How did you find your way in the chicken world?

[Sequin]

I was in our local farm supply store, and saw all the brooders with chicks and ducklings, guineas(sp?), etc. and I just Had to get some. They guy said I had to order them and that this batch was already sold. So, I ordered my five, and off I went to a dog show. I came home, set up for the chicks, and then went to pick them up. Never told my poor unsuspecting husband what was in the works until they were already home and cozy in the brooder I set up for them. The rest, as they say, is history. My entire familiy loves them and we will soon be ordering more(once I clean out the brooder spot in the laundry room. Perhaps it was a slight impulse buy, but one of the best ones I have had yet!!! However, this purchase was not initially expensive - that came when we built the tractor to house the chickens. har har har....

 

[Granolamom]

I got my first 4 chicklets from my son's Kindergarden class. They hatched them as a class project this past May, and then tried to find homes for all of them. At first I was totally against it, because I knew absolutely NOTHING about keeping chickens, and also because we have 2 cats who are serious hunters. I was outvoted, though, and ended up with 4 of the babies (keeping them safe from our cats for the first 3 months was a heck-of-a challenge, though...). Three of them ended up being roosters, and we traded two of them for some hens. Having chickens has been a wonderful experience for our entire family, and I'm glad I let my son talk me into it.

 

[SunAngel]

This past Spring DH was talking to a friend of ours in WV and she was telling him how they had ordered chicks from McMurray and they had all these different breeds, etc etc.

He thought that was 'cool' that you could order chicks through the mail and she offered to send him the catalog. Well it got into my hands and I think I had an order ready before DH even got home from work. We had a shed that was just used for storage and had recently torn down an above ground pool that sat beside the shed. The area was just calling out to be used for chickens

We got our first 39 chicks on May 19th. Went to TSC to get chicken supplies just before they arrived and they had ducklings, ended up going home with 3 of them. Then we discovered a local poultry auction held every Wednesday and have been going to those all summer/fall. Second order of 14 chicks came from Ideal at the end of September. We are addicted!

 

[Chicky85254]

DBF and I bought a small (1 acre) property to keep our 2 horses on. I decided that one of our horses needs something/someone to befriend (the other would be happy to be an only horse) ... and since my DBF enjoyed fresh eggs so much when we visited my father, what better than some chickens? I decided on bantams because I figured it's better to have more small bug-eating-poop-producing machines than just one big one.

Also, better chance of the horse befriending one of them...or at least he'll have fun trying to fallow them all around!

Let's say my DBF was NOT very happy to find out about 7 baby bantams living in our guesthouse!

Now that they are living in their coop, he's much happier about them.

 

[Lobzi]

May 1st I was walking home from school/work and as I glanced down I noticed a little bird scurrying up the sidewalk. It seemed as though he probably fell from the nest, perhaps trying to fly. Well I scooped him up and carried him in my hands, for about 45 mins until we reach a park near my house. It was a scorching hot afternoon. I offered the little guy some water and he drank and drank. My plan was to nurse this apparently 2-3 day old baby bird to a point when I could release him safely back into the wild. The next day I took the little guy to school and learned from my students (they recognized the foot) that it was a chicken so I knew at that point Id be taking care of him for the rest of his life.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I grew up living in communities, moving every two/three yrs because of dad's job. Every summer (when we were living close), I could go and spend time with my Aunt on her farm! She was a bit lazy (I can see that now) and would "LET" me feed and water the chickens, gather the eggs and clean them, clean out the coop and add new bedding. At the end of the week, there was a man with a huge truck, that came by with everything under the sun on the back of that truck, many weeks she would let me go out to the truck and trade eggs for things she needed or wanted and I could either get candy, a book,

oranges, bananas etc! My sisters didn't like to go because she made them 'work', for me it wasn't work it was play--fun--exciting. I loved the chicken.. Well, she died when I was fourteen.. I missed it so much but we could not have chickens, so I waited and waited and now 40yrs later, I have the place, money, time and energy to have my own chickens!! Now, if I could only find a man with a huge truck that was loaded with everything I needed for the week--I would be set

!!!! Dixie

 

[ChevygirlBeth]

My mom had chickens when I was in high school and my little brother raised meat pen chickens for the fair, but I never really got into chickens. I was too busy with my steers and hogs.

For a while now I've wanted to have chickens, but I was kind of waiting until my husband and I were able to buy a place of our own. However, my cousin had a bunch of chickens and was kind enough to give me 5 of her Golden Comets (and I bought 2 guinea keets from her too), so we got chickens a little sooner than planned. My dad was nice enough to give me their old coop/tractor that they had used (since they no longer had any chickens). Then a coworker decided to sell his RIR and EE pullets for $3/each... so I got 10 EEs to go along with my GCs.

Now we're going through the process of buying our own place finally (almost 42 acres!!!) and DH says I can have more chickens! Yay!

I'm looking forward to picking a few other breeds to add to the mix!

 

[okiechick57]

I always watched the show, Little House on the Prairie and just thought how neat the chickens were,running around the land.......so when I got land.......I asked for them for my birthday....been hooked ever since.....now moving to an apt ,so won't have them.......but have a wonderful young lady that will "babysit" for me until I get my own place.......someday,somehow I WILL have them all with me !

 

[MichiganWoods]

I was out taking some senior portraits for my hair dresser's niece. We were at my hair dresser's home where she keeps chickens, goats and a donkey. I was kneeling down snapping some photos, when from behind the young lady I saw this chicken come running at me, going "bwak bwak bwak!" I dunno. I just thought it was the funniest thing in the world watching those twiggy legs and the fat haunches pumping up and down. Finished up shooting and went home to edit the pictures. In the back of my mind I kept thinking about that hen. And then I started to think about how bad it is during the winter here for going to the store for basic groceries... Hens + eggs + amusement + not having to drive to the store all the time = me starting a chicken farm! And actually it spawned a bunch of other ideas. I'm planting pear trees in the spring, plus a vegetable garden (potentially fruits like watermelon and musk melon), and I'm getting my big box ready to start a worm farm. 2 reasons for the worms. 1, more protein for my chickens and I am sure they will love/attack live wiggling worms. 2, I live around the corner from a lake which has its own designated fishing area. I plan on selling worms in the summer to local fishermen. And now... I'm thinking about goats for milk. Oi.

 

[lovemychix]

I have grown up from a long line of chicken lovers. I never imagined having some of my own because I always lived in apartments and was too busy at work. I own a home with a big backyard and on the outskirts of town with chicken lover neighbors. My daughter hatched some chicks at school and the teacher gave the kids the option of adopting a couple if they wished. I had no coop or tractor....nothing. I knew she wanted these chicks more than everything so I told her we would keep them and then give them to someone who had housing for them. Well we fell in love with them and I ended up buying a shed to transform into a coop. I searched hard to find a good deal on one. Was only going to use part of it for chickens and storage for lawn stuff in most of it, but that didn't work. It's mostly chicken coop now. This has been the best thing my daughter and I have done together. She's as crazy about chickens as I am. She researched breeds and we decided on the babies we bought because we really liked them. Having chickens really gives us a great hobby with benefits....EGGS!