The Benefits of Backyard Chickens

This segment of the website is dedicated to chickens. It reuses information taken from an old infographic I made for school. I thought it could potentially be useful to someone. The "Chickens" page is split into four sections, as shown in clickable buttons above.

Five reasons you should have chickens!

Reason 1: Can reduce your food waste!

Throughout history, humans have valued chickens not only for their eggs and meat, but also for their ability to help reduce waste. By feeding them food scraps and unwanted leftovers, backyard chickens can play a role in reducing the amount of trash that goes into landfills. Composting or feeding food waste to animals allows for natural decomposition that can return nutrients to the ecosystem, making it an environmentally friendly solution to the problem of food waste disposal. This practice can be a simple yet effective way for individuals and communities to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Reason 2: Can turn waste into fresh eggs and meat
Raising chickens can be a valuable way to increase your household's food security. Unlike other poultry, chickens can provide a consistent and reliable source of fresh eggs. Additionally, backyard chickens can be raised as a source of protein-rich meat. Older hens and roosters that are no longer able to perform certain tasks can also be consumed. By offering a sustainable source of eggs and meat, raising chickens can significantly improve average household food security. This, in turn, can help to reduce grocery expenses and promote self-sufficiency.

Reason 3: Can save you money!
Keeping backyard chickens can lead to significant savings by reducing reliance on store-bought eggs and meat, as fresh eggs can cut grocery bills and offset initial investment costs. Urban chickens can also support reduction practices, such as lowering waste output, which can lead to monthly expense reductions. In some areas, like in Texas, residents can obtain smaller trash bins for a lower price, incentivizing waste reduction. According to the City of Austin, this reduction in waste will support its goal of achieving zero waste by reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills by 90% by 2040.

Reason 4: Can provide nutrient-rich fertilizer
Chickens can help keep your garden healthy and thriving in a sustainable way. They eat a variety of foods, including vegetable scraps and insects, which can help control pests in your garden. Chickens also naturally produce fertilizer in the form of manure, which is nutrient-rich and helps improve soil fertility. Chicken manure is particularly high in nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium, which are all essential nutrients that plants need to grow. According to P. Zublena, a Professor in the Soil Science Department at North Carolina State University, NC, chicken manure is a great fertilizer and is also rich in organic matter. So, adding chicken manure to your garden can be a great way to boost plant growth in a sustainable way.

Reason 5: Can act as a greener alternative to pecticides!
When chickens are allowed to roam freely in gardens and farms, they can help control various types of insect pests such as ticks, beetles, mosquitoes, and grasshoppers. By eating and consuming weed seeds, they also help control weeds without the use of harmful pesticides and herbicides. In an experiment conducted by Oregon State University Extension, Terra Research, chickens were introduced into a pile of leaf litter containing insect decoys, and 24 hours later, there were no signs of the insect decoys. This shows, in their dinosaur-like nature, chickens foraging behavior can be an effective natural method of pest control.

This is supposed to be a chicken picture, but for some reason it did not load for you. So, here is a description of the picture: A brown chicken with white sprinkled throughout its feathers, an inquisitive look at the camera and a bright red comb.