Poll- how did your flock begin?

[Isadora]

For my chicken / guinea hens, I purchased chicks locally. For my duck flock, all my runners I purchased as near adults off craigslist from a lady who hatched them herself, and my pekins were given to me by a friend who was moving and didn't want to take them.

 

[aart]

Bought five 18 months old hens in fall of 2013,
took same age cock and got four 3mo 'pullets' to boot.
Was great to get eggs right away BUT,
they brought lice, scaly leg mites, and respiratory issues with them.

I didn't want the cock, but got convinced when I met him.
He was always very cool and I learned a lot having him.
Actually gave him back to the woman who's sister needed one.

One of those 'pullets' was a cockerel, my first slaughter the following spring after secluding him all winter cause he was trouble.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I spent about 5 years doing research, Hayden even bought me a book one Christmas.
I think he hoped I would just keep researching. DD came along, a year later we were looking for a new house, and Katrina killed the new house 3 weeks after we bought it, that took up a couple of years.
So finally we were living in our new house, had gotten to be good friends with a neighbor who had 2 boys who were a little older than DD.
One day I see (through the window), Hayden in a big conversation with the neighbor husband. So, being nosey, I went out to see what they were up to. Neighbor was complaining that wife and kids brought home a cockerel who was trying to cross a major highway. Their dog was barking his head off and neighbor wanted chicken gone, but wife and kids wanted to keep him.
I begged like a baby (literally) to keep this cockerel, of course the neighbor was on my side. Poor Hayden had to build a coop and run in 2 days.
And the rest is history.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Other: I found a used coop for sale and it happened to come with five chickens.

 

[khpadventures]

I'm a quarantine chicken owner I decided to order hatching eggs (bc I fell in love with a breed my local shops didn't sell) and got 6 to hatch out!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Other: I found a used coop for sale and it happened to come with five chickens.

@humblehillsfarm You hit the jackpot.
Hope things are going well for you and your flock.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I'm a quarantine chicken owner I decided to order hatching eggs (bc I fell in love with a breed my local shops didn't sell) and got 6 to hatch out!

What breed did you get?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

@humblehillsfarm You hit the jackpot.
Hope things are going well for you and your flock.

Truly I did. It was $500. I’ve seen coops of this size up to $1500. It was a 6x4’. Of course chicken math happened. I have 32 chickens and 12 of them are chicks. In the two years I’ve had chickens I’ve bought from hatcheries, adopted ex battery hens, let hens hatch chicks, and incubated chicks. We processed 20 Cornish X. I’ve got the chicken fever bad! We’ve since built a 20x10 coop for more chickens!

Attached is the old coop. I still have two of the original flock but I’ve lost the others to predators and illness over time. One of them became a lap chicken!

 

[khpadventures]

What breed did you get?

Bielefelder! I adore them. The hens have such a gorgeous gold to red to brown color shift and I'm a huge fan of the auto sexing genes.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Bielefelder! I adore them. The hens have such a gorgeous gold to red to brown color shift and I'm a huge fan of the auto sexing genes.

They are so pretty! I didn’t realize they were auto sexing too! I may have to start looking for some myself!