How Long Have You Been Raising Chickens? - OLD

[gpwelding1]

me and my wife started with our first pair about 4 weeks ago.
however,i grew up around chickens and other livestock,my grandparents had a small farm.

 

[Charm1704]

I started raising chickens when I was 24 years old. I had EE's & Bantam Cochins, Pea Fowl, ,Geese.... so it's been 36 years now with my feathered friends.~Charm1704

 

[BusyBlonde]

My husband and I got our first flock of Golden Comets three and a half years ago. Earlier this year, we wanted a more 'sustainable' type of chicken, so I bought 20 BR chicks from a woman who raised/showed chickens. We now have 13 adult BR's, hatched 15 BR chicks this weekend so far (2 more eggs to hatch!), and I'm looking at an auction for eggs now.

I was raised with a Dad who had animals whenever we had a large enough piece of land growing up, so as a kid I had an additional 10 years experience raising farm animals (chickens, pigs, cattle, rabbits). The daily chores were our (mine and my next-oldest brother's) responsibility. Even though my DH had no previous experience raising livestock, I knew what to expect.

Now, DH is hooked! After hatching these chicks, he is ready for me to get more hatching eggs (I LOVE my DH!!!). He's also interested in getting a few goats, a beef steer, and rabbits.

 

[MommyMagpie]

I put 1 year, even though we have had chickens since Nov. 09. We got those as laying hens, and bought our first feedstore peeps in April of this year, so I just averaged it out. We are definitely in it for the long haul, I am planning our spring expansion and trying to figure out how to raise meat birds in addition to what will eventually be a flock of a dozen dual-purpose/egglayers.

I really like this forum; it's been invaluable to me even before I took the plunge and registered (I was lurking even before we got our first hens).

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I had multiple family members with chickens, so I was around chickens going back to the 50s. I got my first chickens of my own as an adult back in the 70s. Around 20 years ago, I started getting into a lot of different heritage breeds. Sometimes I had a couple dozen chickens, sometimes closer to a hundred, sometimes just a few for the household. Sometimes I sold eggs or raised meat chickens. A couple of times I lived where I couldn't have chickens, but that was only for a few years.

For me, having chickens is a bit like having a dog. I like living with dogs and I like living with chickens. Sometimes I have more or fewer in number. At different times I participate in different activities with them. My lifestyle may change at times, but I usually manage to have dogs and chickens in it.

 

[starchix]

2 years in April, so even though there is no category for '1.5 years' I tagged that, since I researched chickens for a whole year before I got my first peeps. Currently have 7 girls, including two pullets just starting to lay. One of them, a Dominique named Maisie, just had a miraculous recovery from being eggbound and after about 2 weeks of recovery, is now laying normally every day. Whew. Despite naysayers (feed store 'experts') I dosed her with olive oil and epsom salts, and she passed 2 eggs after 3 anxious days in my greenhouse. I figure that makes me an old hand. My mother grew up with chickens but we never had any, growing up in the city. I love my girls and this year they got a fancy new winter coop and outdoor yard. By now, the cost of their eggs is probably around $50 each, taking into account their housing, but they are worth their weight in gold in entertainment value and gardenerly satisfaction. Wow, does that chicken manure make things grow!

 

[jjpiper]

I'm 36 and we had chickens when I was a kid over 30 years ago. But I didn't count that. I have been raising dual purpose Wyandotte and Chanteclers for about 2 years. Also hatched brahmas and orpingtons but all were sold.

 

[FLchook]

Couldn't resist the cute fuzz balls at the feed store about 7 years ago. So, a year out of the city... and 5months pregnant with my first, I caved. Enjoyed them ever since.

 

[grower]

My parents had chickens when I was a teenager, but my husband and I got our first chickens in about 1988. The first night they were in the hen house, the mean little game rooster the guy "threw in for free" attacked the nice big, young rooster and left him blind. Dh took his .22 out there and shot from the hip -- took out the mean old rooster with the first shot. I still remember how one hen really liked that young rooster, and would get in front of him and kneel down, so he'd "bump" into her.... Anyway, what we've got now is 10 black australorps, and my oldest son has 11 Dominiques (2 of which are actually barred rock).

 

[westfallmadison]

2 years