Chickens and Ducks

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Congratulations! You are about to have a LOT of fun!

Maybe you already have a flock in your garden? 

Familiarising yourself about the MANY benefits of chicken keeping is an exceptionally good idea! Then, you’ll know how incredible these wonderful animals are and how they can help you and your family!

The following are just some of the benefits of raising chickens:

1) Free range eggs from your own hens are HEALTHIER. FACT. 

Scientific evidence suggests that battery eggs contain a higher amount of salmonella, and thus, can be very harmful to us. The stress on egg farming hens is great.  It is a sad fact that we all know but it seems there is little we can do to change that.  We recently rescued 10 ex commercial hens ... bless them!  They were in a MAJOR mess!  Happily, they are coming on beautifully now and feathers growing back etc, BUT this did highlight their plight to me even MORE.

There is a consensus among chicken owners that the eggs their flocks produce are safer since they have full control of their flocks’ diet. Raising your own chickens ensures that your flock is getting a balanced intake of proper nutrients and vitamins. Your hens will eat a very varied diet, a bit of grass, insects, they may even steal a flower or two! However, this varied diet means that not only will the hen be healthier, but her eggs will too! The yolks of a fresh egg are more golden yellow unlike the orange we are used to seeing in shop bought eggs. The eggs are more nutritionally dense too, higher in vitamin E and omega 3, plus beta carotene than their supermarket sisters. Hurrah for your own hens!

2) Chickens eat insects.

This may be an obvious one but hear me out!

Especially in the summer, when we have more ticks and other insects around that you may not want, chickens are fantastic hunters! Free pest control AND they get to have fun too! 

3) They help you in the garden 

Now, this is a double-edged sword! You have been warned!

Chickens are fantastic at turning over soil. Weeding and helping you out in the garden. They will make light work of a spent vegetable patch or to help turning over your compost heap! However, be sure to fence off any area you do not want them to go. For a chicken, no where is off limits unless you give them a boundary! 

4) Compost

Talking of compost, chicken poo is fantastic to add to your gardening regime! Chicken poo is considered ‘hot’ fertiliser, so you have to compost it. However, it holds so many nutrients for your soil, it helps your plants thrive! Plus, being organic matter means that you don’t need to use harmful chemicals on your garden! Win win!

5) MUCH less food waste

At a time when more and more people are (rightly!) concerned about their carbon footprint and what they can do to help the planet, having less waste going to landfill is an incredibly good thing.

In our house, any scraps that can be given to the chickens (there are exceptions as there are things they cannot eat so please check and learn what you CAN’T give them) goes to them. This helps give them more variety in their diet and is free feed for them (they especially love carrot and cucumber peelings, cooked spaghetti, ANY salad especially lettuce and spinach … I could go on!) but also means it is MUCH less food waste for us. Anything raw veggie wise the chickens can’t have (which isn’t much to be fair) goes in the compost bin. Our food waste is virtually ZERO.

6) Stress relief 

Chickens will help reduce stress! Owning chickens is very stress relieving! When I go into my flock in the morning to let them out and feed them, it is such a happy time! They are all chattering to us, you watch their mannerisms, their little individual personalities and how they interact with us and their flock mates. It is a very ‘happy place’ indeed! There are even special farms called ‘care farms’. They allow people who need extra help to come and sit with and stroke the chickens and other animals. Some chickens get taken into care homes for the residents to interact with. They are addictive and 100% ‘feel good’!

7) Chickens are amazing pets

Chickens Make good pets. They are incredibly intelligent and can be trained! We have a dog agility course with slaloms and a hoop jump which the chickens use! Trained, they can easily complete the course! 

They can be trained to do so much with a little know how and the most important thing … food! Meal worms and they are your best friend! It is lots of fun training chickens! 

These are just a FEW of the benefits of keeping chickens! Have fun finding out more!