Official BYC Poll - Which aspect of keeping chickens do you enjoy the most?

[N F C]

Chicken TV is the best show ever! We pull up our chairs close to the run and watch the drama and comedy unfold every day. DH and I enjoy the time together with the girls, laughing at their high jinks, noting their differences & similarities, reminiscing about their "baby" days and how they have grown.

And of course the eggs are great! They give us our breakfast and can be used for so many things like egg salad and in other dishes. Plus, I bake and am constantly using eggs for that. Our youngest girls have recently started laying so now we're getting 9-11 eggs a day and our neighbors & friends are beginning to enjoy them too. It's nice to share the bounty with people that appreciate real farm fresh eggs.

We love our chickens, they are one of the best parts of having our little farm.

 

[blkjak]

In our house we all have diiferent reasons. Eggs for sure. My daughter likes purebreds and would like to show chickens some day. Watching chicks hatch is exciting. My reason would be the enjoyment of watching them experience life and imagining how dinosaurs were very similar to chickens.

 

[ChickenSkool]

I LOVE my chickens, but none of those reasons seemed to quite fit, so I picked "other". I started out wanting fresh, healthy eggs from happy, well-cared-for chickens in order to produce some of my own food, at a better standard than stores to boot. Then I branched into meat as well. So, I LOVE the fresh food from very happy healthy chickens. BUT, the whole process of taking care of them has been really great as well. Gets me out *every single day* (more than once) even in the long, frozen winter, even when I don't want to (or the heat of the summer, for that matter - that's not better than cold to me!). That is super healthy (mentally and physically) for ME as I would probably just be holed up inside unless I had to go somewhere in the car. I enjoy *needing* to care for them and finding ways to keep them healthy in all circumstances, protect them, and make them happy. I also really love getting different varieties and trying to keep moving my "egg basket" towards having every color possible. I love to keep learning and trying things, as well as being able to help others on the road where I've already been, too. It's just an all-encompassing great hobby, with the benefit of healthy and DELICIOUS additions to my whole family's diet. I even added four turkeys, too. I can't really imagine a more fulfilling, productive hobby, because even if you spend time doing something useful and enjoyable, it isn't always something with personality that also looks for you and is happy when you come around and begs you for treats, and all of that. Sewing or woodworking, for example, while good and practical, don't have the living animal-love angle. So that's my book about what I enjoy about my chicken-keeping.

 

[TamingMaster]

I love their companionship and their personalities!

When I first started Chicken keeping, I though all they did was lay eggs and eat....
But, I was very wrong!
They have the best personalities!
And they're very clever...

Here's my Chickens!

Lovey, (Left), and Lady Marigold, (Right).

Fluttershy!

And Lady Egglantine!

 

[Mukchickens]

I love the eggs and the kids on the block come around almost everyday to gather the eggs.
But the Chickens help me in the gardens, they eat all the grubs and turn up the soil plus fertilize it.
They are also funny too watch. Their personalities are all so different.

 

[Heidi T]

My absolute favorite thing about chickens is having to get up, every day, and take care of them. On my bad days I can hardly get out of bed and function. Nobody else is going to feed them and tuck them in at night, so I have to. They can't take care of them selves. They helped me out of many a funk . I hope this winter is easier now that I have a light timer and don't have to be out there at 6am.
And I never have to turn the mulch pile.

 

[Melonnie]

This past spring was my first experience with chickens. I wanted to raise them for the eggs as well as for fertilizer to be used in my gardens and vineyard. I had no idea that they would be so entertaining and therapeutic! My husband and I own a fishing resort and work long hours. There is nothing better than coming home in the evening and watching them and our two Pekin ducks. They all certainly do have heir own personalities. They are the perfect pets that keep on giving so much more than just eggs!!!!

 

[Cheryl1948]

Ditto Sumi, post #3

 

[HugHess]

I got into it because my mum has moderate FTD (dementia) and one of her chores as a kid was caring for the chickens.
I decided that hatching a batch of eggs would keep her cognitive 'muscle' flexing and I would just have fun with 'it' and her.
Well, she 'baled' on me and in spite of it, I have been having a blast. Now I need yet another support group for my chicken addiction!
Got it real bad!
To ALL the 'Enablers' out there (and you know who you are ...thank you !!!
We appreciate it!

 

[Julie1977]

I also just LOVE the way they run or shall I say waddle really fast? They are so very entertaining lolol When free ranging they chase everything that moves

I call them my kids he he he