Backyard chickens have become increasingly popular in urban areas. While this can support better welfare than commercial eggs, uninformed keeping can create significant welfare problems for individual birds.
Backyard chickens can live excellent lives when their keepers are well-informed, but uninformed keeping leads to preventable suffering from disease, inadequate nutrition, predator attacks, and social problems. The rooster problem is particularly acute: backyard keepers often receive male chicks by accident or hatch them, then cannot legally keep or responsibly rehome them. Welfare-centered keeping education is essential alongside growing popularity.