Chickens

Chickens in the city? Chickens in the suburbs? Hard to imagine for many. But that is a wave trend that has begun. People see the value in producing their own eggs. Imagine if you own a bakery and your pets give you beautiful eggs while out on your 40th story balcony. Imagine the value added by using such fresh eggs!

My beautiful Plymouth Barred Rock. She was the matriarch of our flock.

    All across the country people are starting to view that odd space in the backyard corner as a place to put a couple chickens. They are hands down the easiest livestock to own.

1. They need very little space. 4sqft outdoor space and 2-3 sqft inside their coop
2. They won't complain if their coop doesn't look like it belongs in a magazine.
3. Comparing their output to the store bought cage free organic eggs, you do save money on eggs
4. They are extremely entertaining pets and each one has its own personality
5. You don't need a rooster to get the hens to lay eggs.
6. They will devour most of your kitchen scraps. (cut a whole apple in half and watch what they do. They make perfect bowls because they don't eat the skin)
7. Many are very docile and can easily be let around children with no concern.
8. They eat insects.
9. Their manure is amazing fertilizer.
10. When kept properly, the danger of many over-exaggerated diseases contracted from chickens is almost non-existent.
11. Fresh eggs make great thank you's.
12. Very forgiving if you don't spend more than 5 minutes taking care of them in a day.
13. They don't need to be taken for walks. 
14. Most hens are quieter than barking dogs.

    

    I collected eggs one day and this is what I got. The one on top

    
    

     

    is medium and the bottom is a Jumbo!

     One of the best websites for keeping chickens in your backyard is http://www.backyardchickens.com/
Here you will find a lot of information of the dozens of different breeds to include temperament, laying rate and egg size, sensitivity to certain things, strengths and weaknesses and photos. Many people don't know how beautiful chickens can be. If bought as chicks, most will start laying eggs at 6 months. Some breeds lay white eggs but most backyard breeds lay brown eggs. If kept in the same pen, there is no nutritional difference between the two. There are also varying shades of green eggs! Green tinted eggs are thought to be slightly more nutritious because the breeds that lay them prefer to eat inspects of the laying pellets you buy from the store, which increases their omega 3s, and lowers the fat content.
  
    Most of what I have referenced so far is about egg laying breeds. Some varieties of chicken exist soley as meat breeds. I would recommend meat chickens for the beginning farmer. Processing chickens isn't the easiest task in the world, especially when you don't have a feather plucker. Many of the American breeds of chickens are dual purpose, meaning they are big enough to harvest for meat and are good enough at laying eggs to keep the hens for that purpose alone.

Two of my golden comets free ranging outside of their pen.

    If you have any questions about chickens, please ask. I love chickens and therefore love to talk about them. I have included some pictures to give you ideas. Some of these are mine and some are not. I also included a video of my chickens "scratching" through a huge leaf pile last fall. Happy viewing!