I did it for many reasons, but the main reason is that I believed that chickens would rid my garden of squash bugs. They didn't. Squash bugs are nasty even to chickens. I decided free ranging in the garden isn't going to work. It is pretty cool that I can keep six egg manufacturing, mini-dinosaurs in the back yard that live on scraps, pests, and scratch and poop fertilizer all day long. And they are great fun to watch too. The other reason is so the kids can experience animal husbandry. My six year old son has taken a liking to chicken chores. After collecting the eggs this afternoon, he stood up on the picknick table and raise his fists in the air while exclaimed "I am the Chicken King!" He also will look you in the eye and tell you that the olive and blue eggs taste the best but the white ones from the store don't taste very good.