Here's a checklist I've come up with on my own to know when you've finally gone over the deep end, and are a "true" poultry lover.
(And by the way, ALL of these apply to me currently! lol)
1) After a hard day of work, you go talk to your chicks, and ducks about it, before your family.
2) You often have several "nurseries" or brooders set up around your house.
3) Chicks and other feathered species currently occupy as much, or MORE, space in your home than your human family members do.
4) You have baby ducks brooding in your upstairs bathtub.
5) You adjust the temp in your home to suit the "babies" even if the other "humans" in your home suffer.
6) Once out in their coop, you worry constantly. First about real dangers (raccoons, possums, fox), and then about imaginary threats (the roof blowing off the coop in the middle of the night and sucking them all away into oblivian, etc) and end up bringing them all back into the house at 2am so YOU can sleep.
7) You find it hard to sleep without hearing the constant "cheep cheep cheep" of chicks brooding in a nearby room.
8) You once (or more times) fell asleep holding a chick, chicken, duck, or goose.
9) You have brought a DUCK or GOOSE into the house to get them out of the rain, even though you know they are water birds.
10) You coddle, preen, and swoon over a favorite rooster, despite the odd looks you get as neighbors drive by.
11) You have sacraficed YOUR grocery bill to feed your poultry more than once.
12) It takes you more than 30 minutes to do your shopping for your feeds, and other poultry needs.
13) You dont feel silly at all snorting at the young sales person who told you this bag of feed was non-medicated when it is clearly marked medicated on the bag, and you eagerly point this out to him so he knows in the future. You then go home feeling like you helped other chickens out there somewhere by sharing this knowledge with him.
14) You take every opportunity to talk about, show photos of, and brag about your poultry to anyone who will listen.
15) You have done the above so often, that your 'human' family rolls their eyes at the mere mention of chicks, chickens, etc. and quickly tries to devert the topic.
16) Your 'poultry' allowance has been cut off on more than one occasion, usually by a loving spouse who just doesn't understand why this little chick MUST have friends.
17) Your local feed store knows you by your first name, and smiles when you come in because they know you're going to spend a bundle there.
18) You've spent money more on your poultry than some of your 'human' family.
19) At least one person in your family is slightly jealous of the time, money, or attention you give to your "babies".
20) For those of us who are married: Poultry has been the discussion in an argument with a spouse on more than one occasion, and you still ended up winning.
1) After a hard day of work, you go talk to your chicks, and ducks about it, before your family.
2) You often have several "nurseries" or brooders set up around your house.
3) Chicks and other feathered species currently occupy as much, or MORE, space in your home than your human family members do.
4) You have baby ducks brooding in your upstairs bathtub.
5) You adjust the temp in your home to suit the "babies" even if the other "humans" in your home suffer.
6) Once out in their coop, you worry constantly. First about real dangers (raccoons, possums, fox), and then about imaginary threats (the roof blowing off the coop in the middle of the night and sucking them all away into oblivian, etc) and end up bringing them all back into the house at 2am so YOU can sleep.
7) You find it hard to sleep without hearing the constant "cheep cheep cheep" of chicks brooding in a nearby room.
8) You once (or more times) fell asleep holding a chick, chicken, duck, or goose.
9) You have brought a DUCK or GOOSE into the house to get them out of the rain, even though you know they are water birds.
10) You coddle, preen, and swoon over a favorite rooster, despite the odd looks you get as neighbors drive by.
11) You have sacraficed YOUR grocery bill to feed your poultry more than once.
12) It takes you more than 30 minutes to do your shopping for your feeds, and other poultry needs.
13) You dont feel silly at all snorting at the young sales person who told you this bag of feed was non-medicated when it is clearly marked medicated on the bag, and you eagerly point this out to him so he knows in the future. You then go home feeling like you helped other chickens out there somewhere by sharing this knowledge with him.
14) You take every opportunity to talk about, show photos of, and brag about your poultry to anyone who will listen.
15) You have done the above so often, that your 'human' family rolls their eyes at the mere mention of chicks, chickens, etc. and quickly tries to devert the topic.
16) Your 'poultry' allowance has been cut off on more than one occasion, usually by a loving spouse who just doesn't understand why this little chick MUST have friends.
17) Your local feed store knows you by your first name, and smiles when you come in because they know you're going to spend a bundle there.
18) You've spent money more on your poultry than some of your 'human' family.
19) At least one person in your family is slightly jealous of the time, money, or attention you give to your "babies".
20) For those of us who are married: Poultry has been the discussion in an argument with a spouse on more than one occasion, and you still ended up winning.
