• Chickens as a Pet or Hobby
• Saving Money – the Economics                of Home Produced Eggs.
• Better Poultry Welfare Standards
• Nutrional Safety and Benefits

There are, of course, a few reasons not to keep chickens.

• Why not to keep chickens

Chickens as a Pet or Hobby

I can see the attraction in keeping chickens as a pet, with the  benefit of some eggs as well. They may not be as trainable as a dog but they are appealing creatures with their gentle clucking.

Many people enjoy keeping and breeding fancy breeds, which they  can show. Some of these are really spectacular in appearance with            brightly coloured plumage.

Saving Money – the Economics  of Home Produced Eggs

You can save money by keeping your own hens for the eggs but not   a lot. What you can do is enjoy the other benefits of keeping your            own hens and know it is not actually costing you anything to enjoy  a superior product. I’ve detailed the costs and returns on keeping            a few chickens for the eggs here.

My calculations show that keeping three chickens at home will, ignoring  the cost of your labour, provide a modest profit against buying free-rang eggs and yet more profit over buying quality organic eggs.

Better Poultry Welfare Standards

One compelling reason for keeping your own chickens is that their  life will be better and you need not feel the guilt of knowing your            food comes from cruelty,

You can see from the economics that there is not a huge profit   in keeping chickens. It’s also well known that the giant supermarket            chains are not generous with their suppliers and those suppliers    have additional costs for labour, labelling equipment and distribution            to accept. In fact, you wonder how they do it.

Something has to be squeezed and looking at the regulations for  poultry keeping, the animal welfare is one area that they squeeze.

I should make it clear that I’m not suggesting any breach  in regulations or talking about small producers selling from the  farm gate. I’m comparing with supermarkets where the vast majority  of us buy our eggs. Even if we scrupulously buy ‘free range  eggs’ rather than battery eggs, the welfare standards may well  be below what we expect as lay people,

Katie Thear’s Organic              Poultry goes into some detail of the organic and free-range standards and the stocking densities allowed by law. It may surprise you.

Eggs are an important foodstuff and the marketing of eggs could be argued to mislead the consumer. I’ve put a bit about misleading            egg marketing here.

Nutrional Safety and Benefits  of Eggs

Eggs purchased from the supermarket or shops are generally of high quality and freshness. No longer do people have to break an egg into       a cup to check it hasn’t gone off before use.

Despite that, most home keepers of chickens and their friends would  tell you that their eggs are far superior to shop bought eggs of whatever type.

Control of the diet and a more varied diet can contribute   towards nutritional value so our own eggs may well be healthier for us.

There is scientific evidence that free-range eggs contain higher amounts of folic acid and Vitamin B12 and Vitamin A than battery eggs. Home kept chickens, with a more varied diet than commercial free range may well be better for us than that.

Free range does not mean organic and the commercial free-range producer  may well utilise feedstuffs that contain these additives. We are       what we eat and the accumulation of these micro toxins in our systems  could be having unforeseen effects.

In 1999 0.5% of eggs contained residues of Dimetridazole (DMZ).   This is not even licensed for laying hens and is suspected of causing            cancer and birth defects. At the same time, one egg in every dozen  contained levels of Lasalocid in excess of 100 micrograms per kg.            Again, this is not a licensed product for laying hens.

The government watch over our food safety by testing one in every  18 million eggs consumed, which is hardly reassuring.

Why Not to Keep Chickens

• Some people are quite phobic about birds.
• Lack of suitable space – although you can keep chickens in a   fairly small area
• Health concerns – although I personally believe the concerns   over Avian Flu are overstated, it is a concern at time of writing.
• Waste disposal – chickens produce manure but if you can not use  it just find a gardener who can.
• Local regulation may prevent you from keeping poultry in your   garden.
• Like any pet, you need to arrange someone to look after your  chickens when you are not there.