There are various key benefits to rearing your own chickens and keeping them in hen houses.
There's no need to be paying expensive supermarket prices for organic eggs when you can have unlimited access to fresh eggs that have been laid that same day, saving you a substantial amount of money. There is nothing like eating eggs that have been laid that very day, the taste is delicious! Granted there is an initial investment at the start this money is quickly offset by the medium to long term savings you will make.
Chicken waste, when mixed with yard waste (cut grass etc.) and composted produces a powerful organic fertiliser, perfect for your plants and vegetables.
Chickens have very basic needs; this means taking care of them is easy. All chickens / hens require is food, water, shelter and a small area for them to run around and they will be more than happy. Occasionally you will have to clean the hen house but aside from that no attention is required.
You can feed your chickens' kitchen waste, i.e. leftover food, instead of throwing it away simply feed it to your chickens. A big benefit of feeding your chickens your unwanted food will be seen in your wallet as you won't have to buy as much chicken feed. Following you feeding your chickens waste from your kitchen, the chickens waste will feed your garden; this is the beautiful circle of natural recycling and contributes to a greener earth.
I though it would be appropriate to leave this main benefit to the end. The absolutely delicious eggs that are produced on a daily basis day after day. I know I touched on it earlier in the article but there is absolutely no comparison between the supermarkets finest (over-priced in my opinion) eggs and the eggs that are produced from your chickens / hens. A feeling of satisfaction grows within you as you are creating an environment of self sufficiency, plus the knowledge that your chickens / hens are living a healthier, fuller life than their relatives who are crammed into over-crowded hen houses run by the supermarkets. This produces unhealthy chickens which in turn affects the quality of the eggs and meat produced by the under-nourished chickens.
These are just a few of the main benefits of keeping your own chickens in your garden in their own hen houses, the next step is to obtain your own hen house, this can be done by buying a pre-built hen house or, as I have done, build your own. Building your own is much more cost effective than buying a pre-built one, resulting in you getting a much quicker return on your investment. Also you have the power to design your own so you can make the hen house a key feature of your garden.