Chickens are kept in backyard coops. The chooks must be kept clean, dry and well ventilated to make it a conducive environment for their stay. Nowadays people rearing chicken in urban areas have adopted backyard chooks. This is contrary to previously chicken kept in farms in a spacious suburban lawn. Having backyard chooks have a lot of benefits which include:
PROS:
1. Quality eggs: Hens in backyard chooks always give high-quality eggs. They taste much better as compared to those bought from stores.
2. Low-maintenance: It’s easy to maintain chickens in backyard chooks. Chicken requires feeding, watering and regular cage upkeep. This makes it easy to take great care of them compared to other family pets.
3. Cheap upkeep: Whoever keeps chicken in backyard chooks will cut off the costs. He/she incurs minimal expenses on food and other miscellaneous expenses hence it’s cheap in terms of costs as compared to other methods.
4. Compost and garden extras: Indeed, chicken poops are considered natural lawn fertilizers as they revive grasses and make the garden appear tidy. Backyard chooks always have a lot of poops useful to the owner.
5. Pest control mechanism: Having a chicken in backyard chooks helps to do away with troublesome pests and irritating weeds around grazing zone as they search for their food. The owner may use little or no chemical in the treatment of lawn.
6. Unique pet: Chickens do have few characters though they are not as engaging as dogs and cats. you can domesticate them and train them like other pets.
7. Education: It’s helpful to have chickens in the backyard because it allows the family to develop the process of growing and producing their own food rather than being dependent on other firms for food production.
8. Helps clean yard: Chicken ensures the cleanliness of yard when they are kept in the backyard as they do away with harvested garden beds of weeds and eat fallen fruits from trees before they start rotting and attract bugs.
9. Chicken is like natural garbage disposal: Chicken normally eats food remains. They feed on disposed of foodstuffs like vegetable peelings, rice, fruits, and seeds. It is most suitable when one has backyard chooks.
10. Its source of prestige: Chicken keepers in backyard cooks are considered prestigious in most society thus boosting status in society. Most people are proud of having backyard chooks in view of status.
CONS:
1. High initial costs: It’s expensive to start backyard chooks as one need to purchase the chickens, feeding, watering and heating supplies as well as the chicken cage itself which requires a lot of capital to fund.
2. In consistence ordinances: There are rules and regulations which guide keeping of chicken in backyard chooks. These rules vary from one city to another thus people using backyard chooks must adhere to these rules and regulations in the specific area of their residence.
3. Unpleasant neighbors: There are people living next door who claim that chicken in backyard chooks are disturbing and they are completely uncomfortable. Thus backyard coops is stressful to the owners.
4. Breed Incompatibility: There are different types of breeds with different personalities from strong egg-layers to more brooding types. In case one picks a chicken breed that does not suit their preference and lifestyle, he/she could run into problems.
5. Coop upkeep: Although chicken in backyard chooks are relatively easy to keep and maintain, it does not mean there is zero maintenance. There are a couple of works like cleaning coops, keeping them dry and ensuring proper ventilation. In addition, they require a steady supply of fresh food and water.
6. Destructive tendencies: When chickens are left to roam around the garden on their own without supervision they can cause real damages like destroying the beauty of landscape and flowers.
7. Natural predators: Usually chickens have a lot of natural predators from coyotes to domestic dogs. Even when taking precautions like the fitting of break-in-proof in their coops at some point one will lose chickens to predators.
8. Chicken diseases: Often in backyard chooks, there are threats of hazardous diseases like fowl fox and infectious bronchitis that chickens are contracting that may even lead to death thus lowering confidence of backyard chooks keepers.
9. The threat to theft: In backyard chooks, chickens are often prone to the theft which would cause a big blow to chicken keeper because they have undergone a lot of losses.
10. Noise disturbance: Mostly chickens make a lot of noise especially those kept in backyard hindering concentration during study, family gathering and meetings which are of great importance.
