Just wondering--what got you started into raising chickens?

[raspeary]

Dear hubby had mentioned chickens to me, perked my interest and of course I thought it would be fun and said lets do it. I think deep down inside my husband wanted the chickens too even though he said it would be my thing!

Momma of 5 buff orpingtons and 4 rhode island reds! A dachshund, cat, fish and a cockatiel.

 

[feather leg farms]

My friend gave me a broiler that had a dislocated leg from a neighbor throwing it off the porch. My friend gave me another to go with her.

 

[tattooedchickenlady]

We had chickens when i was a teenager, but I didn't have the desire to fool with them.....

When my son was less than a year old we moved out of Baton Rouge into Denham Springs (courtesy of Katrina) and got an acre. I had always wanted some, but hubby wasn't budging .....
When my hubby started storing food for the impending economic implosion, I asked if I could get chickens to try to have some self sufficiency. he finally agreed, and I got a RIR roo, a RIR hen , BO hen, and BR hen. Then I ordered babies, then more babies, and more babies, then I got an incubator......you see where this is going?
So now I have 2 large pens, I honestly don't know how many chickens, and I need 2-3 more pens. Yay!!

 

[Critter Crazed]

Well it all started when I went to visit my grandma at the home.
We were just visiting and sitting next to the aviary watching the birds do their thing when a lady comes in and removes some eggs. They were parakeet eggs or something. Not chicken eggs. I don't know what kind of bird they were. (she removed them because they were bad parents). My grandma got to talking about how she incubated a chicken egg and hatched it. She called it Friday because it hatched on a Friday. Shortly after that visit my grandma died and I got to thinking about hatching some chicks. So I begged my parents to let me for about half a year and they gave in and I got an incubator and egg turner and WALA! Chickies!

The cool part is that they hatched last Friday...

 

[beak]

eggs

 

[IggiMom]

I spent summers on my grandparents' ranch in Montana, and one of my chores was gathering eggs and feeding the chickens. I liked it.

And then we had our own chickens some years ago, but we had so much trouble with raccoons that I gave up. I was working full time and did not really have time to take care of them.

And then--last summer--our little granddaughters were coming to visit, and I said to my husband, "Let's get some baby chicks. I'll bet the little girls would like to see them."

Oh, my. Just goes to show how one little comment can grow and grow...and grow. And now I am spending all my time on BYC and feeding chickens and incubating chickens and selling eggs.

Gosh.

Catherine

 

[lunkerchicken]

My OCD kicked in. I just got it in my head. I thought it would be fun with the 4 kids - next thing I knew, I was building a coop and buying chicks - it all happened so quickly!!!

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

When my mom came to live with us we started talking about self sufficiency as we both have really green thumbs so we decided to homestead. I bought a few books, did some research, and then contacted Ideal. Viola... A chicken addict is born.

 

[NotTheMomma]

We had chickens while I was growing up. Was raised on a farm. I have lived in the city for the past 17 yrs. I kept telling my DH that I wanted chickens, but we really didn't have a place for them. Last July, our house was sold for commercial land. We finally had enough money to buy 10.5 acres and a nice house. Immediately upon doing our first home walk through, I noticed the two red buildings outside in the back yard. I told DH that one would make the perfect hen house! Sooo, this Spring when the local feed store, and TSC had chicks, I finally got DH to agree to SIX and no more than SIX chicks!

While he was at work, I went to TSC, and I couldn't decide which one of the cuties I wanted. DH's aunt was with me, and she picked out a few, and then I picked out a few, and I ended up with 10 chickies!! Cause you know you must buy more than you want in case you lose some.

As it was, they all survived. I "THOUGHT" I had picked out 6 NHR because I knew they were great egg producers, and the other 4 were suppose to be something, I've forgotten what breed now. Anyway, I week later, I noticed my 6 NHR were WHITE! Fearing I had meat birds, I called TSC and complained that they were NOT NHR. The manager said he couldn't take them back, but I could come in and pick out another 6 pullets. My previous 10 were straight run as that was all that was left when I went to get them. The same day that I called TSC, the local feed store had gotten chicks in. They had breeds that TSC didn't, and they had the EE's that I had wanted forever!! I wanted my kids to see the green eggs since I had one EE as a kid, and everyone in the neighborhood was fascinated by my green egg!! The 6 white chicks are white plymouth rocks.

Anyway, needless to say, I got my 6 free chicks from TSC. Picked out various colored ones, knowing nothing about their breed. Ended up with 2 black sex links, 2 NHR or production reds, and 2 brahmas. Went to the local feed store with another of DH's aunts, and got 2 Black Australorps because they were the last two, and I just couldn't leave them there

, and 2 SLW because I had seen how pretty they would be, and I got my 6 EE! These were all suppose to be pullets as well.

THEN, someone posted on craigslist that they had 6 chicks and had to rehome them because they lived in the city. I contacted the lady, and because I asked about her fuzzy butt chicks, she let me have them over all the other emails she received! Those 6 had come from TSC. 3 are red sex links, and three are unknown but thinking probably Dekalb gold sexlinks. They are a creamy white, with very light reddishbrown coloring.

As it ended up, all of my first 10 straight run are pullets! My dog did kill one during training. No I didn't use one to train her. She killed one, and we knew my previous training hadn't been enough, so the training continues.

One of the BA ended up being a roo! And I'm so happy!!

I "THINK" I might have an EE roo as well, but I dont' know for sure. It was dropped as a small chicky, and has a crooked neck. I don't know if the neck is due to the fall, or whether genetic, or an injury from the Mareks vaccine, or wry neck. At any rate, I did the required treatments for wry neck, physical therapy, etc. and it hasn't improved, so I leave well enough alone. I'm doubting it will be able to breed if indeed a roo.

The rest are pullets and doing wonderful.

Then, last month I went to an annual event in a nearby town. They had a livestock flea market sale. I fell in love with quail, even though I knew NOTHING about them, and had not even given a thought about having any. I bought 12 of the tiny things. I lost one of them to a different dog. My fault again for not properly securing the dog while moving the quail into a new cage. So I have 11 that are now in an outside rabbit cage until their aviary is completed!

And now ya know more than ya ever needed to.

 

[Lurch]

I started when I found a chicken as a teen, in Grant Park on LI.
I was fishing (you could catch big goldfish and sell them to Ed's Aquarium..all the kids did) and saw a cat with something white in it's mouth..a young Leghorn.
I got it away from the cat, and on my bike, brought it home.
My brother persuaded my Mom to let us keep it, and because it had a limp (which got all better) we named it Chester..from Gunsmoke! I built a makeshift coop from an upside down bridge table. Sad sight.
He followed me to school, to my friend's house..all over my town.
We had to move later that year and he went to be a chicken with other chickens on a small farm in Roosevelt.

Years passed, and after our daughter was born, we built a coop out here in Suffolk, and chickens and other fowl have been part of our lives ever since.

As Uncle Cracker would say in his new song: "They are cooler than the flip side of my pillow!!"