Does your spouse or significant other support your chicken hobby?

[chicksurreal]

I had talked about getting chickens for a couple of years my DH told me you do what you want but I'm not helping. So after he built me a 8'x8' coop he said that's it I'm not helping anymore. Every day he asks me how many eggs I got that day. The following year I wanted to get a few more chicks he said okay but I'm not helping.Chicken math got the best of me and I ended up getting 50 chicks and had to build another coop. DH then built me another coop 8'X16' and bought me an incubator. If I am working and he is home he will go get the eggs, he has helped me butcher and has even sold some of my eggs and will pick up feed from the feed mill for me. If you were to ask him if he supports my hobby he would tell you" That's her thing I don't want anything to do with it. " If you ask me if he supports me I will tell you "Yes because he loves me."

 

[Jemmie]

We had chickens years ago and then had to move out of the area for new jobs so we had a part-time caretaker. That didn't work out in the end and all the chickens were lost to predators. After that I didn't want to invest time and money into any more chickens. Nor my heart.

Five years into the future, I am fortunate enough to work from home now but was reluctant to get chickens. During the TSC Chick days, my hubby convinced me to get chickens (and ducks my great weakness). It's been lots of arguments since then. We already had a coop but no duck pens and that was like pulling teeth to get it done. I helped him build the pens and suddenly this weekend, he is no longer interested in having chickens or ducks. It doesn't matter to me as I have now invested time and energy into the birds AND I LOVE THEM!

I guess I will be designing and building my own duck houses. Right now they have glorious outdoor pens but just a Tractor Supply Cattle waterer laid on its side as their house. This is fine for the summer months but even though summer isn't even here yet, WINTER is right around the corner. LOL!

 

[chicksurreal]

We had chickens years ago and then had to move out of the area for new jobs so we had a part-time caretaker. That didn't work out in the end and all the chickens were lost to predators. After that I didn't want to invest time and money into any more chickens. Nor my heart.

Five years into the future, I am fortunate enough to work from home now but was reluctant to get chickens. During the TSC Chick days, my hubby convinced me to get chickens (and ducks my great weakness). It's been lots of arguments since then. We already had a coop but no duck pens and that was like pulling teeth to get it done. I helped him build the pens and suddenly this weekend, he is no longer interested in having chickens or ducks. It doesn't matter to me as I have now invested time and energy into the birds AND I LOVE THEM!

I guess I will be designing and building my own duck houses. Right now they have glorious outdoor pens but just a Tractor Supply Cattle waterer laid on its side as their house. This is fine for the summer months but even though summer isn't even here yet, WINTER is right around the corner. LOL!

I think it's important to invest in the things we love, even if no one else can or wants to, so I say BRAVO to you. Chickens have enriched my life so much, I can't even begin to express it. I say go for it and enjoy!

 

[SNJchickens]

Those adorable balls of fluff are almost impossible to resist during TSC Chick Days!! They tug at the heartstrings! The next thing we know - how DID that happen?? - we are accommodating new members of our "family" and we are working hard to provide housing and accoutrements. It is amazing how we must adjust to a new schedule, and new responsibilities, but the joy of having a flock is a reward beyond measure. My DH started out with shrugs and a lot of eye rolling but after a few evenings sitting out under a tree watching our flock of 5 pullets, he enjoys the girls as much as I do. Of course, he only has to do any hen chores when I am out of town which is very seldom.

I grant you that having a flock takes work, adjustment and a lot of love. My neighbors think I'm nuts. I thoroughly enjoy keeping the coop clean and caring for my hens.

I'm having a "coop raising" party this spring. My old coop has seen better days and so have I. Time for a new coop. Because I can't do all the work myself, I'm going to host a party similar to an old fashioned barn raising. I'll have the materials, tools, a design and a place to work. I've let the invited guests know what they are going to be doing and what the ground rules are. So far the response has been enthusiastic. DH (who has a severe heart condition) will be supervising.

And what could possibly be the worst outcome? I can think of two possible scenarios: one is 15 trips to the home center and 1 trip to the ER within 4 hours and the other is "there was a crooked [wo]man who had a crooked house...."

 

[Jemmie]

I think it's important to invest in the things we love, even if no one else can or wants to, so I say BRAVO to you. Chickens have enriched my life so much, I can't even begin to express it. I say go for it and enjoy!

Thank you!

My world IS a better place for having them a part of my life.

 

[Jemmie]

I'm having a "coop raising" party this spring. My old coop has seen better days and so have I. Time for a new coop. Because I can't do all the work myself, I'm going to host a party similar to an old fashioned barn raising. I'll have the materials, tools, a design and a place to work. I've let the invited guests know what they are going to be doing and what the ground rules are. So far the response has been enthusiastic. DH (who has a severe heart condition) will be supervising.

And what could possibly be the worst outcome? I can think of two possible scenarios: one is 15 trips to the home center and 1 trip to the ER within 4 hours and the other is "there was a crooked [wo]man who had a crooked house...."

Love this. I've thought about having a duck house party. Think I might just start working on the plans, crooked duck house or not!

 

[jlynnp]

My DH told me the birds and in fact all the animals were mine to deal with. Now first we got a donkey and 3 goats, the donkey is his best friend, the male goat he has spoiled so much he is rotten. We then added more goats, 3 calves and started with chickens. First came the chicken coop, an 8 x 8 - he built an 8 x 10 run which soon was enlarged to 8 x 20. Then came the turkey/guinea pen which is 12 x 25, after 3 turkeys got snatched he improved it by adding 3 feet of barn tin around the bottom to keep anything from reaching in. Then the quail, DH purchased a nice quail pen last week and we will be setting it up today, I currently have 3 live quail and I have 75 + eggs in the incubator - oh yes we now have 2 incubators. As I type this DH is pricing 500 + quail chicks and just showed me a program on raising pheasants. So much for the animals being mine LOL. OH yes the 2 new chicken tractors for a couple special breeds I want to keep separate will be here next week.

 

[Sylviaanne]

LOL Unfortunately, he does. He's not much of a builder but anything I want, he tries to get for me. I try not to ask for anything expensive or I just might get it, to the detriment of our budget. My hobbies tend to get out of hand. We raised Cocker Spaniels about 30 years ago and got swamped with dogs. After that I refused to have ANY pets for a long, long time. We got custody of our oldest 3 grandchildren and they wanted pets and I said, NO. We moved here to Missouri in 2002 and by Christmas we had 2 dogs. One was neutered and the other came in heat before I realized it and we had a litter of puppies. Got homes for all of them but one and since mama wasn't kid friendly, gave her to my DIL. The one we kept ended up pregnant and after her pups had homes, she got spayed. I really am going to get to the point. LOL

In 2004 we got our first Yorkie. A dog I had wanted from the age of 15 when I saw one in a magazine. One led to 2, two led to 3, until we had 5 for our breeding lines. Well, things were going well and my husband decided we needed more variety for selling our puppies. So, we got our first Maltese, then 3 more. The things that quickly get out of hand? They became a huge landslide. I didn't mind selling the puppies for cheap when they were staying here too long but my husband thought we shouldn't have to lower our prices. Um, we ended up keeping them and still breeding and when I had had enough, we had over 100 dogs. I wanted to start a kennel but this was too much. All of them were rehomed except 16 of them and those got spayed or neutered.

Now, comes my chickens. It all started when 7 guineas showed up from nowhere about 3-4 years ago. They stayed for months and then a couple got out on the road and hit, a couple more were gotten by predators and then they were just gone. I missed them so much that we got an incubator and guinea eggs. We had these guineas until they were fully grown and all of a sudden they were gone. One day we were just driving around way out back of our property and saw a farm with guineas. We figured the first guineas we had must have escaped from this farm and when our guineas disappeared these people got extras. We had gotten some chickens after we hatched the guinea eggs, when the guineas were babies. I had hoped the chickens would mother the guineas. They didn't.

Last year we got more chickens but no guineas. I figured that the guineas could hear the other guineas way, way out back of us and went to be with their own kind, I didn't want to keep increasing the neighbors flock. This year we had an incubator and fertile chicken eggs. My husband found a truck he wanted, I got a new incubator with a fan out of the deal. LOL I have used both incubators twice this year and I have a swap of Ameraucana eggs coming. I bought some guinea eggs and they are in an incubator. I read where someone here said that if guineas were raised with chicks, they will stay. I will find out. After the Ameraucana eggs hatch, that will be it for me for this year. It depends on how many hens I have if I incubate again next year. I might have to sell eggs or give them to the food bank next year.

Anyways, the question is: Does my husband support my chicken hobby? A loud, resounding Yes! He is my partner in crime. LOL He loves it when he goes out the door and they all come running up to see if he is going to put feed out, then they just follow him around until they realize it's not time to eat. Sylvia

 

[Jemmie]

Today my worn-out DH made one set of 4 nesting boxes for the chicken coop. I was absolutely thrilled! I guess he needed a month off to re-coup from the wonderful duck pens he made.

 

[Peeps61]

Mine supports me. He does the prerequisite grumbling about all my animals, but he is always there to help. He made sure I had a run and coop by the time my chicks were ready to go out last year, and this year, he has bought the materials to make a bigger coop to house the hens I have with the new chicks I bought about 3 weeks ago. They are in the brooder now. I had bought five, which I told him about, then I bought two more and slipped them in with the others. About 3 days later, he said, "I didn't know they could reproduce at this age! There were five, now there are seven!" (Sarcasm). I said, "Yeah..... I added two more cochins." He just rolled his eyes and walked away. That weekend, we had the materials for the bigger coop. He supports me because I love having the chickens and he benefits by getting to eat the eggs and giving the extras to family members and people at work. He has the gift of service and likes doing things for those he loves. I really appreciate him!