the vegetables, so we haven’t trusted them since.
We now only let them into the garden beds at the end of the season after we’ve picked the vegetables so they can’t do too much damage!
If you don’t want to let them directly onto your garden beds, you can always throw over all the grass cuttings and scraps into their pen, and they will keep on top of it for you.
4. They Are Very Low Maintenance
Like other outdoor livestock such as horses, most people assume that chickens are high maintenance and will take up hours of their day caring for them. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
In our experience, chickens are one of the most accessible animals to keep and care for.
The most time-intensive part of keeping chickens is preparing for their arrival (building their coop and making their run secure etc.).
Once your chickens are settled in, they don’t require much time from you at all. You can easily keep chickens by spending less than 20 minutes a day caring for them.
They need letting out in the morning, with feed and freshwater. Then in the afternoon, you will need to feed them and change their water again.
Finally, in the evening, you will need to lock their coop up. You can quickly do all of this in less than 20 minutes.
We challenge you to only spend 20 minutes a day with your hens, though! We like to sit out in the garden in the evening and watch our hens- something is relaxing about just watching them and hearing them merrily clucking to themselves.
5. Keep Chickens to Teach Your Kids
Keeping chickens is a great way to teach your children fundamental life principles.
Although this won’t apply to everyone, if you do have children, teaching them with chickens will give them experiences they will remember their entire life!
To keep chickens, you need to be responsible, consistent, and dedicated. You can get your kids involved by helping to let the chickens out each morning and helping to clean them out each week.
This will help teach your children the importance of caring for others and the importance of being responsible.
We also love that keeping chickens in our backyard helps our kids understand the importance of nature and where the eggs come from.
So there are our top five reasons why we think you should get chickens, but it wouldn’t be fair of us to say this without mentioning the less glamorous side of keeping chickens.
6. Entertainment and Companionship
We have updated our article with a 6th reason to keep chickens. As they grow in popularity, we can see this being a more popular reason.
So maybe chickens aren’t the number one on the “Best Pets” list, but they indeed hold their own on the list.
Watching and caring for chickens is educational for your whole family, but they can provide another benefit besides education: companionship.
Chickens are entertaining to watch. They peck, scratch, dance, crow, and do all sorts of exciting things in your front yard.
If you’ve been meaning to spend more time in nature, there isn’t much of anything that tops a flock of chickens doing their thing.
Some chickens are even docile enough to be lap chickens. If you’ve got a new flock of chicks, it doesn’t take long to recognize the outgoing ones of the bunch.
These are the future flockmates that will follow you around the yard as you do your chores, waiting for a tasty handout. They may even like to be carried around for a while.
It may seem strange to some, but there are chicken personalities, and some of the best ones are eager to be your pal.
So if you’ve been lonely while doing your chores, consider adding a few chickens to your farm.
They’ll keep you busy and entertained.
Early Mornings
Believe us when we say hens wake up at dawn, and they are not impressed when they are locked inside their coop waiting to get outside!
You don’t need to be up at birth, but our girls are out before 6:30 am most mornings. So if you don’t like early mornings, we suggest getting an automatic chicken coop door.
Automatic doors are a great invention and can be set to open at sun-up and sundown.
If you do still really want chickens and can’t stomach the early morning, you could always purchase an automatic coop door, so you can still enjoy your sleep!
They Need Attention Every Day
Like most other pets, chickens are tying, and you need to make sure someone is there every day to feed and water them.
This isn’t a problem if you have people close by you trust who can care for them while you are on holiday. However, you need to bear this in mind before committing to chickens.
Chickens Need Space
If you don’t have a reasonable-sized garden, you will struggle to keep more than a few chickens.
They don’t like being kept in small spaces, and when they are cramped, it can lead to them getting agitated and attacking each other, not what we want.
Final Thoughts on Whether to Keep Chickens
If you are seriously considering getting chickens read How Much Room, Do Chickens Need.
All of this being said, we wouldn’t swap our girls for the world, and they provide us with enjoyment and love every day.
Yes, the fresh eggs are great, but the most important thing is providing a safe and loving home for these incredible animals.
In some world areas, chickens are kept in horrendous conditions and exploited to produce eggs for the lowest possible price. We’re proud to say that we don’t contribute to this culture and treat chickens with the respect and love they deserve.
Let us know why you keep chickens in the comments below. Is it for the eggs?
Thank you
No Problem Tanguy.
I’m glad the website is helping you 🙂
Claire
We have 2,adult Wyandot, 2 Polish that are about 3 months old and a Silkie that is about 4 months old. They all get along very well. Our problem is that one of our Wyandot has stopped laying since the temperature has been hot and seems to be molting. The other I have noticed is she is often nesting with the little ones while the only layer is on the perch by herself. They all get along well and there is never any aggression towards each other. This is my 1st time having chickens so I have a lot to learn. I love them so much and they bring us much joy listening to their happy clucks and running for me when I have their meal worms or other treats.
Hi Janice,
Don’t worry too much- it’s normal that during extreme heat chickens will stop laying.
When the weather cools down she will get back to laying eggs again.
Just make sure during to keep them cool with plenty of water during the hot days!
Claire
I put ice in my chickens water during the hight heat indexes this summer. They really enjoyed it. Now it’s getting close to fall and my little bantum hens has stopped producing. She would produce 1 a day. Now nothing. This morning our duck died. Would that have something to do with it?
Hi LaRinda,
It sounds to me more like a coincidence than anything else. However, anytime there is an unexpected death in the flock it’s always worth getting it check out!
Sorry to hear about your loss,
Claire
I am very much interested in your chickens. How can you be contacted? I am in Africa, Botswana, Southern Africa
Got a strange question do R/R s. Like the color red have 5 one I call waddles one leg is little short , man can she waddle-run lol , my daughter calls me pa chicken they follow me everywere !! She Let one in house ,alittle head peeked in the bath room, FOUND YOU !!! . Oh Question. Red. Whenever I work on something have red rags she slowly strolls over — then. Snatch & Grab !!! Steals my red rag .. Its sooo funny with rag in beak, neck up as high as she can not to trip on the rag,she takes off with my rag on a high speed evade its mine pursute!!! And won’t give it back till she tires of it.but only my red rags ?. Think she needs time on the couch? Ya see Dr when I was in my Egg… Just kidding. Is this just a chicken thing??
Hi Ed,
Yep it’s definitely a chicken thing- they love the color red 🙂
Claire
Can chooks eat meat that has been cooked
Hi! You have great info! We live in a house with a small yard, we love to plant fruit trees and enjoy gardening. We are considering getting one chicken for eggs, but we have a dog. Which one would you recommend that is quiet, friendly, suitable for south Florida weather, and will get along with a dog? Also, do we need to click its feathers?
How do you determine a good breeder? Thanks for all your help!
Hi Karen,
Please see our beginner chicken breeds article where we discuss all of this 🙂
Claire
Get more than one chicken!! They need a social life! And they need to talk to one another! My girls never stop chattering to one another!
what should i use to provide cheap and easy available to give the protein calcium for my hens to lay eggs round the year
Hi Shabbir,
This article will help with that 🙂
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/how-to-keep-hens-laying-eggs-through-the-winter/
Claire
Question At what age do Hens start laying eggs?
I was told by the farm co-op employee that they start producing eggs around 20 weeks old.
Hi, I’d just like to say thank you for your website it has helped me raise my three chickens with lots of knowledge. I got addicted to chickens in 2018 for my eleventh birthday and couldn’t of raised them without your information. Thanks!
Thank you Sasha! Wow, keep it up it is great to hear you are starting so young.
Claire
Why keep chickens? How about love?
My 4 Silkies (boys) just want to be cuddled. Seriously, some of them would rather snuggle than eat.
My Barred Rock and my Light Brahma (girls) are more moody, but both of them like being noticed and sometimes, held and petted.
All very sweet, quite intelligent, great companions.
I am looking to get a few chickens to keep as pets and for eggs. What chicken breeds should I start out with? I also have cats and dogs. Will that be a big problem with chickens?
I am 14 and looking to get a few chickens. I want them for eggs and pets. Which breeds should I start out with? I also have dogs and cats. Would that be a big problem with chickens?
Dogs would be the most problem if they are not properly trained. Dogs can easily kill the chickens if they are not taught not to bother them. Cats would be a problem only to chicks because of how small they are.
No, I don’t keep them for the eggs. It’s love, that’s all.
They also eat spiders, ants, and other bugs.
Especially black widows.
We all need chicken
After reading about the adventures the hens on Happy Chicken Eggs farms have every day, it might seem obvious that one of the top tips to keeping them happy is avoiding battery cages. But with more than 11 million hens still living in battery cages in Australia, it’s an important point to make.
We started with chickens in order to stem the poisonous snake problem with our dogs and grandkids, as we live next to a river and biological corridor. We used to have to kill about one poisonous snake every month, but since four years ago we haven’t had to kill any. Guinea fowl would be ideal for this, but they make too much noise and we have neighbors nearby. So far, so good, although we do have raccoons, opossums, weasels and feral cats that try to steal an easy meal. We control these pests by trapping them and taking them far away downriver.