Me, a science teacher here, ordered some eggs & had them hatch & then gave them away...my son got one, & I built a coop, & bought some food, & then the birds from neighbors, whose kids won some as well, started pourin' in...
A few years ago I met a friend of a friend who had a few Buff Orpingtons in her beautiful yard. I fell in love. It took me several years to be in a place long enough and to have to time to get started and just this past April I got my allowed 4. And, very happy I did.
When my little girls face swelled to nearly the size of a basketball because of preservatives in our food supply...I went crazy getting set up to be WAYYYY more food self sufficient for her health. I don't want her on meds all the time! Chickens were a natural choice and seemed like a great start in the right direction. She eats great now, with no worries, and the food is better for her. We learned to make a lot of different things together from scratch. I am currently working on perfecting the chicken nugget/patty, and ketchup so she can have those...lol! Home processing is GREAT! All the recipes from this site has helped IMMENSELY!!!!!!!! THANK you BYC, and more specifically terrielacey and others who contributed SO many recipes on the recipe thread!!! Every one so far that she can have(most) has been a hit!
We had some years ago at our old place, and once we logged the forest where we are now, we really wanted to enjoy chickens and self sustaining again. Plus we love animals. So, we started with hatchery stock, then moved onto breeder/show stock and are now hooked.
Cause I can since buying my own property 2 years ago and I love all my animals and living here on my small farm.
my oldest son wanted to get some ducks to raise to take with him to college, thought it was the funniest thing I had ever heard but called his bluff, and took him to the local feed store to see if they had any ducks. Not only did they have little ducks, they also had baby chicks, so along with getting the ducks I knew he would never raise, I also picked up 10 baby chicks just because I thought they were so darn cute. That was over 10 yrs ago, and alls I can say, it became another addiction, but a healthy and theraputic one!
I enjoy them and the eggs taste way better than store bought. I have the property and room so I have them. I was never able to have them before due to lack of space and life. Now I have enough that they pay for there feed through eggs and selling extra roos for meat. This year, I am hatching some just for resell to the ladies I work with. I am hoping I can have them big enough by Christmas.
Mu hubby got me into them. His father had a farm in Purto Rico. And I always see baby chicks at a store that i uised to go to and say ohhhh soooo cute. Well one day me and my nice convince hubby to get 1 chick, lol And it went from there, the same day we back to get another as a freind for teh first one.
i put some eggs in the incubator for a school project only one hathced no one wanted a single chick dad said i could keep it .
