Some things I have learned since I started raising chickens...

[kreolechick]

I can relate to all you've learned, thank you for posting! I've learned that I'm not the only crazy chicken lady on this planet!

 

[wowmanacat]

I sit here reading this with tears in my eyes thing how much of it I have learned. What I have learned is so much and I am still learning each and every day. Like most the ones you love the most as chick turn out to roosters. I have one that will be here till he dies since he is handicapped.

 

[citychickx6]

That my DH after years of saying "NO" to chickens has been way to easy to convert.

He wants to get some speckled sussex or millie fleur cause they are "so darn cute".
He is hoping the big girls will accept the new girls someday soon so he can get some little cuties.

 

[MommyMagpie]

I have learned that chickens have personalities, and that I like ours better than some humans I know.

Chickens do smell good - like a clean barn. I really, really love the smell of new peeps.

We had never felt a chicken's comb, wattles or earlobes before we got our hens, and DS14 said, after he felt them for the first time - "Chicken combs feel like beard hairs on an earlobe." We think chicken wattles and earlobes are soft and interesting.

I have discovered that I encourage people to do two things: wear properly-fitted undergarments, and keep chickens!

 

[suki'smom]

What a great thread

Thus far I've learned:

That I will sit for hours just watching my birds, but can only stand to watch tv for a few minutes.

That squirrels like chicken too...

That keeping foxes and chickens actually works out pretty well (the smell of my foxes keeps most predators off the property)

That an ounce of prevention is worth well beyond a pound of cure

That chickens really like my moles...and the tattoo on my leg...

That chickens give the nastiest looks if you do something they don't approve of...

If I'll eat it, they probably will too

I could go on and on

 

[LizaBlue]

I've learned that watching chicken-sex is not for the faint of heart

I've learned that chickens can make more weird noises than my computer: I heard a sheep, whale, whoopie cushion, and blender yesterday.

I've learned that roosters can be gentlemen and take a lady hen for a drink after she lays her first egg and keep the other roosters/hens/guineas/turkeys from bothering her.

I've learned that raising chickens from day olds has done more for my health than several bouts of physical therapy, mental therapy, pain medicine, and antidepressants. The reward of seeing them well taken care of makes me practically jump out of bed every morning and is worth any extra pain. 6 1/2 years of being barely able to get out of bed or walk to the mailbox has turned into walking over 2 acres a day, picking buckets of pumpkins/butternut squash/cucumbers for the chickens. I also think they are the greatest stress reliever

I've learned that the same chicken that's smart enough to figure out that the dead tree limb you just thrust over the fence was a ladder to rescue her is just as likely to forget she can fly five minutes later.

 

[WyoChickenMamma]

Quote:
You are quite welcome! I just keep thinking of all that I have learned from my babies and this site, and felt compelled to share and hear from other people too.

Keep the posts coming everyone...

 

[LadyGinger]

Quote:
I agree!

 

[audrey02026]

I've learned that my chickens are not just livestock but cherished family pets.

Like you I go to the grocery store just for my chickens.

That you can't have just one breed and then you want them all....weather they are good layers or not.

I've learned that whenever I'm not feeling so happy sitting outside and watching my chickens always brightens my day.

 

[Martha80]

I've learned that chickens can make more weird noises than my computer: I heard a sheep, whale, whoopie cushion, and blender yesterday.