Green Chickens?
Chickens are the ultimate recyclers
by Christine Heinrichs
What’s greener than chickens? They consume kitchen trim and garden waste and turn it into eggs. Their manure can be part of a green garden program. They are the Companion Animal that Gives Back.
Even if you live in town, you may be able to keep a few chickens. In rural areas, there are few legal restrictions. Of course you will want to keep your chickens healthy, clean and safe. Check local regulations.
In urban and suburban areas, legal restrictions may limit the number of chickens you may keep and whether you can keep roosters. Hens will lay eggs whether a rooster is available or not. However, you won’t be able to hatch those eggs, because they won’t be fertile.
Many breeds of chickens have been developed over the years. Modern meat hybrids are not well suited to small flocks. They are bred to gain weight rapidly and do little else. Leghorns are known as egg-laying champions, but the commercial breeds are, dare I say, rather scrawny. Traditional breeds are a better choice for small flocks. Choose a breed that appeals to you. They come in all colors and sizes. Full size chickens, called Large Fowl, will lay larger eggs. Bantam chickens are one-quarter to one-third the size of large fowl and lay tiny eggs. All are delicious and good to eat.
Cochins are large, fluffy chickens with soft feathers that lay brown eggs. Ameraucanas lay blue eggs, a delightful novelty. Polish chickens have big topknots and lay white eggs. Decide what you want. Online resources include www.feathersite.com and my blog, http://poultrybookstore.blogspot.com. My book, “How to Raise Chickens,” includes a chapter on traditional breeds. The Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities publishes a Breeders Directory to help you find breeders near you.
If you can’t hatch chicks yourself, acquire birds as chicks. Local sources are best. You can check them out most easily and go back to them with questions. Chicks raised with frequent human contact will be very tame. Many make excellent companion animals. Some have been used as therapy animals in hospitals and nursing homes.
Chickens can be kept in a coop with a yard, or allowed out in the yard to scratch and forage for seeds, greens and bugs. You’ll want to fence them away from landscaping you don’t want destroyed. A chicken tractor may be the solution for you. It’s a movable shelter and fenced area that allows the chickens to work over a small area, cleaning up weed seeds and bugs and working their manure into the ground. When that spot is cleaned up, move the tractor to another place.
If you keep them confined, the manure you clean out can be composted and turned into high quality fertilizer. It sounds nasty, but cleaning the chicken coop gives you quality time with your birds.
Don’t depend on forage for complete nutrition. Supplement your birds with chicken feed. Toss them salad trimmings, weeds from the garden and other greens. Well-fed birds in good health lay more eggs.
Consider showing your birds. Many schools have 4-H and FFA programs that can help kids get started. You as the parent may have to be the leader you are looking for, though. Not all extension agents and school advisers know about poultry. Be the change you are looking for.
Poultry shows offer more than ribbons for the best birds, although it’s nice to get that recognition. Showmanship events give young poultry keepers a chance to tell judges about their birds. I’ve seen kids as young as four years old do a great job, hugging birds they love in their arms. Poultry judges are a great group of understanding teachers who tailor the challenge to the child. High school students can be very sophisticated and knowledgeable. Quiz Bowl events challenge them to think on their feet. Look Alike contests are an outlet for creative fun.
You can have as much fun and get as involved as you want with chickens. The variety of color, shape and size is endless. Organizations are available to help. Get started today.
Christine Heinrichs is a Green Parent and author of How to Raise Chickens (Voyageur Press, 2007) and the soon to be released How to Raise Poultry which will be available in April 2009. Read more from Christine at her blog, http://poultrybookstore.blogspot.com.
thanks for the article! My son is 3 and he is already taking care of feeding and holding our chickens, they teach responsibility, cut house hold waste (eat almost everything!) and give wonderful eggs in return!
I liked the post. I agree that raising them is very green. The manure is awesome for the garden, they eat just about anything that a human would consume, the eggs are so far ahead of the supermarket I consider them almost trash when you buy them, and the list goes on.
Basically, I just enjoy them. I will say, they do cause an occasional problem.
Thanks for doing this blog, really interesting stuff.
I love birds and was surfing for birds kept as pets. I have had ablue and gold macaw</a for 32 years but thats irrelevant. I was born and raised in Florida,lived here since 47. As a kid we our home was deep in the middle of citrus country and surrounded by dozens of old fl families who all kept chickens free range I guess you would say.
Over time the citrus groves became overun with wild chickens, inner bred in cases i suppose. But there were large red ones, bannys or bantis not sure. Large white ones, and so many colors it seemed a rainbow.
I learned to hunt the nests and harvest eggs for the family. I also was dispatched on sundays to shotgun dinner for the family. Oh! I long for those good old days.
Nice post though I didn’t realize raising chickens had become such a science.