Lifestyle

Texas City Paying Residents to Keep Chickens: Can You Guess Which One?

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Yep, you guessed it: Austin. The chicken keeping program, which was started last April, is part of the Austin Resource Recovery’s Home Composting Rebate Program. And there’s more good news: if keeping chickens doesn’t interest you, Austin residents can also earn the $75 rebate on a home composting system by attending a free class on composting.

Earn A $75 Rebate and Work Toward Zero Waste

Chickens

Photo: Unsplash/Sophie Higginbottom

Keeping chickens is a great way to keep food waste out of the landfill. Chicken keeping and composting methods go hand-in-hand to keep food waste out of the landfill while creating healthy soil. If interested in this program, register to attend a free chicken keeping class and learn how. Austin residents who pay the Clean Community Fee on their utility bill qualify for a $75 rebate on a chicken coop or a home composting system. Simply attend a class, then apply! More information at austintexas.gov/chickenkeeping

The City of Austin hopes to accomplish Zero Waste by 2040, meaning the amount of trash sent to landfills needs to decrease by 90 percent. To get there, citizens need to first reduce their trash output and reuse any and all products possible before finally recycling and composting everything else. This is why the City of Austin is urging people to start raising chickens–it’s a great first step to take because it helps keep waste out of landfills since the chickens eat scraps and provide fresh eggs.

Fresh Eggs Are an Added Benefit

Chicken coop

Photo: Flickr/Davidlohr Bueso

Keeping chickens can be a fun and rewarding endeavor. Besides the fact that chickens provide their keepers with fresh eggs (fresh eggs have more Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Omega-3, Beta Carotene and less saturated fat than store-bought eggs), chickens also serve as pest control. Chickens absolutely love to devour all the backyard pests that can wreak havoc on the hard work of gardeners. It’s a win-win – your chickens stay well fed, and your plants keep growing as nature intended!