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

[Chickassan]

Iv'e had chickens most of my life whether I wanted to or not.
My firsts were surprise chickens when I was seven.
That Easter a neighbor fella called Albert presented a peeping Reebok shoe box into my grubby little hands.
That box contained two Easter egger chicks, from that moment forward iv'e been lost to the void.
Iv'e pulled some people in with me so I feel better about it though.

Yep, I replied to myself, believe me iv'e done worse.
Im just popping in a few of the current void critters that keep me occupied .
Today was mite obliteration, tomorrow who even knows.

 

[Goatsanddogs]

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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 Two hens just walked up in my yard last March and stayed.
Did you ever "take a break" and not have chickens? Not right now. I lost one, and got two more. Now I have 3 girls.
What breeds did you start with, how many, and do you have any pictures to share? White legging and Rhode Island Red

Two hens came up in my yard last March. They decided to stay. I had Bert and Ernie for a pair for 5 months then Bertie disappeared. I got two more RR.

View attachment 2009564​

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?

 

[Mimi13]

I’m absolutely jealous of your beautiful farm!

Thank you very much. You are very kind.

I’ve never really thought of people seeing my farm as beautiful, even though I love it here. I am a good 30 minutes from any store, but I love living in the boonies. There’s no running back to the store for something.

My yard consists of whatever green that decides to grow, no sod here. Holes exist all about, whether dug by a dog or wallowed out by a bunch of dust bathing chickens. I have a gravel driveway that has potholes and some field fence that needs tightening (dang horses). But, my chickens and dogs get free roam of the yard and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. This is my happy place, complete with an Alabama sunset.

 

[Goatsanddogs]

Yep, I replied to myself, believe me iv'e done worse.
Im just popping in a few of the current void critters that keep me occupied .
Today was mite obliteration, tomorrow who even knows.


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Your chickies are beautiful. I love their colors. They eat from your hand. How sweet.

 

[Tangerine56]

View attachment 2009564​

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?

There's nothing like fresh eggs. I began one year in 1989 with one hen. My standard backyard flock now is about 7 to 12. I try to follow the formula to two hens per person in the household.

 

[brkbrkbrk]

When I started dating my husband his father had some chickens, i gradually took over the care of them as i fell in love with them and their personalities.

After we moved out we got our own chickens and have had them ever since, with a few deaths and some survival stories! In our town we are allowed maximum 3 so we usually have two, except for the time we accidentally got a little rooster (found out thanks to BYC) which unfortunately had to go (town rules).

I love my chickens and dream of the day we have more land and I can have a whole lot of them, and some different varieties. So far have had ISA browns, a wyandotte, an unkown and currently a splash orpington and an australorp that is the bossiest chicken who thinks she's a rooster, she's nasty but i still like her.

I'd also like to add that BYC has basically been my chicken bible!!

 

[Chickassan]

Thank you, my chickies are just a little bit spoiled rotten.

Your chickies are beautiful. I love their colors. They eat from your hand. How sweet.

 

[littledog]

I decided to keep chickens in 2011 because I wanted to raise eggs without supporting cruel factory practices. I'd never raised chickens before, but my partner had tried to as a 9-year-old kid - none of his fertilized eggs survived, so the local hatchery gave him a bunch of chicks for free to raise (all cockerels, go figure,) He took fantastic care of them, but his dumbass brother shot them with his BB gun. When it came time to harvest them (this was in the 1960's) his Dad was pissed because all the cockerels had BBs in the meat. He was not only broken-hearted that his chickens had to become meat, but even more that his bloodthirsty brother had made his project go so bad.
My partner is a true animal lover, he loves caring for the hens, and they seem to like and trust him. I love having the chickens as well, but I'm a bit more matter-of-fact about them.

 

[wolfinator]

I first considered having chickens after hearing that my son's now former bosses had chickens at their in-city limits home which restricted having roosters. We (my boyfriend and I) told them if they ever decided or had to rehome them, to let us know first. This was in February 2015, on July 5th I got a call from my son asking if we still wanted the chickens. Well of course the answer was YES. Luckily I had the money to buy them and they came with 3 coops (8x10, 3x7 & 3x7) plus feeders, waterers, lighting, and feed. My sons provided tear down, delivering everything and set up for us. All we had to do is say where they were to be put. They turned out to be various bantam breeds. My boyfriend had never raised any bantams prior, just RIR and withe leggers and I hadn't been around chickens for about 48 years. I was quick to read up online about some of the breeds we were getting. We later found that the 18 chickens (9 females, 9 males aged 12 weeks-1 yr) had actually been living in the back 4x8 section of the 8x10 coop in filth. I was told there was a dead chicken covered in poop, over 100 uncollected eggs with a lot more smashed, it smelled awful (80° plus temperatures) from not have been cleaned for over a month and those babies had to walk in and breathe it all. We did lose a few over the first few months of having them. Sadly we just lost the last of them yesterday afternoon. She was a 5 year old Showgirl that was actively laying 1-2 times a month. She usually slept on the floor with several other hens - more under their wings). I found her deceased in her favorite nesting box, she was her usual self just a few hours earlier when I took them all a 10 pound cabbage head. I quickly buried her next to my duck hen I lost last week (she never recovered from losing her mate in 2018). Now all my original 18 are gone. I have only large breeds left, 56 hens, 6 pullets, 7 roosters and 5 ducks (3 drakes, 2 hens). I'm currently looking for 1-2 young duck hens since their balance is off. I probably won't get any more bantams since some of my hens can be somewhat mean to newcomers and I would fear for their safety. All mine share 2 coops (some hens switch between both) and a 54x40 fenced area.

My little Showgirl's photo was lucky enough to have been chosen to be in Backyard Poultry Magazine June/July 2019 issue in the Flock Photos section.

RIP girl

 

[ShrekDawg]

This is a great idea for a thread! I chose 4 years even though technically it’s slightly over that now. It was a lot closer to 4.

I got my first chickens in October 2015. Started with 9 sexed pullets. Lost one very early on and had 8 for a while. After losing one fall 2017 and another this past July, I am now down to 6 of my original hens left.

But I added 5 more chicks this past April. I now have 11 adults.

And then I also got an incubator last March but I never used it until I got some hatching eggs this past fall and had 9 chicks hatch out Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately they all ended up boys except one maybe two.

But I still have them for now.

So currently my total is 20 chickens.

I was very good and kept the number small for several years but then chicken math exploded last year.