Hi all,
I, too, just joined--on my first visit here.
I've been thinking about getting chickens for years, as much for low-maintenance pets as for personal use eggs although my family has just grown from my husband and myself (nearing retirement) to having our son and my brother-in-law moving in so our egg needs have been raised slightly. I'm not planning on selling eggs--I just want some outside pets and some eggs.
The reason I haven't jumped into getting chickens is that 10 years ago we started fostering dogs--hounds really--for the local humane society. After two years and 54 hounds placed, we got out of it with 18 old hounds no one wanted, all house-hounds and we have no upholstered furniture anymore. We still have seven hound/mixes and with my brother-in-law moving in, we now have nine. One of ours has killed a couple of squirrels within our fenced yard so I'm a little worried about getting the chickens yet. Maybe in a few years when our older "children" cross the bridge.
We have 3 1/2 acres in the country, half woods, and 3/4 acres fenced for the dogs. Don't have the money to fence in the other open acreage. The neighbors let all their dogs--at least nine other dogs--run loose and they could be a problem on our property. They run up and down our fence line, driving our dogs insane. However one of "our" dogs that is new is a garden digger so now the dogs are banned from the back yard so maybe the chickens would work back there (about the size of a suburban back yard--at least a quarter acre).
I've recently looked at getting ducks instead of chickens (still dreaming of "that day" and wanting to learn all I can before I commit) but while they have less problems health-wise, so they say, I won't jump in anywhere before I'm sure of what I'm getting into and that I can be sure I can care for--and make happy--something else for it's entire life. I'm still thinking chickens might be easier. I'm hoping for something interactive--friendly, likes petting, but not massively time intensive, and that I can protect from all the hawks around here. I want them to be safe, happy, and productive. I also want to time out their acquisition so that I still have laying hens while I can maintain those in their "golden years." I hope this makes sense to you 'ol pros.
I have much to learn about what I'm getting into before I jump in. But after about eight years of thinking about it and still obsessed about wanting to do it, waiting another four or five years seems like a lifetime to begin. I'm hoping to learn enough here to get the confidence to just do it.
Thanks for letting me listen in!
jsickon
and Welcome To BYC!
