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Why Raising Chickens Are
a Valuable Addition to Every Homestead
Raising chickens in your backyard farm is the fastest way to a healthy organic garden, and a delightful way to make your homesteading more self-sufficient.
Why Are They So Important?
In the thirties, during the Great Depression, horror stories abounded about soup lines and folks facing starvation.
But those who owned their own land along with a dozen or more hens and roosters never went hungry.
That's because in a bad economy, those who can raise their own food are way ahead of the game.
With a dozen or so hens and a rooster you'll have a steady supply of eggs and meat.
Live in the city? You probably won't be able to keep a rooster, but most city ordinances will allow you to have up to six hens.
Those lovely birds will supply you with two and a half dozen eggs per week.
Your Organic Garden Will Thank You for Raising Chickens
The manure from your hens or rooster is one of the most fertile substances in nature.
While you should never add the manure directly to your soil - the nitrogen is too strong and can burn your plants - it does marvelous things when added to your compost pile.
Better yet, if you keep goats and some of your hay has gone moldy, add it to your hen's roosting box or to the brooder.
Your hens won't care, and when they're done with it, that wonderful moldy, manure-laden hay will jump-start your composting.
Great With Children
Depending on the breed, these birds can be gentle and safe around children.
Your little ones will love holding the baby chicks.
Raising Chickens is Easy
Although they do require some special care those first two to three weeks of their life, these birds are - on the whole - easy to care for.
It's easy to learn how to raise chickens.
All they require is a little shelter, fresh water and food every day.
Gallon water feeders are available. Use those and you'll only need to provide water for your birds once a day.
Raising Chickens Means Fresh Eggs, And Improving Your Health
A survey done by Mother Earth News revealed that poultry - particularly those who live in chicken tractors moved daily - have up to one third less cholesterol and a fourth less saturated fat than commercially raised eggs.
They also have more vitamin A and a lot more omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and beta carotene than their commercial counterparts.
Free range birds eat more of the diet they are supposed to have - lots of leafy greens, bugs and worms.
They enjoy their lives; my birds love it when I move their tractor about. Everyday they get a new supply of grass to scratch in!
Commercially raised birds, on the other hand, spend their entire lives cramped in the same small, dark, dirty space.
They consume a diet of cottonseed, soy and corn with additives thrown in.
This stressful environment can make them sick, so they're also given antibiotics to keep them from dying too soon.
You and your family ingest those antibiotics when you eat their eggs. Plus, you're eating eggs from stressed-out, potentially sick birds.
By raising chickens in a free range environment, you're providing a kinder environment for your brood and better nutrition for your family.
Raising Chickens Provides You
With Fresh, clean meat
Naturally, the same goes for raising chickens for meat. Less stress and no antibiotics.
Plus, the meat will be cleaner.
Hens and roosters that are commercially processed and killed are plucked and then thrown into a large vat of hot water until they are ready to be cut up.
A lot of fecal matter collects in the vat.
The poultry is literally cooking in "fecal soup".
The feces soaks into the flesh of the bird and is in the liquid that comes in the packaging.
When you butcher your own birds, you eliminate the "fecal soup." Hence, cleaner meat.
Eggs Are An Easy Income
Everybody loves fresh eggs, so they are easy to sell.
Start raising chickens and they'll produce more eggs than you and your family can eat.
Sell the surplus, and within a year you'll recoup your startup and feed costs.
Keep selling your extra eggs, and the following year, you'll have free eggs and earn a little income besides.
Want to learn more about raising chickens? Click here.
The secrets to happy, healthy chickens revealed! Click here to learn more.
More Great Chicken Information
If you're looking for a supercharged alternative to the traditional coop, look no further than this great design.
Great tips on caring for your flock in winter.
Live in the city? It's likely you can still keep a small flock. Learn more.
It's best to start with chicks. Here are tips on housing your baby chicks.
More great information on caring for your flock.
Learn why a portable coop is best.
Ready for fresh, delicious eggs? Read this great benefit of Keeping hens for their eggs.
Thinking about ordering baby chicks? Learn which chicken breed is right for you.
Tips on raising the organic flock.
Want chickens in your urban neighborhood, but the laws forbid it? Learn how you can get a chicken law passed in your neighborhood.
Learn why self-sufficient living and having chickens go hand in hand.
Ready to have your own backyard flock? Here are some maintenance tips.
Looking for an excellent way to build the health of your flock and protect you and your family from diseases such as Salmonella and E-coli?
Add probiotics to your flock's water every day.
Learn more.
Thinking about raising meat chickens?
Read this.
Want to learn how to butcher your chickens? Read this article.
Return from Raising Chickens to Home
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Build Your Own Chicken Tractor!
You Can Build a Chicken Tractor Provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to build a chicken tractor and also provides helpful information on how to get free wood and how your chickens can pay for themselves.
Click Here learn more.
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