The Homesteading Hippy Shares Reasons To Keep Chickens and 4 Reasons Not To

January 15, 2016

Heather of The Homesteading Hippy shares a little bit of seriousness and fun today! Thinking of raising chickens or are you a chicken enthusiast? Here’s a light hearted, yet serious, way to look ahead to raising happy, healthy chickens.

Reasons to keep and not keep chickens

We love our girls, we really do! If you are considering adding some chickens to your backyard homestead, here are my top 5 reasons to do so. Of course, with 5 reasons to keep chickens, we have to add “and 4 reasons NOT to.”

Bug and Pest Control

 

Chickens are great for bug control. They love to dig around for little bugs, and they are pretty adept at catching them imd air as well. Every Summer, when the mosquitoes are all around, it’s fun to watch the hens run around and chase them, juming up and catching them. Chickens are also really good mousers. As a matter of fact, our hens are better at catching and killing mice than our cats are. This is why we store their food in their coopi, covered. We don’t worry about mice, because the chickens will take them out.

Source of Eggs

 

This goes without saying, that having your own chickens will provide a quick source of eggs. Depending on the breed you raise, you will get anywhere from 250-350 eggs per hen per year. A family of 5 having 10 hens will be well kept in eggs with no difficulty. Of course, if you have laws that only allow a smaller number of hens, don’t despair. Even 3-5 hens will provide plenty of eggs for you!

 

Source of Meat

 

Many people treat their chickens like pets. We do as well, they are “my girls” and they get spoiled often with treats in addition to their regular feed. Each one is named, and I know their personality very well. Some of them will come up to my son and squak until he picks them up to be petted. But, the are also working animals. When they are doing laying, we make the difficult decision to cull them from the lock and use them for meat. I know that they have had a happy, healthy life and that they are being used to their full potential when we eat them. To continue more reasons why you should keep chickens and reasons not to… continue here….

Connect with The Homesteading Hippy on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+ for more interaction with The Homesteading Hippy.

Spread The Hoover's Love
Facebook0
Twitter1k
Pinterest0
Instagram134
More about webwise

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
Twitter1k
Pinterest0
Instagram134