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According to a recent study by Animal Medicines Australia, some 11% of households in Australia keep chickens. This includes a 25% increase that occurred between 2019 and 2022.
If this is something your family is interested in doing, you’ll no doubt have some questions. These might include:
- What are the benefits of keeping chickens?
- How much work are chickens?
- Are chooks safe to keep around kids?
In this article, we’ll attempt to answer all of them and more. Here’s our guide on how to introduce chickens to your family lifestyle.
Why are more families choosing to keep chickens at home?
Aussie families have kept chooks for generations, which is why companies like Somerzby are now household names. However, in recent years, many more have increasingly chosen to keep backyard chickens for a combination of reasons. They include:
- Concerns about food shortages (from the pandemic)
- Rising supermarket food prices
- Preference for eating fresh and organic produce
- Desire for greater self-sufficiency
Additionally, more families are looking to keep chickens as sustainable, educational, and fun pets. One reason for this is that chickens offer something that screens and schedules don’t, especially for young people. In other words, a reason to spend time outdoors, connect with nature, and do something responsible every day, such as collecting eggs before school or checking the coop after dinner.
Keeping chickens also helps kids understand where food comes from. Instead of eggs just appearing in a carton, they see the process happen in real life. That tends to stick in young minds.
What are the benefits of raising chickens?
The good news for those who want to raise backyard chickens is that it comes with a number of benefits.
One of the biggest perks of fresh, home-grown eggs is that you can enjoy them for breakfast every day. Eggs eaten after being collected straight from the coop often taste richer. They can also be more nutritious than those you buy at the shop. Moreover, there’s a real sense of satisfaction in using food you helped produce – especially if you make something more exotic than just a fried egg or boiled egg and soldiers.
Keeping chickens is also great for your garden because their droppings make an excellent natural fertiliser. Additionally, chickens help break down organic matter into richer soil. They also act as natural pest control when they wander around your garden, as they peck away at insects, slugs and beetles.
Another brilliant benefit of having chickens in your garden is that they’re excellent at reducing your waste. They will happily eat your vegetable peels, fruit scraps and other leftovers that you might otherwise have to throw in the bin.
There are also health benefits to keeping chickens, because the daily chores of feeding them and cleaning their pen keep you both mentally and physically active. In addition, raising chickens provides children with a fascinating educational opportunity, as it teaches them about nature, responsibility and where food really comes from.
Are chickens a good fit for your family?
Chickens need to be fed, given clean water, and checked daily. If your family can commit to doing this as a basic routine, then keeping them could be a very good fit.
While this usually takes only a few minutes, it does need to happen every day, even on weekends. For this reason, you probably need the help of all family members to successfully maintain them.
If adults take the responsibility for cleaning the coops, while younger family members top up water or collect eggs, you should easily settle into a good routine. Take a look at some of the best chicken breeds to consider for families with kids.
How to prepare your home and garden for chickens
If you’ve decided to keep chickens, you’ll need to take some time to properly prepare your home and garden for them.
Typically, this will involve creating a secure, comfortable, and stimulating environment that protects them from predators such as foxes, hawks, dogs, and feral cats. At the same time, you will also need to shield them from the weather and safeguard your plants.
Some essential preparations you should make include:
- Building a predator-proof coop and run
- Designing a “chicken-friendly” garden
- Setting up necessary feeding and hygiene stations
Here is some more information to help you get started.
What is the best way to introduce chickens to the family home?
The best way to introduce chickens to the family home is to take it slow and keep things simple.
Before the chickens arrive, make sure the coop and run are fully set up. You will also need to check that it’s fully secure and easy for everyone to access.
By nature, chickens are relatively calm animals, although they don’t like sudden movement or loud noise. For this reason, when the chickens first come home, try to give them time to settle in. It might be a good idea to let your kids watch them quietly and get used to how they move and behave before allowing them to handle them.
In the first week, focus on doing short, regular check-ins to see how they are feeding, if their water needs refilling, and to collect eggs (if they’re laying). Try to keep these routines consistent, as this will help your chickens to feel safe and get used to you all.
What challenges should families expect when keeping chickens?
Before committing to introducing chickens into your family’s lifestyle, you should be aware that keeping them comes with a few challenges you’ll need to prepare for.
Hygiene, of course, is a big one, because chicken areas need regular cleaning. More pertinently, everyone needs to wash their hands thoroughly after handling birds or equipment to reduce the risk of bacterial infections, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter.
Chickens can also be noisy, especially in the early morning. This can be problematic for those who enjoy a lie-in, and can annoy neighbours, especially if you live in a suburban area. They’re also messy, with feathers, droppings, and scratched-up garden beds being a fairly normal occurrence that you’ll have to deal with.
Overall, while chickens can be a rewarding addition to family life, understanding and planning for these practical challenges will help ensure the experience remains positive for everyone involved.
Catherine
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