Backyard chicken keeping has surged in popularity, but many urban chicken keepers lack the knowledge to meet their birds' complex welfare needs.
Backyard chickens suffer most commonly from: inadequate predator protection (dog and fox attacks), incorrect nutrition (bread and table scraps causing malnourishment), social isolation (keeping only 1-2 birds), failure to provide dust bathing substrate, and failure to recognize illness. Chickens hide illness as prey animals, so significant disease burden goes unrecognized. Hens not slaughtered at end-of-lay may suffer years of reproductive disorders including egg peritonitis, which is painful and often fatal.