When it comes to sustainable living, chickens are not just for dinner. If you’re looking for fresh eggs and composting help, having a few chickens around could be the key to a successful permaculture setup. Let’s look at how chickens can be incorporated into your homesteading and permaculture goals.
Food Production
The most obvious benefit of keeping chickens is the abundance of eggs they produce. Depending on their breed, chickens can lay between three and seven eggs per week! That’s a lot of omelets. And if you want to get really fancy, you can even raise some breeds that produce colorful eggs—brown, blue, green, and even pink! Plus, if you’re raising your own birds for meat production, you know exactly where your food is coming from and what kind of feed it was raised on.
Compost Creation
Chickens are also great for composting because they eat almost anything—bugs, weeds, kitchen scraps—and produce manure that is high in nitrogen. This makes them ideal for creating nutrient-rich soil, which is essential in any permaculture garden or homestead. Plus, the scratching action of the hens helps to aerate the soil. Soil health is essential to growing healthy plants and vegetables that will provide nutrition for your family and community.
Natural Pest Control
Chickens are also great natural pest control agents; they love snacking on bugs like ticks and fleas! They also help to keep down pesky grasshoppers that may otherwise munch away at your garden veggies before you have a chance to enjoy them yourself (not cool). Having some free-range chickens running around can help keep your yard bug-free without having to resort to pesticides or other chemicals.
It’s hard not to see the benefits of keeping a few chickens around when it comes to maintaining a successful permaculture setup. From providing quality food sources both in eggs and meat production as well as helping with composting efforts and natural pest control methods—chickens have got this homesteader covered! Whether it’s brown or blue eggs you’re after, there’s no doubt that adding some feathered friends can have a positive impact on your home life. So why not give it a go? Who knows? You might find yourself clucking along with your new flock pretty soon!