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

[mowin]

Had chickens 40 yrs ago. Was in my early teens. Learned alot back then. But forgot, needed to relearn, and educate myself, because I definitely didn't know everything back then. But it you would have asked me back then, I was a expert. Lol.

 

[TashaJD]

We moved to the country in 2003. A friend gave me some bantams the next year. The rest is history! At the moment I have 5 guineas, 9 cochins, 24 barred rocks, 6 silkies, 3 Americanas, and a single old English Game hen who is nearly 8 years old. I have to be careful because I'm really bad about chicken math!

 

[Duck-a-Dee]

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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 started out with 3 baby pullet chicks when I was a kid (1 Rhode Island Red and 2 gold sexlinks) and I have had pet chickens every single day of my life ever since! (I'm turning 30 this year).
Right now I have around 50 chickens of all kinds but I've had as many as 100+ in the past. 100% identifiable and 95% of those have names. I am a chicken geek and I know my chickens so well if I had a flock of 20 seemingly identical hens I could identify each one easily. I have had nearly every breed there is from tiny bantams to huge breeds, very rare to very common.
For pets/layers I recommend Rhode Island Reds aka production Reds. The health, longevity and temperament vary a lot per strain so if you luck out and get good reds I would stick with that source. My current Red chickies lay huge brown eggs year-round without supplemental light and they have friendly, happy, gentle dispositions, not afraid of anything and not pushy either. They like to talk to their people and visit. I just love them. Great therapy animals. I'll probably have chickens until I die of old age haha.

 

[SamanthaDianne]

I've had chickens for about 10 years or so, except for the last two years, after I moved. I just got chickens again in June.

I had gotten pullets from a local hatchery before, a cross between White Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds. Very nice chickens, great layers. But my husband passed away four years ago, and when I moved, I had to give the chickens away. One of the things I looked for in a house was a place where I could have a garden and chickens. This spring I put in a raised bed garden and coop, and am developing a permaculture garden that the chickens will be able to roam--some.

This time I got chicks, 7 different types. Buff Brahma, Wellsummer, Plymouth Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, Silver and Gold Wyanndottes, Easter Egger (that interestingly looks almost identical to the Wellsummer, but lays a blue egg.)

I'm hoping that I've managed to build a predator-proof run. Time will tell. You can see the chicken run to the left of the coop. It runs the length of the garden fence. Permaculture garden is behind the coop.

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Your garden and coop are absolutely beautiful! You love what you do and you can tell.

 

[Duck-a-Dee]

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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?

Banty selfies are "MJ" short for Midget Jr. and his half brothers. Super friendly cute lil buggers. Their dad is a bantam Partridge Rock.
Next pic is my black English Orpington boy next to Gladiolla my pet Blue Slate/Midget White cross turkey.
The orange roo is one of my many roosters. His name is "Mr. Orange" and he is mainly a Buff Orpington/Golden Laced Wyandotte cross. He is very smart and has a great temperament. His crow is beautiful and carries for miles, echoes off of the surrounding mountains

 

[El Granjero Urbano]

I did not read the entire thread. But anybody else notice the days on the eggshell don't line up with how long it takes to hatch chickens? Perhaps that is a Muscovy duck based on days.

 

[BY Bob]

very nice stories

Thanks. You are very kind.

 

[BY Bob]

February 12th it will be four years. I lost my only child to a sudden death in 2003. I tried a lot of different things to move on and live again, and I'm sure it all helped a little. It wasn't until we bought a little property on a river complete with wildlife and a rain forest that I found some peace again. Chickens arrived about a year into this new life and saved mine. Still haven't gotten over the loss, but I have made friends with the pain and am able to live a mostly happy life. Maybe this is TMI, but it is directly related to having chickens for me.

I started with 6, 2 Australorps, 2 RIRs, and 2 Buff Orpingtons. Of that flock, I only have Lucy (avatar) left. Each one of those losses was heartbreaking.

At this time I have 8 hens, 3 BOs, 3 Australorps, and 2 RIRs. I also have 4 at nearly 5 mos, 2 Lavender Orpington pullets, 1 Lavender Orpington cockerel, and 1 Buff Orpington cockerel. The last two are a little trouble at the moment, but they are being given every chance to grow up here.

Here's a few pictures. First is Mad Hatter. Second is Alice.
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Third is Alice and Abby, fourth is Pippi Longshot (who owns my heart),
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And finally most of the hens, hanging out together at one end of the run while we trimmed trees at the other end.
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Pippi was the only chick hatched out in my incubator. I picked up Mad and the girls to be brooder mates for him. Here is my sweet Pippi's beginning:
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And finally, a video I've shared several times of one of my first hens who liked to give the benediction at the end of each day:

Mad Hatter is beautiful. I love his name as well.

It is amazing the power to heal that comes from these wonderful animals. Thanks for having the courage to share your story.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I started with chickens when my grandpa introduced me to it years ago(We were only visiting then) Our first flock had White Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, & Barred Rocks.

 

[64peeps]

I started raising hens after learning our city council allowed residents to raise chickens, as well as learning how old store bought eggs really are, and BYC eggs are so much better in flavor and nutrients. I'm currently without my girls, but I am looking forward to raising chickens, turkeys, pheasants, and maybe a few Guinea fowl in the near future.