Urban Farming

Benefits Of Urban Chicken Farming

I live in Tacoma, Washington, and I am an urban chicken farmer. For those of you who aren't totally sure as to what urban chicken farming is, let me clear up the mystery. There really isn't a mystery. Urban chicken farming is exactly what it sounds like. It is keeping chickens in an urban or suburban setting. The difference between urban chicken farming and other sorts of chicken farming is that people living in urban or suburban settings are restricted by space and generally have flocks of only a few birds.

I am often asked an obvious question: "David, why bother raising chickens in the city?" This question is usually surrounded by others like, "Don't they smell?" and "Don't they crow and wake you up?" I always say that chickens don't smell worse than dogs or cats and that I only have hens, in keeping with Tacoma ordinance, so no, they don't crow. But the overall question takes a little longer to explain, but there are four solid benefits to keeping a backyard flock in your urban or suburban home.

1. Eggs

Eggs are a great source of protein and can be served in a hundred ways. Chickens that are allowed to peck and scratch the ground outside produce free range eggs, as opposed to caged birds. Free range eggs have more Omega 3 (good stuff) and less saturated fat (bad stuff) than the eggs produced by caged birds. You also control what type of feed (gain/crumble) your chickens will eat, and organic feed means organic eggs. A young, healthy hen will lay roughly 300 eggs a year, depending on the breed. So a flock of two or three birds will provide eggs for an entire family. However, don't buy chickens just to save a buck. The profit margin per egg is tiny, and if you add in building a coop and purchasing other supplies, money alone is not enough of a reason to pursue urban chicken farming. Expect your chickens to break even but not to save you money.

2. Fertilization

All that food you feed to your chickens comes out their backsides. But don't worry! Chicken excrement is good for the soil! Chicken dung is high in nitrogen, which is great for lawns and gardens. Chickens do not urinate; instead, they excrete liquid dung which is quickly dispersed in the rain or under a hose. It takes roughly a month for the nitrogen in the excrement to break down enough to be usable by plants. So chicken dung isn't miracle grow, but slow and steady wins the race. Or in our case, slow and steady makes your lawn and flower beds naturally bright and beautiful.

3. Soil Aeration

I remember I once walked past a college football field and watched a grounds crew aerate the field. There was a crew of three or four guys with a number of machines, and it occurred to me that the school was probably spending thousands of dollars on this soil management operation. Maybe some of you have had your yard or garden professionally worked on and can attest that the process isn't cheap. When chickens scratch at the ground while looking for bugs, they perform that service for free. Aerating, or opening, the soil helps the soil breathe, which is good because it increases the ability of micro-organisms to break down organic matter, and it helps oxygenate the minerals in the soil, which makes the soil healthier. The process isn't completed as quickly as a landscaping crew could accomplish it, but it is a free service the birds provide. It's a natural cycle that benefits everyone: the chicken scratches the ground to catch a bug which aerates the soil. This free range eating makes free range eggs which are healthier for you, and after enough bugs have been eaten, the hen fertilizes the freshly aerated soil. It's a system that works well for all involved (although the bugs may beg to differ).

4. A Connection to Your Yard

This last benefit is a little more intangible than the other benefits which can be quantified. Watching the chickens scratch and go about their business allows you to see how nature works together in a system. You will spend more time in the yard, and, like any place, the more time you spend in an area, the more value you will place on it. The yard will become part of your home as opposed to a chore you have to mow or tend to. Instead of treating your yard indifferently, learn to enjoy how your backyard can teach you about a healthy, natural system.