My mom has always not really been the..."farm" type of person. She's not a big animal fan, although, like me, since she's a Vegetarian, she still respects them. She doesn't like it when we bring our Cockatiel, Moss, into the kitchen when she's making supper, she doesn't like to let him sit on her shoulder or finger, she won't touch any of my dad's chickens, etc...she loves our yellow lab, Dawson, but doesn't like any other "farm" animal (as she calls them). But recently, since I've been sharing news and updates about our chickens at my dad's house, she seems pretty interested. I've asked her to help me wire my homemade incubator (the thermostat and everything) when I get a thermostat for it, since she's really good at wiring things. I've told her about how a chicken egg develops and how to incubate them and everything, and she listened and asked questions, as if it was an interesting topic to her. She says she will even let me bring the incubator from my dad's house to her house so I can hatch here and then bring the chicks back to my dad's house to be put with the other chickens (when their old enough). Before, she wouldn't want anything to do with chickens. But now, after I've explained to her how much fun we have at our dad's house with the chickens, and I've told her bout BYC, and about how our neighbors have chickens now and they really enjoy them, etc etc. she listens and seems to be warming up to the idea of having chickens. Last night I told her, "A chicken house would look nice here in the backyard." She didn't say, "We aren't getting chickens; so it doesn't matter." like she would have if I told her that before, but she just nodded. I think that she would really enjoy chickens if she gave them a try. I've told her how you can still have a nice house while having chickens...since she has come to think that if you own chickens, you have to live on a farm or own a dirty house. Not true! What mostly convinced her that this wasn't entirely true was when I went to a friends house, who had chickens, and they had a really nice house and a beautiful patio with a pool...my mom really liked how it was set up, and I told her, "See? You can have chickens and have a nice house, too." She didn't argue or disagree. Now, I need your help to convince her even more! I've always wanted to have chickens at my mom's house, since we are here mostly and don't get to see ours at my dad's house for a couple weeks because of school. ___________________________________ If you have the time to, please post ANYTHING positive about chickens that you can (include your experiences and everything). But before you go and think, "but raising chickens also has some negatives, too...so shouldn't she know about those, too?" Yes, I know this. So, feel free to also post negatives about it. But when she sees how many positives there are compared to negatives, it will help. Also, if you post a negative, also post a better side to that negative... for example: "Raising chickens does require you to buy food for them...BUT, depending on how many chickens you have and how big a bag you buy, you only need to buy a bag of corn/mash twice per month (or maybe even once), because chickens don't need to eat as much when you add other food (such as leftovers) and when they free rage outside and eat bugs and grass and stuff. So while you do have to buy food for them, you can lesson how often by the number of chickens you have and how much you feed them". I will email or show her all the things that you guys write. I want her to see how much fun and what a great experience chicken raising can be, but I also want her to know what to expect. So, post away with anything you have to say about raising chickens...out of your knowledge, experiences, etc etc etc. Thanks for all your help, and I will let you know what happens! P.S. Please don't think that I'm pressuring her into getting chickens. I'm just showing her info about it and letting her decide on her own. If, after all that I show her and all that I tell her, she says she doesn't want chickens, then I will leave it at that. But since I've noticed that she seems interested, I thought that it would only be fair to help make that interest grow. If it's meant to be, it will happen. If not, then it won't. Thanks! Oh and feel free to write any stories you have about your chickens. I'm sure she will enjoy reading them!
I think once the exictement of the hatch sets in she couldnt say no Dont rush her too much. Shell clam up and just say no no no
Quote:lol exactly! But she has NEVER owned chickens...I think her father used to have a few and she had a pet pig as a kid but that's it. She likes the more "fancy" houses with neat lawns, etc. So I was surprised to even see that she was listening, let alone showing interest, when I was explaining to her the process of how a baby chick develops and hatches from an egg...she was the one who asked about it in the first place too, when I asked her if she wanted to help build my incubator. She even asked questions like, "What happens when the humidity is too low or too high?" or "How do you turn the eggs?" I was surprised, really, but happy to explain everything to her. But not too much...if I pester her too much she will get annoyed and think that chickens=me bugging her about them a lot. Small steps at a time. Nice pictures by the way!
Tell her that she will have eggs to eat and possibly sell. She will have TONS fewer BUGS, WORMS, FLEAS, and all those "nasty" critters in the yard. Tell her also that they provide wonderful entertainment and are peaceful to watch! Ask her if you can start out with some sort of banty and then slowly make your way to other sizes.....After all, a small chicken is better than no chicken
Quote:Once I fix my incubator, if I'm lucky enough, the eggs will hatch and she will be able to watch and help me if she wants. And I know; I've had experience with her that if I ask her something too often or too much, she will get annoyed and will think that if she says no, I will stop bugging her. But as soon as I see a sign of her wanting to change the topic when I'm telling her about chickens and how good they are, I immediately stop and change the topic. Or I just stop and let her take it all in and think about it. It seems to be working pretty well so far!
Be patient. It sounds like you're doing everything right. You might mention how much you miss the chickens.
Eating local is a big thing to me...you know where your food comes from and you know how the animal lives who produces it. A large garden and a few chickens are a good addition to a recipe for a healthy life. I've got the garden (we live in the city) and now I'm working on getting the village I live in to allow me to add hens to my backyard!
I've told her how their droppings will fertilize our lawn (which is in horrible condition and when chickens free range on it, it could really help). I also told her about how easy it is to let them out and watch them free range, and it's easy to clean the coop (and that I could do it for free lol if it helps, then I will do it!), I also told her about how a lot of people buy chickens or guinea hens for the purpose of eating ticks and bugs, since we have a lot of ticks around here and our dogs always get them. If I used the strategy of connecting chickens to what they could benefit for her and everyone else, then it really helps. I just have to connect with her, be patient, and don't pester her too much.
Quote:I did; I told her that we have sooooo much fun with the chickens at my dad's house, and if we had some, we would be too occupied with them to miss the ones at our dad's house as much. And my sublings always pester her about how much they want to go to my dad's house to see the chickens, so if we got some, they probably wouldn't do it as much. Again, another benefit for her and us.
