12 Benefits of Raising Chickens In Your Backyard
Fear of the unknown sometimes keeps us from moving forward in something we know could be beneficial. Something like taking the leap into raising backyard chickens, perhaps! But today, I want to encourage and inspire you to go for it by listing 12 of the most obvious benefits to raising your own chickens.
Our family has experienced firsthand the amazing benefits of keeping chickens. Our feathered friends offer us food, company, and even side income. When it comes to homestead animals, raising chickens are a great way to “get your feet wet.”
I’m not saying they’re for everyone though. It’s very important to do your research and know (at least somewhat) what you’re getting into before starting to raise chickens as livestock or even as affectionate pets. You should also check your local ordinances to make sure keeping your own flock of chickens is allowed.
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There was this time almost ten years ago when my parents were first preparing to move out to the country. (I didn’t realize then that my husband and I would be so close behind.) I remember my dad getting excited about the prospect of being backyard chicken keepers, but I have to admit that I didn’t fully understand the benefits of raising chickens. The idea of raising our own livestock was still a little unfamiliar to me, and I guess I found buying nice, brown, cage-free eggs from the grocery store satisfying enough.
Having this list before we started would have made me feel a bit more excited, so I hope that’s what it does for you.
Benefit of Raising Chickens #1: Knowing where your food comes from
When we buy chicken or eggs from the grocery store, we don’t get any personal interaction with our food source. This makes it difficult to know the exact living conditions and health of the animal. Considering these chickens are providing us with nutritious eggs, it’s good to know how the final product is handled. Raising our own food is a priority because it empowers us to know exactly where those eggs or meat came from, down to the exact chicken.
Benefit #2: Eating a higher quality product
If you’ve never done it before, I challenge you to crack open a store bought egg (even organic eggs) side by side with a farm fresh egg. Observe the difference in the color of the yolk. Every time I’ve done this, the farm fresh egg yolk has a rich, orange color. Meanwhile, the store bought egg is just barely yellow. When you cook them up separately, the difference in taste is noticeable.
Factory farms struggle to keep their chickens healthy, because they deny them fresh air and skimp on their nutrient intake. And it really shows when you compare industry-sourced eggs to farm fresh eggs from healthy, happy chickens.
The same can also go for meat. When you raise your own chickens, you have control over the quality of their feed intake, as well as when it’s time for them to be harvested. This results in a higher quality, better-tasting meat, full of additional health benefits.
Benefit #3: Raising chickens is fun and entertaining
Have you ever watched a small flock of free range chickens? I mean, just sit there for 5 minutes and observe their behavior. It can be seriously funny!
I love watching them strut around, take dust baths, forage in the grass, and be chased by toddlers. They’re just fun to watch. So, the entertainment factor may be one of the best benefits of raising chickens!
Benefit #4: Chickens can pay for themselves
Many chicken breeds are desirable for hatching baby chicks. With an incubator or broody hen, you can hatch your first chicks within 21 days. In my area (Tennessee), chicken keepers typically sell chicks for anywhere between $3-5 each. Hatch and sell chicks a couple times in your first year, and you’ve already got your initial start-up costs covered.
Plus, you can sell any extra eggs for at least a few dollars a dozen. Using either or both of these methods, you can also cover the cost of your feed store bill, and probably more.
Benefit #5: A way to get kids involved in homesteading
Chickens are great at getting kids interested in homesteading, as well as teaching them to care for livestock. There are several easygoing, family-friendly breeds to choose from.
Once you bring your first backyard chickens home, they will feel like part of the family for you and your children! Plus, they’re easy to care for. My kids are the primary caretakers for our chickens. They do all the daily care like feeding, watering, and collecting eggs. They also enjoy spending time just hanging out with the chickens on a regular basis.
Benefit #6: Raising chickens provides an excuse to get outside
There’s nothing wrong with just having gardens and non-animal duties around the homestead. But, chickens are a great addition if you’re needing some motivation to get outside during the colder months.
And honestly, it’s kind of nice for me to be able to say, “Hey, I’m going to check on the chickens” and sneak out for a few minutes of alone time.
Benefit #7: A way to “get your feet wet” with homestead animals
This may sound really weird, but I hear all the time that chickens are the “gateway drug” to homestead animals. Chickens are also easy to raise even in urban areas since they don’t require that many square feet of space. Many people fall in love with the benefits of having livestock after keeping a low maintenance backyard flock. Don’t come at me if you find yourself looking at goats, cows, and pigs next…
Benefit #8: Chickens provide natural pest control
Chickens love to eat bugs, including the terrorizing garden pests and relentless flies that seem to take over during summertime. Let them rummage around the nastiest, buggiest areas of your property (like the compost heap, for instance)–and they’ll take care of that for you.
Benefit #9: Ending up with less kitchen waste
One great benefit to raising chickens is that you can feed them kitchen scraps, which has the potential to be very healthy for them and cost-effective for you. Chickens will devour random stuff like leftover salmon skin, overripe fruits, and kale stems. And by doing so, they absorb plenty of beneficial nutrients like vitamin e and beta carotene.
We are mindful of what and how much we feed our chickens. But we do give them stuff like our kids’ leftover spaghetti, occasionally.
Benefit #10: Getting free fertilizer
What do chickens do with all that food they eat? For the laying hen, it does help with egg production. But even better, it turns to poop!
Here’s an awesome tidbit: chicken manure is chock-full of good stuff for your grass. You should definitely add any manure you procure after cleaning out the chicken coop to your compost bin. It turns the stuff into black gold that will greatly benefit your garden.
You can even let the chickens roam the leftovers of your vegetable garden at the end of the season. All that half-good food doesn’t go to waste, it helps the health of your garden, and makes pulling those old plants a little bit easier.
Benefit #11: Chickens can provide pleasing aesthetics
If you know me, you know I have a thing for aesthetics. Maybe this is why I desperately wanted to raise the Lavender Orpington breed here on our homestead. I love their stunning purplish-gray color.
I love the look of a mixed flock, too. There’s something so aesthetically pleasing about looking out into the backyard to find chickens in an array of black, brown, cream, white, red, gray, and other colors.
Benefit #12: Raising chickens can help you find community
You’d be surprised at how many “chicken people” there are out there. Buying and selling poultry locally serves as an opportunity to meet new friends; ones who may be on a journey very similar to your own. So get out there and mingle with your fellow chicken owners. Share ideas, swap breeds, and learn from each other!
Just like with anything, there are drawbacks and disadvantages to raising chickens. But anyone with the space and motivation can learn how to raise backyard chickens successfully. There are lots of benefits to raising chickens whether for meat, eggs, or even as most affordable pets.
Looking to get started with building your own chicken coop for your new feathered friends? Check out easycoops.com for step-by-step free and premium plans!
Tiffany is a mama to four boys, second generation homeschooler, and college graduate with degrees in both music and business. Now, she is a natural living and homestead enthusiast who loves gardening and raising chickens, pigs, and cows. A lifelong believer in Jesus, she has a burning desire to bring Him glory in everything she does. A worship leader and musician, she also loves to write songs and play the piano in what spare time she finds.
Definitely yes to all of this. our kids love helping with our chickens and our middle kid evern talks about how much he misses them when he’s at school. teaching them responsibility AT A YOUNG age!