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

[2DogsFarm]

Originally my hens were going to be Bug Patrol for the pastures.

But after a year I think they may have wandered that way (about 50' from the coop & their freerange yard) maybe once.
All over the rest of the acreage, but they just do not seem interested in picking apart manure.

Lucky for them they are vastly entertaining and until the Great Moult started this Fall I was getting 3-5 eggs daily.

And they are so much like potato chips...
I just wanted 2 or 3, bought 5 pullets and now have 7.

 

[haddiemoo]

It just didn't seem natural to be living in the country without some kind of farm animal hanging around.

 

[frog522]

I did it to gain an appreciation of the food I eat.

On one of the many road trips between Northern and Southern California, and passing by the three cattle-meat farms alongside I-5 for about the 100th time, it struck me that I didn't really understand where food comes from. Where'd that burger I just ate come from? The McDonald's kitchen. Where'd it come from before that? McDonald's truck from some distribution plant 300 miles away or something. Before that? A processing plant. Originally coming from some cow processing farm/plant.

Then it hit me that I knew very little about the food I ate everyday. I fork over money for food without knowing anything about where it came from. I felt guilty that I never gave any thought to the cow, pig, or chicken whose life and fate was predetermined upon birth. The animal never had a choice and has more than likely been kept in conditions just barely fitting for basic survival.

So I decided, although we're in the internet age today where everything is growing increasingly complex (sometimes unnecessarily complex in my opinion), I wanted to raise chickens. To at least hold true to one of the basics of understanding and appreciating where food comes from, and that all things should be respected and treated with dignity. Although it's not possible to raise and grow all of our own food (for most of us anyways, but for some on BYC maybe they do!), I still do buy store-bought meats. Although the animals never had a choice, and were never raised in an environment that we would provide for them if we were blessed with that responsibility, I at least feel thankful for animal that had to give it's life for my meal.

Yes, I'm a very strange person.

 

[savingdogs]

My husband and I moved up to the country two years ago. We had always kind of wanted to have our own chickens forever! When we got our five acres, we just did it. We did not realize how much we would like them.

We like being more self sufficient and having fresh protein available, and we love animals. We like knowing where our food comes from, but especially that we acquired it more with our labor than our money. And chickens are so funny!

 

[scootermom]

My husband grew up on a mini-ranch and had chickens around all through his childhood. One day he came home with two banty hens, and I was hooked! Alas, the banties did not work out, but last spring we got chicks and my kids and I get a lot of enjoyment from our now full sized hens (and eggs).

 

[heksa]

This Easter my husband and kids picked up 3 chicks at the LFS without my approval and against my will.
Needless to say, I fell in love and was hooked the moment I saw them.

 

[pwappers]

My hubby decided that it would be a good idea to raise some meat birds and then also have some hens for eggs. We ordered 40 meat birds and they were delicious. We ordered 10 hens and they gave us 20 extra! Our flock has dwindled now to about 15 after 2.5 years and somehow they have ended up being my birds. I enjoy taking care of them and so does my little boy. He loves gathering the eggs and we love always having fresh eggs! They don't cost much since we let them free range. It is fun, and I look forward to someday having more land and more animals!

 

[Dora'smom]

I had repetitive dreams about feeding people---my family, my friends, my neighbors and co-workers.
My grandparents had chickens, and I grew up next door to them, so the idea was always in my head. I work with someone whose husband owns a farm store, and she showed me their website. The idea that I could raise chickens in my backyard and feed people was something that was suddenly doable. We took a chicken 101 course, checked out all the city regulations, and bought a brooder and our first four chickens! (Two buff orpingtons, and two barred rocks---they didn't have the RIR's in until about five days later).
Since that time my flock has grown to 18 including two Turkens that my broody hatched out about 6 weeks ago.
I would love to buy some acreage and raise more, including an endangered breed, and meaties, but that just isn't happening right now.
Like everyone else, I am very concerned about our economy, and trying to make the most of what we have here, to try to sustain us, our families and friends, neighbors and co-workers. I give eggs away to family and neighbors, and sell a few of the extras at work for feed money. If someone I know is out of work, or otherwise has financial difficulty, they get free eggs as long as there is an issue and we are able to provide. I consider this to be my own personal ministry.
I also have plans to do more gardening than in the past. My raised beds are doing their job, but I would really like to maximize what we can do here.

 

[dkvart1]

I'm 52, when I was five I got to spend a couple of nights with some friends who had a huge farm with cows, chickens, geese, a peacock and a pony. That was it I was hooked and knew this was what I wanted. When I was about 9 we sold our house and my grandmothers and bought a place big enough she could live with us. I was hearbroken that it wasn't a farm. My father did buy me a quarter horse, which we boarded in an attempt to ease my disappointment however. He was a sweetheart!

But of course, like so many others, life had different plans for me, which was okay too. It's been a good life, filled with two beautiful daughters (and now 4 grandbabys) and some great adventures. Through the years I have developed my skills at organic gardening, even had the opportunity to have a goat at one point and just generally prepared myself, hoping one day for a little acreage to live my dream. I've always been happiest with my hands in the dirt, it's where I feel most connected to life. I like being able to provide healthy, chemical free food for my family and detest what agribusiness and animal factories are doing to our food and the suffering inflicted on these poor animals.

Now my DBF and I are looking at small farmettes up in Wisconsin to purchase so late next spring we can make the move! And of course one of the first things I intend to do is find some Chickens! Of course during our discussions he thought it was great I would be gardening, wanted to put in fruit trees, bake fresh bread, etc. But when I mentioned chickens he rolled his eyes and said " Don't expect me to take care of them and don't expect me to eat them!" Okay I can live with both, since I wouldn't have the heart to kill them. Tried raising bunnies once for meat, needless to say none of them made it to the table, I'm simply too soft (of course if things get as bad as I suspect they will down the road I'm sure I could grow a backbone and help some find their way to the freezer). But I also know he is a "sucker" for critters to and it won't be long before he is enjoying the chickens too!

Then I mentioned a peacock... you would think I said I wanted to have a teradactyl! He asked me if I knew how hard it would be to find someone to treat such an exotic animal...

of course I'll cut him some slack, he was raised in Chicago and I guess they would seem rather exotic to him. He's acutally coming around to my plans, when I first mentioned goats I got the eyeroll there too, but the other day he decided that maybe Stanley Mutt Mutt (our 120 lbs johnson american bulldog) would enjoy a goat or two (his way of agreeing without letting on he would like them too!!!)

I'm glad I found BYC, everyone here is very helpful and I've learned a lot from the various threads and got some great ideas for coops. And I can hardly focus on anything else know that my dream is so close to becoming reality!

 

[nczookeeper]

I'm a dog trainer, and provide both group and private lessons. Private lessons typically are done at a client's home. A good number of my clients keep chickens as I live in the country (20 miles from the city of Raleigh).

Even though I was raised on a farm, I'd never considered having chickens. We raised cattle and pigs, and of course had horses, dogs and cats, but no fowl in spite of the farm having a good sized chicken coop that previous owners had built. We bartered our beef and pork with a neighboring farmer who raised chickens (mostly Guinea and about a dozen RIRs) so there was no need for us to raise them, I guess. Well, the neighbor brought by our weekly eggs and chicken (all cheaned) and was having coffee with my parents and asked me (I was the oldest and at the time 15) if I would be interested in making some money. . .he needed a chicken sitter - to collect eggs, feed and water his flock for 2 days when he and his wife were going away. I went over and he showed me where everything was - the hens were free range and would pen themselves at night. He had a donkey who stood guard over the flock (donkeys are great for that with fowl/goats/young calfs, horses etc) He said they would all return to their coop when the sun set and that all I had to do is go by in the morning just before noon and collect eggs and toss out some scratch type feed he supplimented them with. Easy enough right? NOT! The first day I ride up there on my bike and I got about 20 feet on foot and they came running with their wings flapping and making a racket - (about 30 of them) They pecked the heck out of me while I collected their eggs (even drew some blood) I did the job I was supposed to do and went back the following day to complete my agreement (shaking in my boots) I could handle 1300 pound horses, but those freaky Guinea Hens made me afraid of fowl!

Being exposed to clients chickens and seeing how sweet they were (no Guineas) I was no longer afraid. Was even able to pet a few when I'd go to work with dogs. Back in June, the veterinary acupuncturist came to do a treatment on my little dog and after she was done, we were talking and she wanted to see one of my dogs catch frisbees (he took 2nd place two years in a row in Dog Olympics) so we entertained her (he is quite old now and retired, but still could get some good air) She mentioned after how she was surprised how with all the property I have I didn't have chickens, and how much she loved hers. I hadn't had a fresh egg in over 20 years, so the next week I went out to one of the chicken farms that had a roadside stand and picked up a couple dozen (my dogs are on a natural diet and eat a lot of eggs) I was so pleasently reminded the minute I cracked the third egg and there was a double yolk I hadnt seen in such a long time! They had such great taste and I decided that having an 'egg factory' and more pets would be fun. Did a lot of reading, lurking on sites like this (this one is THE best) and then pitched the idea to my husband (that story is on my page - lol) and voila! Chickens live here! The first egg should happen in mid December - I can't wait! The girls are so sweet and gentle, and their personalities are adorable. . .I love them!

edited because I can't spell and even with correction, likely still missed some