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

[poultryhaven]

Lol my FFA teacher!!! I blame her for my addiction. Parents said i could only have one and now i hae almost 25

 

[kagedgoddess]

i worked at a coop and was trying to learn about farming, ( i m a townie) and i read Keep Chickens! i immediatly wanted chickens, they sounded so entertaining, well the book said to build your coop First. a 1 1/2yrs later i decide i m never going to build the coop, so just Buy the chickies. whjich i did, forcing me to build a coop. ... and i Dont regret a thing!

 

[write2caroline]

Hello - How I chose to raise chickens -
I always wanted some but we lived in San Jose CA and even though we had neighbors hiding chickens my mom said NO WAY! Off to college - biology class extra eggs ..... I came home with 2 new chicks RIR - not a clue how to raise them - Lasted 3 weeks - Mom says - Find your chickens a home ASAP - gave them to a friend - she lived on a farm - 2 weeks later Mom says Gee kind of miss those little sweeties - maybe your friend will give them back - too late - they were fryers - both roosters. Reported as Delicious!

So Many Many years later - always wanting chickens - My brother had some in Santa Cruz! Finally we are in Florida in rural area - EVERYONE has chickens. Kind of scared of economy and as a historian was thinking it may not be a bad idea to have some chickens and a garden just as a master plan to take over the world....sorry pinky and the brain lapse. Seriously, during wwII people had victory gardens and many people had chickens for eggs - Really not a bad idea - we have sunshine, good fertle land - silly not to do it.

I conspired with my mother who lives with us - ordered coop plans - how hard could it be? Built it - not to bad - husband raised an eyebrow - knew something was up -

Didn't look like a dog house - Spilt the beans - kind of forgot to mention baby chicks were going to be a day old.

Oldest son in exchange program for a month in Germany- wasn't using his bathroom - set up the brooder - got the 3 chicks.

Had a mauling by my dog Sunday of Week 2 - so now we have 2 chicks - nursed them - they are fine but cried and cried over the one that died - had no name! Loved her anyway -

So hubby ordered 4 more chickens just in case the other one died so we would not have one lonely chicken - but - Being practical he ordered 1 male and 3 female and came to tell me about it while I was burying my sweet little peep.

2 days later - Constant nursing - both chicks are doing very well - especially the one we thought might kick the bucket. They are getting more feathers and are looking kind of like vultures a little - Don't worry I tell them they are very pretty - figure this is a tween age for them and post mauling need their self esteem pumped.

I have 2 weeks to build coop 2 - really 6weeks but I plan to do it before they come.

So that is how and sort of why. I am seriously winging it. I come from the West from Ranchers and Bronco riders but live in the south near some serious Redneckage - was raised a city girl from San Jose - but now I have chickens with more on the way.
Caroline

 

[alamogirl]

School project: my daughter's science-minded 1st grade teacher hatches eggs every spring. She offers them to the kids to take home along with the name of a family that will take them at any age when we are "done". Well of course my daughter begged for one even though she is deathly afraid of animals, nothing like peer pressure!

I've always thought chickens were nice. I always wanted a farm too, you know, someday down the road, but we live in a subdivision with strict covenants (like NO POULTRY)

So now we not only have 1 illegal chicken, we have 4! I sure like them though. Such funny personalities, and so soft. Do all chicken owners snuggle them up to thier face, or is that just me?

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

THIS PERSON! MY Best online friend in the world

She has some NICE show chickens too. Check her out

http://thechickenchronicles.blogspot.com/

 

[kezabel]

Well I've always wanted a farm but can't afford to buy or rent one, thats one reason. the other is I was watching a tv show on pets, and they were discussing how much it cost to keep all different animals, when it came to chickens they said they actually cost you basically nothing after the inital set up because they live on your dinner scraps and what ever is around the yard(HahHa) well I thought yay and convinced my other half to get me 2 hens so we could have fresh eggs and I told them they will pay for themselfs.
The coop cost us around $70 we manly built it out of scrap wood from under the house and I bought all the feed for them Layer pellets $26, scratch $7.50 and shell grit $31, then I bought the hay $8, wood shavings $8, man these chickens are not cheap but I don't mind at all I'm very attached to my girls now and I don't care how much they cost to keep. My dh says every time we get an egg "thats a bit off their bill, keep it going girls " lol

 

[Mahonri]

I could see the writing on the wall and realized that our economy was in the tank and that perhaps some hens would be able to give us some nourishment if times got really tough.

 

[tdkmom]

When my husband & I got married (August 1990) we moved into my grandfather's old farm house. The man who had been renting it left 2 roosters and some hens when he left. They lived wherever and if the house door was open, they walked right in. So we built them a coop and kept them till they died. Except 1 Rooster that flogged my husband - he became soup. Fast forward to Fall 2008. Wow we have 80 acres and nothing on it. Not enough money for a tractor and implements. Don't want to milk daily. But boy farm fresh brown eggs are so good. Let's get some chickens. Everyone said buy more than you want cause they'll die. Well we ordered 20 pullets and 5 straight run RIR and 5 Mallards (they were a surprise for me cause I love them). We got 26 RIR and 5 Mallards. So here we are with 3 week old RIR & Mallards. We love 'em. Of course what was supposed to be a family project has become DH handling coop maintenance, DD visiting them a couple times a day and me taking the brunt of the work w/ help from 9 year old son. But I still love 'em. Just need to revamp my morning schedule so I can get to work on time after tending the chicks.

 

[Holly O]

Was always fascinated by Chickens. When I was young ... you could always find me with the chickens. If their where Chickens around. As I got older it was something I always wanted as a pet. We never had chickens in our home. I knew the city I lived in allowed Chickens. I always seemed to find out that kind of information.
So here I am ... with chickens and wouldn't you know. After asking around and getting the affirmative. They are now stating I can't have them. So We are in the midst of fighting this ruling. They are saying it's because we had 2 complaints.

 

[annie3001]

i dont really know!! but i have enjoyed this so much!!! its very new to me and my family, even my parents too! they could not believe we chickens! my grandmother used to have chickens, she ate them too! i wont be eating my chickens, heck i cant even eat any chicken now. other meats oh yes! anyways, i have always love all kinds of farm animals, and as we have a bit of land, i thought it would be a wonderful experience for me and my children. i have 2 young kids (3 and 1) and they know all about chickens already and even want to get in the chicken run and holdem. its just wonderful to watch them, i hope i am a good mom to them, as i already have 2 kids 1 adorable 5 year old house rabbit and a 13 year old shetland sheepdog (old man sammie) and he is so good with the rabbit and even the chickens (but he never comes in contact with them, other than their fence. okay so i rambled on here. have a nice night!!!


andrea,ct.