Big question, why did all of you new chicken owners get chickens?

[mandelyn]

It started for me a long time ago, down in Tennessee on my great uncle's farm. They had chickens everywhere, wild things. Bantams and game birds. They were joking around, and told me, "If you can catch it, you can keep it".

Some 7 hours later, I proudly presented a little black Bantam hen I managed to corner up against the old tobacco barn. They laughed some more, and said "Well what good is one 'lil 'ol hen going to do you?" So the next morning my parents took me to the flea market and bought me two chicks to go with her. Drove them back to Ohio, chopped thelegs off the empty rabbit hutch, and made them a house. Added more. And some more. Got an incubator. I was home schooled, so it was a great hobby and learning experience.

Taught my cattle dog to herd them. That was... hilarious. The roosters would bicker with her, she would drop down and try to make them move. They took it as a fight, and dropped their heads down too. Meanwhile the rest scattered again. So to make the dog feel better, I would call them with feed so that they were nicely grouped together the way she liked.

Then I grew up, moved out. Tried to have a Bantam pair as house pets, felt bad they couldn't free range all the time. Then my husband joined the Army... no chickens for awhile. I came back early from Germany to start on getting situated back in the US, got some chickens while staying at my dad's house. Moved again. Moved again. Moved again.

Finally out of the army, in a nice suburban house, and the first thing did was build a proper coop and get more chickens. Mainly as pets, but eggs are cool too. Now I'm teaching my Beauceron pup to herd them, since the Shepherds are too prey driven to be much use.

When we move out to acreage I'll start a breeding program and have roosters. Maybe re-learn how to eat them. I managed to do it with 3 hateful roosters when I was younger. They had attacked me first though.

 

[jemmerson]

I got chickens to be more self sufficient as well and have found them to be great pets too! I love them to pieces, I have to admit. I also like the fact that I got heritage breeds which are all interesting to learn about while helping to preserve our genetic past. (I am a heirloom seed collector as well.) What a learning experience it's been and I'm happy to go through it all. I do realize now that I have some basic carpentry skills and can build a shelter for myself if need be! This also brings me to being and feeling more self sufficient. I've found that chickens in ones life can contribute so many things such as sustainability, entertainment, hapiness, laughter, hard work and relaxation, sense of accomplishment, beauty, and something to love and and simply enjoy!

 

[Chicken Frenzie]

Well....
My dad just DOESN'T like birds. BUT, since the egg prices at the store is rising, I finally talked by dad into getting chickens. (Last year about June 13...). They were born on June 13.. we got them on the 14 I think? But anyhow I just ADORED them. Three were there, Bell'e (Living) An amerucana, Nugget (My twin's chicken) Was a rooster RIR s owe gave him away (PS: He used tpo attack people) And Flower, my mom's little bantam that only lived for a day =/ so there we ended up with two chickens. We got another from my friend, a BA Jewels (Living) And my dad couldn't wait for the eggs. I loved them SO much I got obsessed. And, of course in Oct., our first egg! This year we got many more, and hopefully more and more!

 

[catdaddy66]

I was looking for an activity to keep my wife active, as she has been placed on disability and is unable to work. She and I discussed a lot of options and finally I remembered my mother had hens about 10 years ago. I asked my wife if the thought of raising hens appealed to her and she said it sounded "ok". Then I ordered 25 from Ideal Hatchery and they arrived on 2/19/10. 10 weeks later a group of dogs killed them all! The very next day I bought 12 more and they are now laying!! The funny part is that I am the caregiver of the chickens instead of my wife, and want to get more (I think a couple dozen will be about right)!

The reason chickens were discussed was the fact that we eat around 2 dozen eggs per week, and my son has loved eggs from the day he tried them...as a matter of fact, one day when he was 14-16 months old he ate 3 large scrambled eggs for breakfast! My dad and I were dumbfounded- where did a toddler get that much appetite from?

 

[BitsyB]

Because, is there ANYthing cuter than a baby chick?

And as several others have said, for "chicken therapy". When I watch them just being chickens, I feel peaceful and very present. I'm not thinking about anything else then.

And the eggs are the best, of course

 

[NottinghamChicks]

I got chickens for so many reasons. I went to an agricultural school and saw the conditions the "production" hens endured. Everyone sees it on tv documentaries also, stuffed into wire cages, lights 24/7, beaks removed, slow death from prolapsed uteris, etc. It is a cruel life they lead and the antibiotics they need because of the stressful conditions is not healthy for us.

1. I want my eggs to come from chickens that are happy and naturally healthy. I have had to cull but it is always quick and humane. Animals deserve to be treated well even if they heading to the pot.

2. They are amusing (In good weather I pull up a lawn chair and pour a glass of wine and enjoy their antics)
3. They fertilize my lawn and garden (such a great lawn, everone comments!)
4. What great pets they make (They follow me around the yard as I do my yard work)

Love my girls!!

 

[GoneHomeGrown2]

I have always wanted to raise my own foods and plants and I dont get along well, so it is the animal world for me and the gardening for a really good friend of mine. I finally got myself into a house where I can have the livestock and got my first chicks from the feed store this last spring. A little math and I have
one pen with 12 standard hens, 2 roosters, 2 bantams, 2 guineas, and 4 ducks,
one pen with 3 turkeys and 4 ducks,
one pen with 2 bantam roosters, 2 guineas, 5 bantam hens and a newly hatched baby
and a small temporary pen with 2 cornish hens that did not do well in with the larger flock.
Oh and 5 quail in the house waiting for me to finish their home.

Kick in a little OCD and I will be building more coops and pens to start working on Show quality line breeds to hatch as soon as I finish the quail pen/coop/hutch. Of course, I have already bought some of the eggs for these.

Somebody stop me!!

 

[greenSearcher]

As we were getting older, my need for sustainability moved beyond gardening when we finally bought our first house (after 23 yrs of military living). Was a thoroughly modern neighbor hood, no clothes lines or chickens and only 1600 sq feet of back yard for any garden I would want. Phsssh. Finally we decided to move to TX, (one of the never live in states) and sold our house literally a month before the housing market crashed. We now live on 7+ acres of agricultural land, 2 are cleared with the house, and Chicken City. Last year I started with 12 female chicks from MPC, and two were roosters. The BO lasted 7 months, nasty and aggressive bird. The second is still the flock rooster. The year taught me I could cull my birds as needed, how to spot illness and what I will have to learn to tolerate. Primary reason for the small flock was independence and then bug control. Learned after this summer's grasshopper plague that 12 birds won't cut it. It was BAD, they hung off the fence, the house, the plants and every step in the grass would stir up dozens of hoppers. My GD would chase grasshoppers when she came to visit. So I now have 39 chickens -, 6 adults from last year, 6 NN that are 11 weeks old and 27 4 week old babies that will be moved into "new" homes in a month once the babies have enough feathers.

I will start breeding, once I have a broody hen or two, and fertile roosters in all the breeds. My current rooster has failed to provide a single fertile egg. I want to work with the NN and Delawares crossing for meat birds while trying to retain laying production. Both are good sized birds, and if the way they eat is any indicator, they should plump up well. Naked Necks are the birds used for Poulet Rouge; and the necked neck gene is dominant, and besides the feathering pattern, it also carries the longer body, heavy legs and thin skin that makes a good eating bird. The Label Rouge standard is the organic standards for the first quality. Once I have the NN x Delaware cross, I hope to get it to breed true. Still more studying to do. The other breeds I will work on in other projects include Special Sussex, Blue Andalusian, EE, Silkies (incubators). I am finding the bantams to be seductive, an excuse for the pretty breeds that can't handle the TX heat, providing the smaller birds can.

I love the challenge of the chickens. They keep me going, the therapist credits them for keeping me alive last year. Been on disability for 4 years, and feeling useless w/out hope was almost too much. Anyway, I now have my girls to care for, and Chicken City Eggs to manage; production should start up in Feb and by the end of March all the new girls will be POL or laying. I figured if I can't sell the eggs that are laid, those that aren't sold will be donated to the local food bank. I don't need this to be a high profit project, just enough income to qualify for earned income credit. Supplying the food bank with eggs is something useful.

Besides, I love my girls, they keep me sane.

 

[big-island-chickens]

I had my first breakfast with farm fresh free range eggs about 10 yrs ago and ever since have wanted my own flock. Up untill 7 mos ago I've lived in places not all that practical for raising chickens (condo in LA). Now I live on the big island of Hawaii on 5.5 acres. I've had a free range flock for about 3 months and CAN NOT WAIT!!! for them to start laying!

 

[trunkman]

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