Three Reasons To Have Chickens

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the first blog post I'll ever write on my personal website it about chickens. Egg shortages and rising prices are still in the news, so I felt that it was a good time to write about such a topic. So, why the cluck should you have chickens?

FOOD

Let's get the easy one out of the way, food! Chickens provide food in the form of delicious, protein rich eggs, and yes, they also provide meat. My small flock of 5 chickens, is currently only used to produce eggs. On a typical day during the final days of winter, they are producing 3-5 eggs on average, every, single, day. That's a lot of omelets, scrambled eggs, baked cakes, fried egg sandwiches, quiches, and other delightful meals. All thanks to the adorable feathered yard-raptors in my backyard.

When egg prices fluctuate due to avian diseases running rampant, egg carton shortages, or some guy named Kevin pushing a button that says, "RAISE EGG PRICES," you can rest assured that you won't be caught up in mass hysteria of wondering if you will be able to afford the toppings of your next cobb salad.

Running some quick numbers, 50lbs of layers feed is around $16 at my local Tractor Supply. I mix in a 50lb bag of crack corn with that for another $14. That gives me a total of 100 pounds of chicken feed for roughly $30. My chickens are eating about 1.5lbs of feed a day collectively. Quick math tells us 100lbs of feed will last about 66.6 days. If I get 3 eggs, on the low end each day, then in 66.6 days I can expect roughly 199.8 eggs, let's say an even 200.

So, to figure out what each egg costs me, I divide the total cost of feed for 66.6 days by the eggs I can expect during that time: ($30/200 eggs = $.15)

Nice, $.15 an egg! So for a standard carton of 12 eggs, that's roughly $1.80 a carton!

The next time I see a news headline talking about "Egg-Gate" or "Hard-Boiled Price Surge" or "Egg Prices Not All They Are Cracked Up To Be" I'll know that I'm paying a fair price for my unlimited supply of fresh eggs.

YARD CLEAN-UP

I do, whenever possible, allow my chickens to free roam around the yard. It's good for them to get exercise and makes them extremely happy. There are a few caveats to this. The primary concern is that they get picked off by a predator or escape. Quick! Quick! Ask me how I know...

Chickens are actually omnivores meaning they will eat plants and animals. At one time the backyard was overrun with frogs, lizards, and creepy crawlies, but the chickens have decimated the population of backyard critters. This is the best way to naturally keep pests in check in the yard and the chickens have a great source of extra nutrients.

While the chickens go about their food frenzied escapades, they do a great job of aerating and fertilizing the ground. That's what mother nature would call a symbiotic system of snacking, scratching, and secretions.

COMPANIONSHIP

Chickens are very social animals and thrive in groups. This collective need to belong makes most of them very friendly and eager to bond with their care takers. It puts a smile on my face to walk out early in the morning with a hot cup of coffee to let them out for the day. One by one they run out excitedly. Typically, as I make my way back to the porch, I'll have a few birds in tow looking for some handouts, pets, and even getting picked up.

Not all breeds are created equally, and I've had varying success with breeds like Buff Orpingtons, Red Stars, Rhode Island Reds, and Araucanas (Easter Eggers). Some of them behave more like well trained dogs than they do farm animals.

Take care of things, and they will take care of you.” — Quote by Shunryu Suzuki. If you take care of chickens, they will take care of you by providing food, cleaning up your yard, and they can make an excellent addition to any family, no matter how big or small.