It can be fun for children to raise chickens from baby chicks.
Chickens can also pay for themselves in the form of fresh farm eggs.
Did you grow up on a farm, tending stock for your family? If you continue the tradition of living in a wide open space and have your own farmland or simple hobby farm, then you may get the yet to have a few animals.
As with cats and dogs, keeping farm animals can teach children about responsibility and hard work.
Chicken must be fed and watered as well as kept safe from predators and the harsh elements of intense summer heat and frigid winter weather.
If you're going to have chickens, you'll need even the most basic of coops.
Think about your property and local predators.
In most cases, a simple fence is insufficient to keep dogs, coyotes, raccoons and other animals from reaching your chickens.
Consider building a coop out of wood or corrugated metal.
Be sure to raise the sleeping portion of the coop off the ground if you live in a climate where it gets very cold in the winter.
Enclose the sleeping quarters itself, taking care to include an area for free-range walk.
If you build a ramp from the sleeping quarters to the ground, the chickens can easily pass between coop and yard.
To ward off the bitter cold, line it with quality radiant barrier.
Radiant barrier is an effective way to "box in" body heat from the animals so that it radiates within the sleeping space.
Otherwise, radiant body heat will escape through the ventilation and roof areas of the coop.
Radiant barrier will help trap that heat and use it to protect the animals while the wind howls outside.