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

[Kiki]

I am loving the flow of this poll! Thank you for your helpful responses! Keep them going!

Who are you!?

 

[MsCannaBass]

1 day! Yesterday we got 30! Im just learning but the people i live with have been doing this for years.
So what am I in for?
(I call them tiny little balls of feathered adorableness)

 

[BReeder!]

We started out with 5 hatchery birds from a farm supply store chain just shy of 2 years ago now. We still have those 5 (2 Light Brahmas, Cuckoo Maran, Speckled Sussex and Gold Laced Wyandotte) plus 2 Orpingtons (Silver Blue Laced and Lavender) bred by a fellow BYC member and 1 Cornish Cross we hatched ourselves with eggs from another BYC member. It's amazing how chicken math works... and it didn't stop with chickens. Since those original 5 chickens we also added 6 ducks (4 Rouens and 2 Pekins - 1 Rouen and the 2 Pekins we took in from fellow BYC members too), 2 turkeys (was 4, and all were from a fellow BYC member) and a full hutch of quail we hatched ourselves and have been breeding for the last year.

Why did we get into all this? In part because it's a learning opportunity for my children and partly because I just like animals and the idea (apparently not just an idea anymore) of raising livestock. I hope to have a small farm one day, where we can have more birds, goats and highlander cows.

 

[Chickenlover0810]

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BEAUTIFUL BIRDS, my mouth literately droped

 

[chiengora]

I had chickens when I was in jr HS and HS, late 60s, early 70s. My mother taught elementary school and we got the assortment of chickens that hatched when the classes were showing the students the development of chicks. When my parents moved away from the property there was a long gap with no chickens.
Back in 2008 there was a great tick infestation in the area where I live and I once again made the decision to have chickens. They are primarily for pest control, the eggs are just a plus.
I currently have 2 Rhode Island Red hens and one Sex Linked Hen. They free range in the back yard and are herding practice for the dog, a Bearded Collie, (now grown up) in my photo.

 

[BY Bob]

We've had chickens for the past 14 years or so...started with guinea fowl - big mistake! then got some speckled Sussex bantams which I wish we still had and then over the years a mish-mosh of large fowl, including easter eggers, black copper marans, welsummers, etc. We started out with chocolate wyandotte bantams in 2014 and have been hooked on Wyandotte bantams since then though we do have a few wheaten ameraucana bantam hens......we just got the chocolate wyandotte bantams recognized by the ABA this past December! We currently have black, chocolate, blue, partridge, mottled and chocolate partridge......

Beautiful flock. Oh my. I am swooning

 

[Bear and Dart]

I started raising chickens when I was really young and so it wasn’t my choice to get them but it made me continue to love chickens. We took a break you could say when a fox got all but one of our chickens. We started with 4 Buff Orpingtons.

 

[LeAnn9925]

Got in to chickens when I moved to a farm 3 years ago and I am hooked. I have done three sets of baby chickens (one set predators got). Currently I have 12 layers and 2 who are at least 12yrs old. I call them “the girls”. When I go up to the Coop every day they like to sing to me and tell me about their day and each and everyone gets a scratch on the back.

 

[WhollyRooted]

What got you interested in raising chickens?
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we have wanted to raise chickens for years, but we lived in cities with laws prohibiting them. We found our few acres in the country in fall of 2018, and bought our first set of chicks in spring 2019.


What breeds did you start with, how many, and do you have any pictures to share?

To start we have 2 golden laced Wyandotte (1 is a rooster), 2 silver laced Wyandotte, and 2 barred rock.

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[Lovethembuffs]

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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?