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

[belgie]

I am new at this chicken stuff, but I too would like to be more self reliant, I am also trying to be healthy and trying to buy more organic, and that is pricey, so we thought why not get few layers and some meat birds, raise them somewhat natural/organic and hope for the best. If the deer stay out of my garden this year I may even do some preserves.

 

[Marshchick]

We pretty much got our flock for all the same reasons everyone has posted, fresh eggs, bug control, responsibility for the kids, relaxing, enjoying them, and they make a great conversation piece. We're the only ones of our friends with chickens, even though raising chickens has become a very big thing in our area.

The whole family enjoys the chickens very much. No one squabbles when they have to do a chicken chore (maybe because it's still new to us) but so far so good. The kids get home from school and go check the chickens, they do a head count and make sure they have fresh water and food. They love giving them treats.

We're looking forward to the eggs! Everyone in the family contributed to building the coop. It's been a nice thing for our family.

 

[janf1914]

Our daughter got involved with the poultry project in the local 4-H club. They keep the hens at a coop at a local farm park. Seemed like a great deal - she could take care of chickens without actually having to have one. Within 3 weeks of being in the project a hen became available for her to actually own so we said o.k. Still could keep it at the park so that was good. But then we decided that we really liked the fresh eggs and we were only getting them once a week. Now we've got a coop at home and 4 (hopefully) pullets! Plus the one at the park! Can't wait for Sept. when they start laying. We have really enjoyed having them. They're fun to watch and have been great for my daughter. She loves to take care of them and is currently trying to train her BO for showmanship at the fair in August. An added bonus is that I run a little preschool in my home so my preschoolers have gotten to enjoy the chickens also. I'm looking forward to the day that I can take a couple of them outside to collect eggs, bring them in, and cook something with them for our snack. What a great learning experience!

_____________________________
Married to a wonderful, handy husband with 3 beautiful daughters and 4 silly chickens - 1 BO, 1 RIR, 1 EE, and 1 GLW.

 

[chickenbythesea]

as a diabetic, I eat a fair bit of protein and eggs are a great source... easy to come by and easy to prepare in a multitude of ways. Also, I like the whole being self sufficient and knowing where my food comes from. Another reason is that eggs here (mass produced ones) are getting more expensive.. a doz brown eggs are 3.20$, so we'll be saving money too. And finally, they're just plain funny animals to watch and take about as much care as a cat... the kids love it too (lets hope they still do when the snow flies).

 

[srolle1lsu]

the eggs and to be self sufficient in at least some way.

 

[Luke13:34]

My story may be a little different. I have a special needs daughter who has a younger sister who is very competitive. Sports are rather "out" for my older daughter and she also has problems with her speech, social issues and fine motor skills. We thought that a great way to get her involved with other kids on a low-key basis, work on her speech and motor control issues and to have fun and win ribbons would be to have her join 4H. She loves animals and chickens just seemed like a good animal to work with. My younger daughter also wants to join 4H when she is old enough, but for now this is my older daughters "thing." She is having fun and we are seeing improvements with her.

Since getting the chickens, however, I have fallen in love with their little personalities and wish I lived on a farm where we could have lots of them.

 

[katiebell]

This is great, I love hearing why everyone has chickens. For me, it started when I was in sixth grade and read a book where one of the main characters had her own flock of chickens. I had never really though about that type of thing, but the idea really stuck with me. As I started to get more into the whole self-sufficient eco-friendly type ideas, it all fell into place.
Just recently though I found out that my grandfather raised chickens when he was in highschool and had a pretty good neighborhood business going, so I guess it runs in the family!

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

There are some great stories here!




When I was in 3rd grade I raised pheasants and quail. I was heading out to the ens one day and I see these giant fluff ball heads looking at me as I headed there. I was soooooo freaked out and worried that I remember it today thinking my poor pheasants what could have happened!?! It was my first silkie bantam! mom had surprised me with..... addicted ever since!

 

[Red Rosie]

I'm from the New River Valley in Virginia. I got chickens for the eggs. There's nothing like farm fresh eggs for breakfast and for baking purposes! I have named all of my girls. 5 of them are laying (I started out with adults) and now I have 3 pullets that are about 3 months old. The little girls are now living full time with the laying hens. My husband claims he's going to butcher them for supper as they stop laying altogether. I said that was fine, as long as I don't have to do it myself or be a witness to it Does anyone know where I can get some guinea hen kestrels? I would like to have 2 for flea and tick control on our farm.

 

[Alethea]

We decided to get chickens so we could have an inexpensive source of eggs. They are now eight weeks old and still growing at it will be a while before they give us eggs. Meanwhile, they've become wonderful pets.