Did you know that raising chickens in your backyard can be one of the most affordable ways to benefit your home, garden, and kitchen? More than a unique pet, these animals can serve many functions in your yard. Read below to learn more about what raising backyard chickens can do for you.
Affordable Pets
Despite the myriad benefits that these pets provide, they are remarkably affordable to own. They don’t cost thousands to buy and care for, unlike larger farm animals, and they are small, meaning they will have plenty of space to roam in even medium yards.
Businesses like at daltonengineering.co.uk make chicken care easy with affordable feeding systems, consumables, and plumbing systems. One of the best elements of a chicken coop is that these animals can serve multiple cost-saving functions without breaking the budget.
Good for the Garden
If you garden at home, you know how important the conditions in your yard are for growth. Elements like pests, soil content, and more can impact the growth and health of your fruits, veggies, herbs, and more. Chickens can help with all of that.
Keeping the Pests Away
Did you know that chickens can be a powerful pest control? These animals eat pests like insects that like to dine on the food in your fresh garden.
Keeping a chicken near the garden can help to deter pests. It’s a natural alternative to dangerous chemicals like pesticides.
Be sure not to let your chicken directly near the food, though, because they like to snack just like the bugs do. A chicken will chow down on veggies, especially tomatoes, so be sure to create a boundary to keep them apart.
Weeding
In addition to keeping pests at bay, these animals are also great at weeding the yard or garden. They pick and pull at pesky weeds, clearing your yard of weeds and debris.
Fertilizing
Along with their eating habits, chickens are also a valuable source of natural fertilizer in the form of manure that can become compost for the garden or yard.
This fertilizer can help growth by improving the quality of the soil. The reason chickens’ manure is such a good source of fertilizer is it contains nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.
Home-Grown Eggs and Meat
If you value supporting organic, grass-fed, free roam chickens, it can be challenging to find farms that live up to this standard as you shop in the grocery store. Raising your poultry gives you the knowledge that you are eating ethically produced food. You can also ensure quality and know everything in your food without guesswork or confusing product labels.
Chickens are a great source of meat and eggs. Adding a chicken coop to your yard means that you can have fast access to high-quality eggs and control how your food travels from farm to table.
Waste Reduction
If you find yourself disappointed with the amount of food waste that exits your kitchen, chickens can serve as nature’s natural garbage disposal. They can turn food scraps (which should never make up more than 10% of their overall diet) into fertilizer for your plants and yard.
The Bottom Line
Maybe you want to take advantage of the many benefits that chickens can bring to your home and garden, or maybe you want an exciting new pet. Either way, chickens are affordable, great for your garden in several ways, a source of home-grown, ethically raised eggs and poultry meat, and a tremendous waste reducer. It is essential to know all the facts before taking home chickens to raise in the backyard, but once you know how to care for them, the process can be gratifying.