Reluctant chicken convert

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Welcome to the flock! BYC is a wonderful place to ask questions. There are so many poultry keepers and experts excited to jump in and help 😊
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Pullety said:
(1) Are you new to chickens/when did you first get chickens?

Yes. March 2020.

I’m a city girl who married a small town guy and now I live in the country. I didn’t want chickens; didn’t want the extra work. But my toddler loved eggs for some reason (coveted them in the carton, liked to hold them and look at them, loved playing with toy eggs, etc). So when a friend offered three of her hens to my boy, I accepted.

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Then, when two of our hens stopped laying for a bit, we hated getting store-bought eggs. So we ordered some chicks. Then I was hooked.


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I got my husband to build a proper coop and run (he said there wouldn’t be another or there would be a divorce) and I’m preparing to get our first hatching eggs in a few weeks. I’m super scared and excited

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?

12

(3) What breeds do you have?

Columbia rocks
ISA brown
Red rock
Ameraucana
Rhode Island Red X Rhode Island white
Novogen white
Shaver black
Easter egger

The hatching eggs we’re getting are:
Australorp
Jersey Giant
Orpington
Wyondotte
Barred rock

In the future I would like:
Bielefelder
Double silver laced barnvelder

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?

Spending time with the chickens, when they like to hang out with us and wait their turn to get some attention.

Their eggs, all the colours, all unique. I think they are nature’s perfection.

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Seeing the chickens’ different personalities and behaviours and often getting a laugh from them.

Getting a surprise every morning seeing who has laid.

Taking good care of them.

Feeding my family healthy eggs.

Seeing how happy they make my boy

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Also, one day potentially breeding for traits that are personally desirable to me seems pretty exciting but that would require more infrastructure. I was thinking of trying to hire a shop teacher to teach me some basic construction so that I could be more independent that way.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?

At different times I’ve done a lot of sewing, making things I wanted but couldn’t find.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.

It’s my husband, me, our little guy, and two cats - one of them came with our property. I didn’t want her because she was a beast and I was afraid of her but my husband said she didn’t deserve to lose her home. It turns out she’s an amazing cat and I’ve told my husband we should take our son’s education savings and get her cloned in Korea. She’s a marshmallow with us but outside she’s a fierce protector of me, my son, and our chickens. She has tried to run off a bear, has killed pack rats and two weasels near our coop, and has run after a hawk that was flying along our fence line by the coop. She has never been aggressive with the chickens.

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My husband and I are older for having a little one and I wanted more, but my husband said no, that we’re too old. So I told him to prepare for lots of animals. I think that’s part of why I’m enjoying these chickens so much.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? :D

Whenever I googled a chicken question that I had, a BYC post would come up.

I decided to join so that I could be part of the community to get support if I need it with incubating and hatching.

Thanks for having me!
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Welcome! You have come to the right place. I see you already got the chicken math bug.
Your lil one is such a cutie with all his chickens around. Enjoy and good luck.
 

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