Green Daily

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

So you've discovered you can legally own chickens on your suburban property, and you're ready to get started. First you must decide the purpose of your chicken hobby. Do you want them for their eggs, their meat, their companionship or their show qualities? It is very possible to keep chickens as pets, as they are intelligent animals who respond well to human interaction. It is also possible to have multi-purpose chickens such as egg-layers and companions, or egg-layers and meat birds, but whatever you do, don't ever name the ones you set aside for their meat! There should be a definite distinction between the two types.


With egg-laying hens, you can get breeds according to their egg size, color and production frequency. If you want a few chickens for companions and weed or insect control, but don't see yourself eating 5 eggs a day (each chicken lays 1 egg a day on average), then you can always get a breed with a lower production frequency such as the Silkie. As a general rule, most rare and exotic chickens used mainly for show purposes yield a very low egg-count.

If you're simply looking for the most popular birds for general use in a small flock, yielding an average amount of eggs and displaying a friendly temperament, the most common include Rhode Island Red, Orpington, Ameraucana, Australorp or Plymouth Rock. Check out this handy chart for a more complete comparison of the various breeds.