I moved here from SW Florida and when friends asked why I'd consider moving I'd tell them because I wanted chickens. Too many rules in FL. Actually I wanted a chicken lifestyle and my only mistake was not moving sooner.
I figured three chickens. Ha! I now have eleven with plans in the spring for more and I haven't been here a year yet. My first two were a pair of D'Uccles...she sat on some orphan eggs and I still have the roo and two strange polish crosses and a little...I'm hoping hen...Jap. All bantams.
I lost my D'Uccle hen to a predator so as of last month I have a new chicken coop. This summer I bought a pair of Old English and much to my amazement they have blessed me with five babies. They were always kept separate so I know the babies belong to that pair. They are six weeks old now. The orphan chicks were three months old yesterday.
Everyone shares one 10x10x10 coop with a loft and the roosters get along. Three Pug dogs and a Chihuahua share the house with me. They and the chickens get along too. I'm retired, and my three kids are 39 to 45 and do not live close. We all get along too.
As a very little kid I'd visit my grandmother who kept chickens for eggs and meat and I know how to kill and butcher one and I'm never going to do that while wally world sells big plastic bags of ten pounds of legs and thighs for $.49 a pound. Not that I didn't enjoy her fried chicken dinners...I just can't kill something I watched hatch, and have named. But I certainly understand the self-sufficiency of anyone who raises meat chickens and puts in a garden.
I got all the books at the library about chickens but I've learned more on BYC because this is real life, real chickens, and real people. My good friend has chickens and I got started with going to a chicken show with her. Came home with the D'Uccle pair. She had brought an extra dog crate with her. Good thing. I can spend hours sitting and watching them. And I can spend hours looking at everyone's pictures.
I've revised my estimate on how many chickens I'll eventually have. Depends on how many my coop will hold. I'll have to research that.
Nice being here...I look forward to learning more...
Terry in Tennessee
I figured three chickens. Ha! I now have eleven with plans in the spring for more and I haven't been here a year yet. My first two were a pair of D'Uccles...she sat on some orphan eggs and I still have the roo and two strange polish crosses and a little...I'm hoping hen...Jap. All bantams.
I lost my D'Uccle hen to a predator so as of last month I have a new chicken coop. This summer I bought a pair of Old English and much to my amazement they have blessed me with five babies. They were always kept separate so I know the babies belong to that pair. They are six weeks old now. The orphan chicks were three months old yesterday.
Everyone shares one 10x10x10 coop with a loft and the roosters get along. Three Pug dogs and a Chihuahua share the house with me. They and the chickens get along too. I'm retired, and my three kids are 39 to 45 and do not live close. We all get along too.
As a very little kid I'd visit my grandmother who kept chickens for eggs and meat and I know how to kill and butcher one and I'm never going to do that while wally world sells big plastic bags of ten pounds of legs and thighs for $.49 a pound. Not that I didn't enjoy her fried chicken dinners...I just can't kill something I watched hatch, and have named. But I certainly understand the self-sufficiency of anyone who raises meat chickens and puts in a garden.
I got all the books at the library about chickens but I've learned more on BYC because this is real life, real chickens, and real people. My good friend has chickens and I got started with going to a chicken show with her. Came home with the D'Uccle pair. She had brought an extra dog crate with her. Good thing. I can spend hours sitting and watching them. And I can spend hours looking at everyone's pictures.
I've revised my estimate on how many chickens I'll eventually have. Depends on how many my coop will hold. I'll have to research that.
Nice being here...I look forward to learning more...
Terry in Tennessee
