Need help with school project

I am a 13 year old chicken farmer. I have a project for my Language Arts class and I need your help. I am writing an investigative piece on the benifits of urban chickens and the hurrdles that must be overcome. If you are willing to answer any of these questions and give me permission to quote you and use your name, please send my parents an email: [email protected]. Thank you so much!

1. What are the benifits and drawbacks of urban chickens?
2. How is owning your own chickens helpful in feeding you your family and/or community?
3. What would you say is the most rewarding part of owning urban chickens?
4. How many chickens do YOU think should be allowed in urban flocks?
5. What are the ordinances in your community regarding chicken ownership?
6. Have you ever had a complaint regarding the noise/smell?
7. Do having chickens affect your property value?
8. How do you dispose of waste?
9. Did do the diseases of large chicken farms affect you?
10. Do you use medicated fees? Why/why not?

I am of no help whatsoever since I am raising my chickens on a farm. Just wanted to wish you luck with your project.

1. What are the benifits and drawbacks of urban chickens?
Benefits: You know where your eggs/chicken meat come from. You know they haven't been harmed in the process (debeaked or horribly tortured for all of their life to ensure fattening up)
2. How is owning your own chickens helpful in feeding you your family and/or community?
Fresh eggs daily, after ensuring there is at least 2 laying hens
3. What would you say is the most rewarding part of owning urban chickens?
My children being able to go out and "hang out" with the chickens. I remember doing this as a child and wanted them to grow up with the responsibility and enjoyment of a farm
4. How many chickens do YOU think should be allowed in urban flocks? Urban?... 10, I guess
5. What are the ordinances in your community regarding chicken ownership? I live in the country. I emailed my county to verify how many I could have and they said as many as I wanted since I was outside of city limits
6. Have you ever had a complaint regarding the noise/smell? Nope
7. Do having chickens affect your property value? Not yet, but I plan to use their poop as manure for my garden, which agriculturally should affect the value positively
8. How do you dispose of waste? Eat it, feed it to the dog, or put it in the garden... anything else goes in the trash
9. Did do the diseases of large chicken farms affect you?
10. Do you use medicated fees? Why/why not? I don't. Only because I have not found the value of it yet. I may eventually to void specific bacteria or virus's.

pixiechix said:

I am a 13 year old chicken farmer. I have a project for my Language Arts class and I need your help. I am writing an investigative piece on the benifits of urban chickens and the hurrdles that must be overcome. If you are willing to answer any of these questions and give me permission to quote you and use your name, please send my parents an email: [email protected]. Thank you so much!

1. What are the benifits and drawbacks of urban chickens?
2. How is owning your own chickens helpful in feeding you your family and/or community?
3. What would you say is the most rewarding part of owning urban chickens?
4. How many chickens do YOU think should be allowed in urban flocks?
5. What are the ordinances in your community regarding chicken ownership?
6. Have you ever had a complaint regarding the noise/smell?
7. Do having chickens affect your property value?
8. How do you dispose of waste?
9. Did do the diseases of large chicken farms affect you?
10. Do you use medicated fees? Why/why not?

Click to expand...

Hi there, i will try to answer some of your questions, but do bear in mind that they are not comprehensive, just my opinions"
1 and 2. Benefits - fresh eggs, meat that are not factory processed (i.e. kept in terrible conditions and fed with antibiotics, growth hormones etc). Drawback - noise.
3. Eggs and raising chicks
4. Depends on the size of ones property and whether one keeps a cockerel
5. Not sure (where i live, my neighbour keeps chickens so i assume it must be ok - i live in Kenya and sometimes laws are a little "flexible".
6. No
7. Depends on the size of the property and whether one free ranges them (can cause damage to the garden and hence the overall look) or whether they are kept in a run (easily remedied). I would generally, no.
8. Throw it on the compost heap
9. Thats difficult to gauge - depends on your proximity to chicken farms i guess, but yes, flocks with no new chickens certainly can get diseases
10. I do because it is not possible to buy non-medicated feed. If i had the choice, i would still use it though.

I hope this helps a little, but because of where i live, my responses does not catch the whole picture so i hope that others may also assist you.

Good luck with your project!

CT

Ditto bobbie-j..I am very rural and outside of village limits.
But wanted to say your questionnaire is excellent.
Please do come back and post your findings here.