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

[casportpony]

Oh yes, and I learned how to sex eggs quite accurately, so the incidence of roosters is kept mercifully low!

Hmmm.....50-50 is the best chance of 'sexing eggs'

How do you sex an egg? I've never heard of such a thing.

A guy that used to buy ducks from me swore he could sex eggs by their shape.

 

[ConDioFarms]

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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 with 7 white leghorns and bought them as young pullers, days away from laying their first eggs. This was a high school(freshman year) FFA project. Later, and partnering up with a buddy of mine, we drove the local post office crazy by ordering day old chicks from various hatcheries across the nation. We even created our own ‘Chickopoly’ game modeled after the Monopoly board game...
I did take a sabbatical from chicken raising when the kids were young and we were unsettled and moving around this great state of Texas.

 

[Kiki]

A guy that used to buy ducks from me swore he could sex eggs by their shape.

 

[ValerieJ]

A guy that used to buy ducks from me swore he could sex eggs by their shape.

My RIR's always lay the perfect looking medium to large egg; my BO's lay large regular shaped eggs and my Aussie's lay large torpedo eggs that are sometimes too tall for the egg carton. Within their groups the eggs don't seem to vary.

 

[aart]

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.

Can you say this on a different way?
I'm not understanding.

The pic in your OP has 33 tickmarks inside the shell.

 

[Kiki]

The pic in your OP has 33 tickmarks inside the shell.

Thank you now I understand, I was just a tad bit lost.

 

[tantricdragon13]

I raised chickens as a kid for about ten years or so. Definitely my favorite childhood hobby! We had a commercial sized incubator and I would have that sucker full all summer long. Looking back, I think my parents were very understanding of all the chicks and chickens running around!
I stopped raising chickens while in college for obvious reasons (no where to put them in a dorm room!), and later moving into apartments there was no where to have chickens as well. My DH and I bought a house about six years ago where I could finally put in a run. Hooray!
First flock was 6 BAs, and our current flock is mixed. 1 each of SLW, SS, Cuckoo Marans, and BO, and 2 EEs. Love the Easter basket of eggs this flock makes!

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?

 

[Shadrach]

A guy that used to buy ducks from me swore he could sex eggs by their shape.

 

[aart]

A guy that used to buy ducks from me swore he could sex eggs by their shape.

There was a long running thread here someone trying to get everyone to prove this theory was accurate....consensus was 50-50.

 

[goatgirl72]

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?

Fresh eggs were the main reason amd i always loved faRm animals and chickens.. we started with RIR and had many breeds over the years.. love to have a rooster with my hens as well. We had 46 at once but was too many specially with our cold harsh canadian winters here ao we srick with 12 to 24 hens and a rooster for their protection!