You read correctly dear readers. Keeping backyard chickens has changed my life. And for the better I may add. There are probably more than four ways but these are the most important changes I think made the most impact to our lives.
They converted me into an early bird
That’s right. Even on weekends when I have nothing else going on, I am up at 6.30am to feed the chooks. Come rain or shine or dark of morn, I am out there filling up their water bowls, and feeders. And you know what? I do it with a smile on my face, because my feathered girls are always happy to see me. In fact, besides Holly who wakes me up if I dare try to sleep past 6.30am (The chooks need feeding Dad!), they are the first beings that I talk to each morning. Most of the time they talk back.
Yes, I talk to them. I just wish I sometimes that I could talk chicken. What an interesting conversation we would have.
Oh, and I don’t go back to bed. Once I have fed the girls, I get stuck into the rest of my jobs around the garden if it is a weekend. If a weekday, I trundle off to work. It is a great way to start the day.
I became more aware of Animal welfare issues
Raising your own chooks opens your eyes to the welfare of other farm animals that probably don’t have it half as good as my girls in Cluckingham Palace. Caged hens that provide the majority of Australia’s egg supply live in a space as small as an iPad, along with 3 to 4 other hens sharing the same cage. After 18 months of laying, they are culled, usually turned into pet food. It isn’t right.
I have hens that are over six years old, and still laying at least 1 egg a week. I am quite happy running a home for the aged feathered lady.
Same goes for pigs, cows, and any other animal we abuse for food. Just because we eat them, no animal should undergo a torturous life in cramped conditions, just so that we can have cheap food.
We eat more wholesome food.
Our girls provide us with wholesome eggs, and with seven hens we usually get about 3-4 eggs a day. Remembering that all of my chooks are now at least past commercial laying age, I count my lucky stars each time I empty the nesting box.
Of course, having chooks means that we have an abundance of eggs, and between the 3 of us at home, and Megan and Amy who live locally, plus the two dogs, we manage to eat them all and rarely give them away or sell eggs.
I look forward to my cooked breakfast once a week on Sunday morning, that consists of free-range organic bacon, fresh eggs from the girls, homegrown tomatoes, and homemade bread! Best breakfast ever. We have even been known to skip the bacon and just eat eggs and organic baked beans on toast. The flavour of the eggs are just amazing. Far tastier than shop bought eggs. Wholesome eggs deserve wholesome accompaniments!
We also now buy as much organic fare as possible, and I try to grow as much fruit and vegetable that we can here in our own backyard. We didn’t really give much thought to where our food came from before backyard chooks.
We eat less meat, and when we do eat it, we choose free-range organic/biodynamic.
Because we have our own chooks, and the animal welfare awareness I mentioned at point two, we want to ensure that any animal we eat only had one bad day in their entire life. That bad day is obviously the one where they are dispatched.
We decided not long after we got our chooks that we would cut back on meat consumption, now down to two days a week, and any meat we bought would be free-range, organic or biodynamic raised. If we could, we try to source it locally, but our criteria makes that quite difficult to achieve. We rarely eat beef or pork, relying mainly and ironically on chicken. We also eat sustainably sourced seafood.
Before we kept backyard chickens we ate meat every single day. Not bad for a couple of die-hard omnivores.
So there you have it, that is why keeping backyard chickens has changed my life. How has backyard chickens changed yours?
Kathy says
That’s a food post about the introduction into keeping chooks. I agree with you that there is nothing better than going out shopping in your backyard for breakfast and we make home made baked beans here as well and my kids love them (they are 11 and 9 this Friday). Regards Kathy A, Brisbane (ps check out my post today about the honey on tap link) not sure if you have read about this over the weekend. Kathy
Gavin Webber says
I couldn’t agree more Kathy. Our backyard supermarket is the best place to shop in town, saw the flow hive. Great invention.
Teena says
I love this post Gav … Henny Penny (my pet chook) would definately be proud and clucking away with glee xxx
Since being diagnosed with chronic fatigue I too have had to make some drastic food choices to lessen the attacks/symptoms. Organic, grass fed, hormone free, GFC free…. incredibly difficult to achieve and source nowdays at an affordable price. Research into everything that we put into our bodies USE to be unheard of …. if only we had of retained our way of life like growing up on the dairy as we do now, as much as we try, the planet has been sprayed with toxic chemicals to produce fast growing food and suddenly we are all suffering some ailment or food intolerances. Really we are not intolerant to the food …. just the rubbish they feed the food to make it grow quicker and look prettier. I am now, more than ever, left with minimal choices for food sources thanks to progress. I wonder if my neighbours in my unit block would complain about me getting some girls on my veranda? 😉
Gavin Webber says
Sometimes it pays to get back to basics Sis. You should get some girls, the neighbours will never know they are there,
Teena says
Hmmm … I posted a comment last night and it seems to have gone 🙁
Teena says
Found it 🙂
Gavin Webber says
Not looking hard enough
foodnstuff says
Except for perhaps eating more wholesome food (which I did BC…Before Chook), I could have written that post. It’s exactly my experience. You maybe forgot to mention ‘laughter’. I get a laugh a day from the comic antics of my 3 new ones; even the 2 oldies can still do funny things. Great post!
Gavin Webber says
Nice one Bev. I just love their chooky antics.
Jennifer Burk says
They make me happy and that makes them priceless.
Gavin Webber says
Ditto Jennifer. I am often heard laughing down near the chicken run. x
Fiona says
Don’t all chook owners talk to their chickens? I even have a bantam that talks back. She often makes the same call to me showing me what she has found, as she does when she is telling her chicks to come and get food, you know the chik chik chikchikchik call.
We eat quite a bit of meat but that is because we raise our own beef (I am currently posting a serioes on how we are using it all up) and chicken. For us Pork, Lamb and Duck are treats. We give away eggs but most often they are bartered for other things or given to friends are doing it a bit tough right now.
Gavin Webber says
I think we all talk to our chooks. The day they talk back in our language is the day we need to get our heads checked!
Well done on the sustainable meat raising front.