Official BYC Poll: How Long Have You Been Raising Chickens?

[FortCluck]

Thanks! I like a variety

I do too even though I have fallen in love with certain breeds. Polish is one chicken breed I want more of. I like different colors so I can tell everyone apart.

 

[oldhen2345]

My grandparents lived on a ranch in West Texas. When we would go for the summer, I always loved watching the chickens and collecting the eggs. They also had a couple of turkeys- but that is another whole thing. When I was a young adult, I got some chickens, but could not keep them long- moved to a metropolitan area in an apartment. A lifetime later, I found myself a widow living in a rural town with a nice size closed in back yard. My brother came to stay and he needed something to occupy his time. I had planned to get chickens when I retired, but this seemed to be the best thing to do. So, he built my coop and I got my chicks-6 darling day olds. He has since moved out on his own, but the chickens are still with me. I switch out a couple every year- some don't fit the personality of the flock, some are mean, sometimes I just want younger hens of a different breed. I have a couple that are keepers- Missy, my Mottled English Orpington and Margaret, my special needs Black Copper Marans ( she has a cross beak and a blind eye). Other than that, any others may change out any year. Right now, I have 5 - Missy,3 yrs old, Margaret 1 yr old, Opal a Splash Marans 1 yr old,Aunt Boo an 19 wk old Speckled Sussex and Freida an 19 wk old Light Brown Leghorn.

 

[Pork Pie]

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How many of our peeps are really new to raising chickens and how many are old-timers?

In addition to answering the poll, please reply with some fun details, like:

What got you interested in raising chickens?
Did you ever "take a break" and not have chickens?
What breeds did you start with, how many, and do you have any pictures to share?

I wanted fresh eggs and enjoyed watching them free range the garden.
Currently on a break as our property has been let.
Started with 3 and then went to a max of 15.
I opted for regular, egg-laying landrace birds though I did have a blue egg-laying project

 

[Matilda Belle]

2 years in April.

What got you interested in raising chickens? I was browsing the lovely land of Craigslist, saw a weird fuzzy chicken, said "what the heck is that?/I need that", got chicks then found a coop.

Did you ever "take a break" and not have chickens? Not yet.

What breeds did you start with, how many, and do you have any pictures to share? I started with silkies, but now I have silkies and satins.

 

[2 many chickens]

6 years! Started with 6 baby australorps back in 2014. 2 are still alive and kicking.

Now I'm pretty much living in a zoo. Too many chickens to count...

 

[OneMountainAcres]

What got you interested in raising chickens?
Did you ever "take a break" and not have chickens?
What breeds did you start with, how many?

We started thinking about chickens years before we ever got any. We lived in a little house in the middle of the city with hardly any yard and went through an insane amount of eggs every week. When we finally started looking at houses to move, being able to raise chickens was one of the main factors. Almost a year after we moved, chick days cane to TSC and we were there to load up on babies first thing on the first day! I believe that we picked out 6 babies the first time, 4 EEs and 2 PR pullets. We also picked up 4 assorted Wyandotte chicks and 2 BCM from local breeders. We loved these chicks and they bonded so strongly to us. It was amazing! They were only 2 weeks old when we had our first crushing disaster. In a 5 minute window of unsupervision, our dogs broke in to the brooder and killed every single one of the babies. It was absolute heartbreak! We planned to wait a while before getting anymore but after a few days with lack of preeping, we went and got more. Of course with chicken math, we ended up with 15! We got EE's, silkies, BCM, OEGB and PRs second time around and this time we were super vigilant! We haven't been without them ever since. In fact, we've expanded and now have about 35 chickens (we've had WAY more!), 18 turkeys, 5 ducks and 2 geese and even had quail for a bit! Chickens have even helped me discover my crafty side.....I now make chicken tutus and sew hen saddles!

Eve, hanging out in the hammock with me

Our sweetest and favorite hen from our original (surviving) chicks

Ana (hen), broody extraordinaire and Ebony (duck), attempted ducking thief

Sunshine and Lollipop

Tutus and saddles!

 

[Mimi13]

One day, after I had quit working outside the home, I got a wild hair and decided I wanted chickens. And the rest is history.

My first chickens I affectionately called my OG hens, Original Gansta Hens. Two Buff Orpingtons, 1 Red Star and 1 Amberlink. I credit my two Buffs for being gracious enough to let me poke and prod and learn all I could about the outer anatomy of a chicken.

Only two of the OG’s remain, Biscuit and Penny, the two on the top.

It took 24 months before chicken math set in, but it did in a big way, when I added 24 chicks to my flock.

It was at this time I built my big coop and run...fun, fun, fun times.

Later that year I added 3 chicks from a broody and wound up with 8 bator chicks, keeping the only pullet and one of the seven cockerels. And Rusty has been the best rooster. There have been 12 others that have gone before him.

My last little group of 12 pullets came a few months later.

Several have passed, several have been sold and several have been eaten. My remaining birds total 36 hens/pullets and 1 rooster.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the eggs.

 

[CarpCharacin]

I had always been interested in having chickens, and I finally ended up getting some in early 2016.

 

[SueT]

5 years ago, here I am with one of my first hens. I've added new ones (and lost some) each year since. Always just a small flock. Currently have a flock of 7.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@aart so sorry I missed your post. There is just something about animals and healing.