Chickens are not just for Christmas
Although not an obvious choice, chickens make lovely pets – they are friendly, fun, very affectionate creatures and become a real part of the family. Mark says: “It is often great to sit and watch them and their antics as they scratch around looking for grubs and worms. Each chicken has its own personality and will come to greet you when you enter their pen so a relationship can be formed. Also they are less time consuming then many pets and don’t need taking for a walk twice a day.”
Keeping chickens as pets has become very popular over the last couple of years and more and more people are taking to having a few chickens in their back garden – at Redlynch farm, in Lincolnshire, where Mark runs Chickens For Sale – several orders for chickens as Christmas presents have already been made this year.
Chickens are inexpensive to keep and one of the few pets that give you something in return – a good supply of fresh eggs. In addition to giving children an understanding where their food comes from (not from just a supermarket shelf!) you can be safe in the knowledge that eggs from your garden will be good healthy and nutritious as you have controlled what your chickens are fed on and know exactly what goes into each egg. Their poo is also great for the compost heap – a bonus if you are growing vegetables at home too!
In a recent survey it has been shown that they can be of great benefit to people with disabilities and also children with behaviour problems – as they give children a great sense of responsibility.
Mark continues: “Here at the farm it’s great to watch children’s’ faces when they arrive with their mum and dad to buy some chickens. Getting a chicken causes a great sense of excitement and it is quite an experience to watch kids choosing which ones they want – many children have already picked out the names of the chickens beforehand.”
Giving your child chickens for pets this Christmas will add to the magic. However, as with keeping any pet you need to be sure that you have done your homework first and you are fully prepared with what equipment is required and how to look after your new pets them properly. As the old saying goes “chickens are for life not just for Christmas”.
For more information on how to keep chickens Mark Burrows Amazon No1 best selling book called So You Want to Start keeping Chickens gives you all the information you need in a simple, no-nonsense way and makes a great gift if considering chickens as pets this Christmas.
You could also watch Mark’s video:
