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

[Amtorres]

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Beautiful

 

[Ada06]

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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 got my first 6 chickens in March of 2020.
I had been obsessed with them since 3 or more years before when I read an article about the difference between healthy eggs and the eggs we bought ($1.50 or less lol).
I spent those 3 years begging and ALL it took was for the world to go insane and a global wide pandemic for them to finally agree!
I got 5 golden comets, and one olive egger (not sure what she really is though).
Bailey, Corona, Freckles, Ramona, Cadbury, and Ollie.
We cat proofed the dog cage they lived in, and 6-7 weeks later moved them into their forever home.

 

[Coops Dad]

What got you interested in raising chickens?
I'm kind of a "prepper"- not TEOTWAWKI but more like I prefer to be more self-sufficient in case of emergencies... or even minor discomforts. I was pretty much born in the woods and raised by wolves so plan b and plan c were always in place. My wife begrudgingly got onboard with being chicken keepers when we moved into our house- we went from 1/3 acre inside the city to almost 20 out in the county. After the Snovid freeze in '20 and having to cook on and heat the home with a woodstove, she's more of a prepper than I could ever have dreamed. She's in charge of the chickens and keeps a running count of the daily eggs, number of freezer residents, etc.
Did you ever "take a break" and not have chickens?
Nope. I can't imagine it.
What breeds did you start with, how many?
I started with 3 Black Copper Marans, 3 RIRs, 2 Barred Rocks, 6 White Leghorns and an EE, all bought from a friend who was getting ready to move. Got his whole flock for $100.

Since then, I migrated to a flock that's about half Ameraucanas and the other half is whatever struck my interest on Craigslist or in Atwood's, Orscheln's or TSC, plus every barnyard mix that my wife hatches out in the incubator. At one point, we had 70+ laying chickens including 4 roosters plus I can't remember how many Cornish Cross (over 25) and a lot of turkeys (8 or 9 BBWs, 6 BBBs, standard bronzes, a couple of red Bourbons and a sweetgrass).

Our feed bill was staggering. I knew we had to make a change when the feed store owner bought a new $90k truck.

We're currently at 30+/- laying hens, two roosters, 10 pullets, one Red Bourbon turkey and an incubator with 19 chicken eggs and three turkey eggs. And I am looking for a couple of BBW poults and some Cornish Xs, lol. If I can close the chest freezer and don't need to put a cinder block on it to keep it closed, it's time to start raising meaties again.

 

[crazychickenman007]

My wife and I started with 6 in April and we’re up to 23 in august, chicken math or something we started with one SLw, 2 Sapphire gems, 3 black sex links. Then we added 17 jersey giants (tractor supply gave us a deal)! I’ve always wanted to be a farmer since the time I was old enough to walk. Now that I’m grown and have kids of my own, owning chickens has given me that opportunity in some capacity and I love that my kids love it as much as I do.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

I first became interested in having chickens from a deep desire to homestead, and chickens were first on my list!
I have never "taken a break," and I never intend to.
I started with a dozen RIR "pullets" from a feed store in my town. Three of them turned out to be roosters, haha!

 

[StinkyAcres]

15 years next month!

 

[BDutch]

They are. Everyone with there own character. I did loose some chicks on diseases, a regrettable escape and two to rats coming into the coop. But I never lost a chicken older then 10 weeks.

My 2 oldest are over 5 years now, still bossy. Picking the best bits out of the chicken mix before the others get their turn. Still looking healthy. Last year I had quit a few eggs from my oldies too. But they start laying later each year. And stop earlier in autumn.

Fast forward. 5 years later.
In the meantime I did loose several several older/adult chickens. 2 with health issues, 5 by predators.
I added another Dutch bantam and bought hatching eggs a couple of times when I had a broody. Just to maintain the flock.
I still keep in mind that 8 - 10 chickens is enough for the size of my setup. Although I extended the setup with an extra coop (transformed children's playhouse). This was very beneficial when my juveniles became too big for the small coop and were not allowed to roost with the adult hens in the coop-extension.

My oldest is 10 yo now, and I have 2 who are 9 yo. The 2 youngest are > ½ yo and started to lay when the others stopped for their winter break.

My bantam flock is pretty diverse now with several breeds and different bantam sizes (Dutch 500 gr - Amrock 1kg).

Autumn 2024.
The male Amrock in these pictures is a sibling of the 2 girls I kept. He had to leave bc I live in a town with neighbours nearby and can’t keep crowing roosters.

 

[VirginiaLowe]

15 years next month!

Well, i beat that by 55 years. I've kept 'chooks' (as we Aussies call them) for 70 years almost straight. But I've never 'raised chickens' if this means hatching baby chickens. Always bought 'point of lay' and always free range. I've done exchanges with the eggs - for lifts to book groups and poetry workshops (i don't drive) and for sourdough bread from a neighbour - also as 'thanks for inviting us to dinner' gifts. Have just given last two to daughter who has a permaculture farm with free range chooks almost wall to wall. these final two were as tame as dogs (though living outside, though see poem below). Our bedroom has a decking-length window and they tuned up there as soon as they heard our voices. but husband now almost falls when bends over so can't collect eggs if i am hospitalised which is getting more likely by the minute. See my poem below. My collection has a poem for each year of my life up to 80. The Myopic's Vision: a poetic memoir (on Amazon). Virginia Lowe

15 years next month!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Was helping my grandmother when I was 9, catching them for butchering, brooding, egg gathering, of course cleaning out the coops and feeding and water. I think that is why RIR and BR are still my favorite breeds.

 

[CombNWattles]

Well, i beat that by 55 years. I've kept 'chooks' (as we Aussies call them) for 70 years almost straight. But I've never 'raised chickens' if this means hatching baby chickens. Always bought 'point of lay' and always free range. I've done exchanges with the eggs - for lifts to book groups and poetry workshops (i don't drive) and for sourdough bread from a neighbour - also as 'thanks for inviting us to dinner' gifts. Have just given last two to daughter who has a permaculture farm with free range chooks almost wall to wall. these final two were as tame as dogs (though living outside, though see poem below). Our bedroom has a decking-length window and they tuned up there as soon as they heard our voices. but husband now almost falls when bends over so can't collect eggs if i am hospitalised which is getting more likely by the minute. See my poem below. My collection has a poem for each year of my life up to 80. The Myopic's Vision: a poetic memoir (on Amazon). Virginia Lowe

Congratulations on 70 years of chooks!!! Someday I want to be able to say that I have kept chickens for 70 years.