Want a pet that actually rewards your time in eggs, manure for your compost heap, and affection?

Man has been domesticating chickens since the dawn of time. And with a chucks population of more than 24 billion in 2003, (according to some sources) there are now more chucks in the world than any other bird.

Man has historically been chicken keepers primarily as a source of food, with both their meat and their eggs being eaten.

There has been a surge of interest in keeping chickens in the garden, caused by celebrity cooks campaigning the awful conditions of battery reared chucks, increased cost at the shops and the supposed economic downturn.

The thought of keeping chucks in your back garden and the thought of having organic eggs from your own hens, no longer singles you out or causes as many 'home farm' type comments as it used to, of becoming a modern day Tom & Barbara Good - from the self sufficiency television series!

In fact there's something 'chic' in these days of throw away cultures in returning to a more 'self sufficient' lifestyle.

Many people are growing their own veg - either in their back yards or on allotments. Many people are becoming concerned about what the food they eat actually contains and the buy organic movement seems to be gaining ground every year - forcing supermarkets to provide a more larger range of organic produce.

Keeping chickens seems to be just a normal progression on this consumer shift.

Folk seem to be used to having friends and neighbours who keep hens.

With the the incentive of a 'fresh organic egg as part of the bargain, you'll probably get unlimited offerstake over your chicken keeping duties should you ever need to go on holiday.

Plus when you've seen the difference in yolk and eaten on the completely different texture of the white, of one of your own back yard chucks' eggs you'll never buy supermarket egg again.

In the pan, your eggs you'll raise your eyebrows at the difference too.

Back yard eggs don't seem to run as much as eggs bought in a supermarket as they're certain to be fresh.

There's also the plus point that keeping chickens bring a whole new element to your garden - movement, sound and colour. Forget adding a water feature, chicken keeping brings so much more!

Each chicken is an individual and many can be real 'characters' and, if handled whilst they're young, they can be interesting pets for children.

Chicken keeping isn't all just eggs and cuddles, and there will be a element of cleaning out the chicken house and obviously, letting the chickens in and out of their chicken coop at dawn and dusk.

There's also the 'chore' of checking for eggs. This should be done several times per day - just in case your chickens are afternoon 'layers'.

Another thing you need to watch out for when keeping chickens; is 'chicken watching'...

Many hours can be happily wasted watching your chickens peck around the garden. If you're the kind of person who stares at mesmorising fires, you'll find chicken watching is addictive!

Keeping chickens can be done as budgets allow. If money is no object, then there's many beutifully looking ready made chicken coops that can be purchased from numerous chicken keeping shops.

If money is tight, then a home build chicken house can be built for virtually 'free', using off cuts of wood found laying around your shed.

A chicken shed just needs to be big enough for the chickens to roost in at night, and large enough to stretch their wings in during the day.

Also a place for them to dust bath during the hours of sunlight should be provided.

So if you're looking to build a chicken house, or buy a ready made chicken run or are just wanting to find out more about keeping chickens as a pastime; a world of chicken keeping adventure awaits.