Has it Gone as you expected ?

[Royal Oaks Ranch]

Id have to say no... I first got into chickens cuz I just like them and the fresh eggs was a great thing to have.. A small coop nice and neat with some nest boxes was sufficient..
Then as time went on, I started getting customers wanting eggs so more chickens had to come to meet the demand.... Went from 1 styrofoam incubator,a brooder and a grow pen, to having 10 styros and several brooders and grow pens galore... Then as time went on I found that I really liked the rare breeds more than the common ones.. And I got real picky about quality. Where I used to buy hatchery birds, now I select only from top quality birds to create my own lines...
So I started rounding up the rarest ones I could find and sold off the common breeds..My main thing is it has to catch my eye.. I dont care if its the rarest thing on earth, if It has to have something that appeals to me.
I dont sell eating eggs hardly at all anymore. Occasionally when my birds free range I will but for the most part that phase is done.. Now I have 2 cabinet incubators, some of the neatest birds around, and my brooders fill an big shed wall to wall.. grow pens are all over the place, and breeder coops took the place of a common yard full of birds...
Did I plan this?? Heck no.. DO I love it??? Ohh yes.... Would I do it again? Yes I would...

 

[jkm]

Well it has its ups and down.
We wanted three quiet backyard chickens so we went to the feed store and came home with an assortment.
the tractor lasted a week, then I built a coop, the tractor was messy.
the coopis much easier to keep clean.
I had fun teaching them to run around the yard and back into the coop.
I trained the dogs to leave them alone,

all was welll, let them out twice a day for an hour or so .

then two really started fighting and growing tail feathers!
so the BYC board confirmed I have roos,
so off they go to the organic farm tomorrow to be fresh chicken dinner.

what I have learned, a coop is easier than a tractor for me in the suburbs.

If you are going to let them out twice a day, you better grow a lot of things for them to eat! lawn is boring. they want lots of clover, plants, and lots of things to dig at and bird feeders to clean up under.

My feed store chicks were not tame!
I am going to try buffs this time, hopefully more docile.

but now we are back to the start of the project , sigh no eggs in july .

 

[cookinmom]

For me, yes and no. I wanted 6 girls in a nice little coop. My husband and his cousin went a little nuts on the coop and it's a nice big one. I ordered from a hatchery, figuring if I ordered 8 or 9 that would be fine. Had to order 10 to meet the $ minimum. They threw in 7 cockerels, so immediately my brooder setup was too small. Had to makeshift something else. Fortunately the coop was done, so they moved out at 2 wks old. Roos have been re-homed now. The girls are happy and healthy (one died on day 3) and all seems to be going well. So there were some unexpected things, but overall it came out ok.

 

[millicent]

I expected to like the eggs, and for it to be 'ok' no big deal

I LOVE MY CHICKENS. They are easy, bring me eggs and joy, gave the kids chores, gave hubby and i yet another hobby to do together.

so no, it has not gone as expected.

 

[justusnak]

Well......mine started with a rescued Roo. We found him in a ditch, cold, wet, and limping. Brought him in and made him a makeshift pen with shelter. He was getting stronger every day. So, we named him Ollie. Well...now little( actually LARGE RED) Ollie, was lonely...sooooo...he just HAD to have a few hens. I tiold my DH I only want 6 or 7, just enough for eggs for us. We got him 3 ladies, and converted part of the lean to off of the shop, to a coop. When finished, the coop was 10 x 20. WAY too big for 4 chickens. Why, they would never be able to stay warm in that big old coop. Late spring came, and a friend of mine said he ad RIR/mix....day olds....I bought 15. Spring into summer....babies grew up, eggs start coming. Everyone wants fresh eggs! Finally got 3 frizzles.....but honey, they are sooo cute! Now I have 22 for the winter. This spring...my grandson wants to go into 4H, and "show chickens" Well, mine being mutts...he HAD to have some "pure breds"CornishX was suggested by another 4Her. Well....cant get ALL cornishx...so 18 Buff Orpingtons, 9 cornishx, and one freebie. Well...we are down to 4 cornish...but have 13 RIRmix, 3 adult frizzles, 15 babies just hatched...17 Buffs, 1 Dom, a rescued Polish Roo(who needs a few ladies) and 5 Ameracaunas(sp) and a hen on 6 eggs.Oh, and the 4 we hatched in the bator.

Did it turn out like I thought???Not exactly...but WOW am I haveing fun!

 

[Freebie]

Nope, sure did not turn out like I thought. Never thought my husband would want to save the Roo that spurred him. Never thought he would really like them. At first he did not like the eggs. To rich he said. Now, only a year later. We have hatched out our first baby from a broody Buff Orphington. and we have a Black Austrolorp sitting and I think two of the bantams are trying it too.

I did not have any desire to hatch any babies, but I really like seeing them with mom. I never dreamed they would be so relaxing.

 

[eatmoreturkeys]

It took me forever to get the coop finished. I now have 5 hens and 1 roo that was before i ordered 10 patridge cochin bantams and 10 buff laced polish. Now Iam torn with how many to keep. But most of it has gone pretty smooth.

 

[MayberrySaint]

Gone pretty much as expected...a few lessons learned though:

1. Keeping chicks in a spare bedroom past 4 weeks is a BAD IDEA!!! I have never seen so much dust in my life.

2. Don't get attached to "males included for warmth"...too bad they are the friendliest of the bunch.

3. Be prepared to spend $2000 on the Taj Mahal of coops. Seems bad, but depreciated over 10 years it's only $200 / 730 dozen per year (estimate for my 32 hens) = $0.27 per dozen.

4. Don't bank on getting a rooster when ordering sexed pullets. I was hoping for one or two, but good old Murray McMurray was 100% accurate on their sexing...

5. Free-range chickens are happy chickens...

Andy

 

[michellerene]

Quote:
It's kind of the same look I get when I tell people that not only do I use cloth diapers on my youngest son, but that I sewed them myself!

Anyway, no, I spend way more time digging up bugs for my "babies" than I thought I would!

And they love me way more than I thought they would for all those lovely bugs!

They also have individual personalities-- wasn't really expecting that.

And who knew that raising a few hens would help me come to terms with the fact that I will most likely not be giving birth to or raising any more human babies as well as it has. I guess nurturing is nurturing, huh?

I keep forgetting about the eggs they will eventually give to us! That's just gravy at this point; I'm enjoying them that much!

 

[iopele]

So far it's going like I hoped, except that I'm going to have to convert my other dog crate into a much bigger brooder soon! The main thing that surprised me was how hard it was to find true rumpless tufted araucanas, but now I've got 10 (15 were mailed, 4 died in transit and 1 died yesterday for unknown reasons) and I **ADORE** them. I sure hope I don't lose any more! And of course, the "Wanting More Bug" has already bitten me, even though I just received these guys--I've got white, black/white (might grow up as splash or silver or solid black, no idea which), and one gorgeous blue, but I don't have any buffs or reds or duckwings or... oy, this could be the beginning of an obsession...

They are completely adorable and so much fun and relaxing to watch! I've been handling and petting them so hopefully they'll grow up tame. Watching them chase the moths that fluttered around their brooder lamp was HILARIOUS--they caught about 6, too, which meant I had to run out and find some grit for them! They'll be a week old tomorrow.

(Hey, does anyone know if it's true that when a chick squats to poop, that means it's a pullet? My father told me that but I'm not sure if it's true.)

By the way, have to say that I LOVE this tagline:

I am not an environmental activist, I am an active environmentalist, and one may be asking what is the difference. The first talks about what others should do with their land and the latter are the landowners and the stewards of it.

That's awesome.​