Raising chickens has been a great way for my four kids to learn about life and to gain new skills. Besides basic pet raising skills, the chickens have given us opportunity to learn about politics, carpentry, food production, and some of life's other lessons.

Our family is on its second batch of chickens -- the six chickens remaining from the first batch are now three years old -- and my kids have learned much about responsibility and life, in addition to learning new skills.

Of course, the daily "pet care issues" apply to chickens just as the apply to dogs and cats. Chickens need to be fed, watered, and taken on walks. In addition to those basic things, chicken coops need to be cleaned, eggs need to be gathered, and chickens need more protection from natural predators in our area (foxes, raccoons, and hawks) than other pets typically require. I am kidding about the walks, though. Our chickens love to run around in our yard but would cry foul if we tried to attach a leash!

Our kids have learned about politics and the value of living in a society where we are allowed to speak up and protest. Shortly after we began raising chickens, three years ago, our town passed an ordinance banning all farm animals (including chickens) from city limits. My youngest daughter, age 10 at the time, took the initiative to write a speech for presentation to the Town Council. At the town meeting, she was the first person to speak on the ordinance. She calmly presented what she had been learning from raising chickens. The Town Council was impressed with her argument, and a local television news reporter came out to our house to interview our daughter. The council ended up reversing its decision, and my daughter played a significant part in that decision.

My kids have learned some basic carpentry skills because of the chickens. We're currently in the middle of a chicken coop construction project, building a home for our new chicks. Our coop is more than a coop; the plan is for it to be a shed if we ever get to the point of having no chickens. I think this is a good idea (my wife thought of it), and I'd rather make a coop that can be used as a shed instead of having to construct two buildings, a coop and a separate shed. Anyway, the kids have been involved in sawing wood, painting walls, nailing on the siding, and helping with just about everything that needs to get done.

The kids learned a valuable but sad lesson in life just two weeks ago, when a red tailed hawk swooped down from the sky and killed one of our baby chicks. Even though the chick was in a protected (and covered) cage, the hawk's talons reached through the chicken wire and took the life of a chick. It was sad. The kids had experienced the deaths of pets before, but never in a violent way such as this.

When they go out each day to gather eggs from the chickens and then to eat the eggs for breakfast (or use them to bake a cake), the kids are learning about food production and where the food in the grocery stores actually comes from. I'm amazed at how many people I know who will not eat a brown egg from a free range chicken but who will eat the eggs from grocery stores, even though the brown egg probably came from a chicken that was raised in a much more humane environment than the chickens who produced the the store eggs.

One advantage that chickens have over dogs and cats is that chickens do not need the personal interaction that dogs and cats crave. Chickens do have personalities, and they do like seeing people around, but it's the rare chicken that will come and sit in your lap. We have one named Amber who does like to rub against our legs in the same way a cat does.

Our chickens are all hens, which tend to be much quieter than the roosters.  We've had no complaints from the neighbors regarding noise; in fact, our neighbors are delighted when we have extra eggs to share.

All in all, raising chickens has been a great experience for the whole family, and I would encourage anyone who has the space, and who lives in an area where chickens are allowed, to consider raising your own.