Official BYC Poll: How Did You Get Into Chickens?

[artbykarenehaley]

Oh I was in love with chickens from such an early age.

My kindergarten was next door to the local Co Op. I once got in trouble for leaving the school during recess to see the chicks. I even told my Kindergarten teacher I wanted to own the co op and become a co op lady when I grew up, so I could always play with baby chicks.

In addition to my obsession with the feed store, I grew up in the old farmhouse (built 100 years before I was born). Its the house my mother grew up in. it's not the historic, period correct house you would imagine. There's shortpile, rust orange "library carpet" in the kitchen (always hated it!) And those seventies style lumpy carpets upstairs in pea soup green and goldenrod. But it was on four acres of paradise for a chicken loving kid like me.

My favorite place was the chicken coop; situated beside the metal shop building my dad kept the hay for the small herd of hereford cattle in. I would spend most of my time sitting "in chicken poop all day" as my mom jokingly said, letting my chickens sit on my lap, hide under my legs, and feeding them their feed from my hands.

They were wonderful. Especially the baby chicks.

Every few years I'd save all the money I could get from selling eggs, drawings, or veggies, and I would place an order over the phone to get a box of chicks from a hatchery.

My science projects always involved an incubator.

I feel a bit limited now, with my backyard maximum of six laying hens, and our financial situation is not conducive to living on a farm like I did as a child. So I live vicariously through all of you whenever I get wistful for fuzzy lil chicks.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I wonder what was under the carpet in the old farm house? We pulled carpet from an old house after Katrina, only to find beautiful wooden floors.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

I wonder what was under the carpet in the old farm house? We pulled carpet from an old house after Katrina, only to find beautiful wooden floors.

Ah! Actually I can answer that question for you with pictures. Upstairs, there are cedar planks with lead paint on some spots. My mom is currently renovating the upstairs room my younger sister just moved out of. She and my dad had the lead paint removed and they repainted the floor.
I don't have a good "before" pic of the carpet that was in that room but take my word for it, it was not pretty
Floor before sanding and painting

Floor after applying a floor paint:

And here is where the renovated room ends and the upstairs landing begins. An example of how the carpets of the seventies do not age well. If you've ever watched Toy Story, you would recognize it from Sid's bedroom. Exact. Same. Carpet. I don't know WHAT my Grandpa was thinking.

I don't have photos specifically of downstairs and it's the main living areas and they are still in the process of moving my sister out. so I won't go sharing pictures of my parents whole house and the stacks of Aud's things.

Downstairs in the kitchen, under the carpet, is that stiff, pressed together, non ceramic tile you see in old school buildings and diners. The carpet underpad is a horrid thin foam that has been industrially glued down on the linoleum tile stuff, so they really don't want to tackle that project.
It would be a lot of work and disrupt the ability to live in their home. it would look a lot nicer to remove the carpet and put in some snap together laminate wood floor though.

 

[Missyschix13]

Honestly it's probably been more than a year of me planning and doing research. It hit me during the beginning of the pandemic and food chain issues arose. We had plenty of land at our current property but when we bought the farmhouse with it's 14.5 acres, I was dead set we were going to start a farm and be more self sustaining. Chickens were my goal. I am fortunate to have a husband who humors me and bought me my coop for Christmas. Easter came and it was time! We got 5 little chicks and I was smitten . Turns out I was destined to have a rooster too. Lol and I'm already trying to figure out how to modify my coop to allow for more feathered friends. It has been a joy and some worry and learning all heaped together. I'm so glad I have them. They have been very rewarding.

 

[GodLovesU]

I convinced my dad to get some when I was 4 years olds.

 

[mopalia]

My son got them for me when I moved to the new house he bought for me. He asked me what kind of animals I was planning to get. In the past I've had goats, pigs, antelopes, deer, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice and maybe more, I said I'd never had chickens, that might be fun. The next week he and his wife built the coop and put up the fencing. This is the adult equivalent of "Mom, it followed me home!"