A flock of chickens for Christmas. I like the idea.

[HeatherLynn]

Ok so I have heard of it before. I just never really looked into it. BUT I got a tiny little catalog from heifer international. One of the gifts for $20 is a flock of chickens and training to take care of them. Its 10 to 50 chicks. That hold the potential for a lot of eggs and future chickies. Part of the promise these families make is to pass on the gift when the animals they received reproduce. Well I like the idea a lot. We are probably going to go ahead and do that through them.

Matter of fact I think I would like to find someone in my backyard who would like a small flock in the spring too. It is nothing for my hubby to whip up a small coop and I am sure once I put an order in and hatch some of my own I will have plenty of extra babies to do just that. Yep I do like the idea. I don't have a ton of money to give but I can afford chicks and some wood for a small coop.

 

[BarredBuff]

Thats a good idea!

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I have always loved this idea! Two yrs ago, I asked my kids to give me this as my Christmas present...

I think it's a great idea to find someone in 'your backyard' to 'share' with..

 

[Olive Hill]

I do love Heifer International's concept. Just make sure you understand that the catalog and ordering process is figurative not literal. The items are examples of what could be done with the money. But not what will be done with it. Your gift of $20 could get a flock of chickens for a family in India, it could also be used for a food drop in the Sudan, administrative costs, it may be combined with other gifts to place a herd of goats in South America instead, etc.

And honestly, I don't mean to be a party pooper, but while I love the idea of giving to people in your backyard, giving them the gift of a promise of a dozen eggs a week for the next year would be far more useful. Raising a small flock of chickens in the U.S. is a far cry from raising a flock of livestock in a third world country. The standards and expectations are much different. Where Heifer Intl's model helps people, giving a small flock of chickens here can actually hurt. Small backyard flocks here don't pay their own way for most people. So if you give them to a family in need it could actually be a burden. They'll pay more for the eggs laid by their chickens than they would just going to the grocery store and buying eggs.