Why keep chickens?

Support for farmer's markets is growing, people are eating at restaurants that serve local food, people are planting their own backyard gardens and now - getting hens in their own backyard.  And it makes sense.  Hens (vs. roosters) are quiet (way less noisy than your neighbour's dog).  In small numbers (three to six chickens per back yard) they're easy to care for and to keep odor-free, and they can supply a family with a constant supply of fresh, clean eggs.  Local Food isn't just a trend - it's the future. 

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Top reasons to keep chickens

1. Enjoy fresh, delicious healthy eggs right outside your door, every day!

2. Reduce your environmental footprint - decrease the distance your food travels and reduce waste by feeding your hens appropriate kitchen and table scraps.

3. Help to create a secure, safe, and local food system and teach children (and adults, too!) where their food comes from.

4.  Improve your gardening - properly composted chicken droppings make great fertilizer. Chickens can help control unwanted garden pests.

5. Chickens are fun, entertaining and full of personality. They are low-maintenance animals that can be less expensive to keep than cats or dogs.

Chicken myths busted

1. Chickens belong on farms? Not according to the cities of New York, Seattle, Vancouver or Victoria, to name but a few. CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) do not belong in the city. A few heritage-breed hens fit in well as backyard pets.

2. Chickens smell? Chickens poop like all other animals. Responsible owners clean up after their pets. Chicken droppings can be disposed of as any pet poop, or composted and used as a wonderful soil enrichment.

3. You need a rooster to get eggs? You need a rooster to get fertilized eggs. But hens lay eggs regardless of whether they have male company.

4. Chickens are noisy? Only roosters crow. Hens cluck and cackle, but the level of noise they make is much less than that of a barking dog.