Official BYC Poll: Why Do You Have Chickens - Select All That Apply

[Triple Willow]

I have wanted to get chickens for a long, long time but it never seemed to work out. This year I decided to just do it! I clicked on eggs, meat, and bug control but like most of the other people who have written, I want them for entertainment and stress relief. Stress relief is probably the main reason. Everything else is just a plus. Mine are about 4 1/2 weeks old and I am anxious for them to grow up so they start laying and we can also eat some like we did years ago. Growing up, most people where I live had chickens and having some again is going to be like a connection to the past which I really like. Most people have gotten so far away from their roots it is unreal. I'm past ready to head back the other way! I don't much like this new age we live in, not at all.

 

[beckyd]

Late last summer I was cleaning out my hosta along side my house and I noticed movement under neath.. When I pulled it back I saw a hen and 6 baby chicks that had hatched right there.. Didn't know where they came from or what to do with then so I just built a coop and bought some feed and kept them.. Now i'm obsessed with then..

 

[melissaG]

"Other" reason..
#1 My Therapy for my daughter growing up on me

 

[melissaG]

Late last summer I was cleaning out my hosta along side my house and I noticed movement under neath.. When I pulled it back I saw a hen and 6 baby chicks that had hatched right there.. Didn't know where they came from or what to do with then so I just built a coop and bought some feed and kept them.. Now i'm obsessed with then..

That is such an awesome story

 

[Tsumo]

My chickens are all pets and my daughter loves checking her "chickies" (shes 21 months old) for eggs. And loves it when Butch our rooster crows he comes running up to her and goes crazy crowing when he sees her. We also have a chick that hatched early December and she wears a diaper while shes out of her box and following my daughter around. Idk why the chickens find her so interesting. She doesnt even feed them! Lol

 

[BCarlin]

For the stress relief after some major life changes. How healing to build a coop and something wonderful that gives back everyday

 

[Ashdoes]

My 'other' is Yard Candy...I really love looking out my kitchen window and watching them wander around scratching and dust bathing.

 

[rendezvous1838]

To get rid of the grass in my yard and replace it with barren hole riddled dirt.



Just kidding

#1 Eggs
#2 Pets

 

[Rachel96]

A lot of the whole keeping/raising chickens thing for me is that it's a family thing. My grandmother raised chickens, so my father grew up with it, and when he moved to Australia and had children of his own, he raised chickens to. (I'm sure my ancestors earlier than my grandmother raised chickens, too -- after all, she must have gotten it from somewhere). I didn't really have much interest in the (grown) chickens as a child, although I enjoyed showing off to my friends, picking them up and carrying them around and collecting the eggs, and I loved chicks. Then recently (about 18 months ago), shortly after I turned 16, I developed more of an interest in raising poultry. We'd just moved house to a larger area and joined a couple of produce swap groups/markets, and my father was selling his eggs in the city and they sold quite well, so I thought, well why not? I love chooks, I have some experience keeping them, and it's a good way for a teenager to earn a little bit of pocket money without having to work in a supermarket. I saved up for an incubator & now I sell pullets, as well as eggs.

 

[allipurrr]

Because they are cute and fun to watch