Oct. 2 is World Farm Animals Day, (WDFA) which started in 1983, as a collaborative effort to bring awareness to the suffering and killing of farmed animals for food, says Day of Animals
Let's take a look at a positive movement that can help our funny little farm animal friends. By now you might have already heard about the urban chicken movement, but have you actually taken a few moments to see what it entails and if this is doable for you? As urbanites across the U.S. have embraced this trend of having backyard chickens, not all have been successful, but that is due to poor planning. With a tiny bit of planning and the time needed for this movement, city slickers can be collecting eggs from your happy free-range, in-your-backyard chickens in no time. Check in with the Chicken Whisperer, Andy Schneider, who has all of the tips on what works and what doesn't. Why recreate the wheel, says Schneider, when he has already done this for you.
For starters, make sure local laws allow it, and remember, this is a win/win for both you and the chickens. What chicken doesn't want to have a free-range life, hanging out in a comfy backyard, scratching at the grass and dirt, enjoying a factory farming-free life? Did you know chickens are natural pest control? They especially love ticks, so goodbye ticks if you are in an area of the country prone to those nasty critters. Desert dwellers already know that chickens are fond of scorpions as well. But any other little buggy-pest will also be annihilated by your chickens; it's a bonus benefit they provide.
And with the skyrocketing price of eggs, that is the golden ticket reward right there. Your eggs are of course free- range and hormone-free, as they come directly from your healthy chickens.
A chicken coop that is secure from predators at night complete with nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs in, a few chickens (no rooster!), chickenfeed and a commitment to clean the coop regularly, and voila, you can be the next urban chicken farmer! And the chicken poo, well, people pay a lot of money at the store for chicken poo fertilizer, says The Weston A. Price Foundation, so there is yet another benefit. Plop that poo around your garden and watch those plants thrive!
