How did you go from 'zero' to having chickens?

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I did a little research, but not enough to know that I could acquire great birds locally or order a couple through Meyer or My Pet Chicken, so.....

* I ordered a big ol' box of day-olds - 30!
* I orderd 2 or 3 of each, just to have a mix.
* I broodered them in the house for 5 weeks, until hubby threatened to move out
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...

Basically, I did a full-on blast-off into chicken ownership. I would recommend communicating with BYCers who are from your area. Find out about local breeders. Start small. You may want to add to the flock.
 
Chickens are not as easy to keep as I thought they would be. They die and get ill much more often than your normal household pets do. It is very difficult to tell when a chicken is ill, since they hide it so well.

There is no consensus on how to treat chicken illnesses and parasites. Some worm all of the time, others never do; some cull immediately at the first sign of respiratory illness, others run through every antibiotic at any sign of illness; some take heroic measures to save eggbound or crop impactions, others don't because the problems often return. If you wish to treat your chicken like it is a cat or a dog, I would be prepared for some pretty regular vet bills, especially if you are paranoid like me, and think that each runny poop is a sign of e coli.

Each flock is different, too. Most people use pine shavings. My chicken ate so many she got a sour and impacted crop. I use sand now, no shavings at all.

Some people use the deep litter method, and in some parts of the country I imagine it is the only way to go. Others clean daily. Some swear by food-grade DE as a worm preventer and lice and mite preventer, others wouldn't get near the stuff without a mask and a hazmat team.

Feeding has a learning curve too. I thought chickens ate scraps. Well, if you want to avoid possible problems like feather picking, you should feed grower or layer pellets. When they molt, they need more protein. They need oyster shell and grit. Many people give apple cider vinegar in the water (no metal containers!) as a method of preventing fungal and yeast problems, some give yogurt and probiotics to prevent e coli, salmonella, and other bugs, some give black oil sunflower seeds for extra protein. Most start the chicks on medicated starter to avoid high mortality from cocci. Some let them free range anywhere including the compost pile, others say watch out for botulism. Some feed corn and scratch, others say they won't get a balanced diet that way.

I try to take the most conservative route in all cases: medicated chick starter, organic layer feed once I started eating the eggs, clean coop and run, no shavings, fresh water with a little liquid vitamin in it, weekly yogurt and extra protein during molting. No antibiotic unless a vet prescribes it. No worming. No free ranging in the compost pile. No heroic measures to save a seriously ill chicken (by that I mean surgery).

I also recommend buying and reading a good book like Storey.

Renee, this is such a great post, it bears repeating~~!!

I grew up rural (which I count as fortunate), and always had some general 'common knowledge' of all things farm related. However, I ALWAYS read as many resources as I can before embarking on a new animal project. Answers to many of the basic 'stupid' questions we all have are easily found that way.

If you have NEVER been exposed to birds, you may find it a bit of 'culture shock.' You might want to see if you can visit some other folks with backyard flocks near you first.​
 
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My dad kinda just bought them and gave them to me when I was around 6-7 and I've had chickens and ducks ever since. PSH! he thought I would grow out of it like it would a phase but I never did, and my first birds I was responsible for my dad made that very clear. Our first coop was wire wrapped around the bottom of our old wooden swing set with a wooden box with a hole drilled in in it and a couple roosts. There was a period for about a year I only had a duck and guinea and I miss Cinamon the duck so much he followed me everywhere I used to put him in my pocket of my jacket when I was little and take him everywhere. Then one day my dad just came home with 15 pullets and Ive added on and gotten rid of and some passed away. You learn as you go.
 
I had been in contact with chickens before when I was a child.
My cousins have a farm, and a good sized chicken coop/run and a few flocks that free range the area.
I had been into the coop a few times, chased the chickens around (I know...bad),helped collect eggs once, climbed on top of the coop a few times, but that was about all of the experience with chickens I have had before I discovered BYC.
For a while, I had really been wanting to raise chickens...I dont know why, but the idea would not leave me. I have talked to my parents about it, but they said our zone did not allow poultry. I asked my bf if he wanted to raise some chickens with me. He was enthusiastic and agreed, but here was the deal: I would raise the chicks, but when they get older they will go to live on his families property.
I then decided to educate myself by googling chick care, chickens, everything about them. This forum helped a ton. It answered so many questions.
Within a week, I was educated and confident I could raise some chickies.
I had been searching craigslist for weeks and finally found a local breeder who was selling chicks for $1.50 each. Bf and I traveled to his house (only 20 min. away!) and arrived with a container to put the chicks in. I tried to pick out 4 chicks that looked female to me. I brought them home, put together a cheap brooder and watched them for hours.
All that was two weeks ago, and I have learned so much! I went to my library and a bookstore and got a bunch of great books about chickens.
The chicks are all healthy and content, and are now outside in a specially made brooder made to withstand predators and the elements.
The coop still is not done, but we will have to work on that soon. The blistering heat has really cut back on its progress. The run is almost up, but we have so much more to do!

Chickens are a "learn as you go" type of pet. Trust me, you will learn a lot.
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We always had chickens growing up. Just muts for eating eggs.

I can only think of one brief period in my life when I didn't have chickens.
 
I first got chickens about 4 years ago when a neighbor got 50 chicks of various breeds. She hadn't a clue what to do with them. They put them in a metal shed on a shelf with chicken wire to keep them there. They stayed there until there wasn't but about 2 of them left and they where walking on the dead ones that where encrusted in poop and rotten food. She brought them to me to ask what to do with the rest, they where a mess. Couldn't tell they even had feathers they where so nasty. I gave them all a bath and let them dry in one of my rabbit cages I had extra. Meanwhile I told her they could hang out in my cage until her husband got the coop built.
Well, they had aquired a couple of adults and put the chicks in the coop with them. Needless to say many got killed and eaten and most of the adults ate each other. I don't know how the young ones made it. But there where 13 left by the time she got tired of them. I would sneak over there when they wheren't home and feed and water them to try to keep as many alive as possible the entire time they had them. It was so sad. I called the humane society on her and the sherriff to report abuse but nobody was interested in a bunch of chickens. Finally she asked me if I wanted them when they moved. They just left them there to die, then I caught her one day when she was picking up her son at the bus stop and asked her for them. We immediately went over nad got the ones that where left and cleaned them up and fed and watered them and they never ran out of food and clean water. DH built a coop and they where happy for a long time then all of a sudden some of them started eating on others. So I separted them to let them heal then separated the cannibals and they started on each other. I ended up givng the whole lot to somebody that could let them roam free. then next year I went to the local farm store and bought 15 chicks. WE had trouble with neighbors dogs and lost 9. this y ear I bought 15 kept 10, 5 where roos then started incubating. It is addictive.

Now I'm in the process of having to sell to thin out. It breaks my heart because i'm attatached to them.
 
Technically, I grew up around chickens, but the way my dad cared for them is much different than the way I do!

I believe he fed his mostly corn, they had a coop with a bare-wood floor, no bedding whatsoever. I know the coop and run was too small for his birds, he had a lot, and the coop and run were each probably 10x10 at most.

I originally got chickens to help with the tick population. I saw on a gardening show that a 'few' bantam chickens could control the tick population...I started with 6.....a year later, I have well over 150 birds, and not all of them are chickens! They are very addictive!! But the good news is that at least the bugs are at an all-time low
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I used to be afraid of chickens when I was younger (I was attacked by a roo).
But one day I just decided I wanted to get some chickens. I was still in the thinking about getting chickens stage when my FIL picked me up one day. I had no idea where we were going, turns out it was the hatchery. I had no idea what kind of chicken I wanted. The hatchery only had one kind available that day (leghorns) so that's what we got. So there I was with 3 chickens and no idea what to do with them. But I found this site and I learned all that I could as I went along. I had them in a fish tank brooder in the closet for what seemed like forever. Finally I built a coop based on one from this site. Now they are happy and healthy. I even ended up buying more. I went to TSC one day and bought 6 sex-links that were on sale for 75 cents each. Really chickens are pretty easy just addictive. I would recommend a breeder or hatchery. I see alot of posts on here where people get chicks shipped and they need lots of extra care to stay alive. There are a few hatcheries in ohio, there is a list in the hatcheries section on here with links. my advice is just go for it.
 

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