| Pets Quick-Tip: Chickens as Pets |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-711 |
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Stanley the Rooster is a fantail-bantam -- a dwarf variety of chicken. Aside from serving as a natural alarm clock, he could help keep your garden free of insect pests.
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Chickens as pets? Actually, there are hundreds of varieties of chickens, including a number of ornamental types, that are both fascinating and well-suited to being kept as pets. Bantam varieties, for example, are smaller chickens -- about half the size of the more familiar barnyard varieties. Bit there are a few things you should know first before you begin building a chicken coop.
- Chickens are typically friends to vegetable gardeners. If you've got an organic garden and a large yard, you might want to consider owning a few chickens. They are "insect-eating machines," and will eat a variety of beetles, grubs, worms and other garden pests. They also serve as a natural source of (you guessed it!) fertilizer.
- Before you acquire chickens, you should know that they are noisy. Or, at least the roosters are. They begin crowing about daybreak every morning. Be sure that your neighbors don't object to the sound of rooster crows at dawn, or that you have enough land separating you from other homes that this won't be a problem.
- Check your zoning restrictions. Chickens and chicken-coops aren't allowed in all areas.
- In the right circumstances, chickens can be enjoyable pets, and they can live as long as 15 years.
RESOURCES :
The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Caged and Aviary Birds
Model: 0754806332
Author: David Alderton
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