That's one of my reasons, but not the main reason. Without getting into too much detail and risk being labeled as a fanatic (which seems to be the current label for ANYONE like me), to put it plainly...I'm a prepper. Complete self-reliance is my ultimate goal. Off the grid, solar energy, raising my own food (both the kind you grow in the ground and the kind that has two to four legs LOL), not having to worry about my family surviving if the economy bombs, or we GET bombed. Raising chickens seemed like a good place to start for meat (my husband hunts, but he can only hunt within the law so it is not year round). I've already been gardening for years.
It's going to take time to be where I want to be, and this is just one of the things I need to accomplish to get there. I'd say the treatment of store bought chickens is my reason number two. I watched a documentary last year called "Food Matters", and it was sickening when I saw what they do to chickens and cows. It just gave me another reason to raise my own.
