Topic of the Week - What is the purpose of your flock?

[rosemarythyme]

Like many other respondents mine are pets with side benefits of eggs and fertilizer. I've had pet birds for much of my life, so I'm happy to have birds again, in a way that my husband finds acceptable - he's really enjoying having chickens as well as they're friendly but fairly self sufficient.

As for the side benefits, I'm always trying to improve on what I cook for my family: over time we've been eating more organic foods, more locally produced foods, less meat, and more vegetables, whole grains, etc. I've been slowly expanding my vegetable garden each year and have started composting as well. I'm not really looking to become self sufficient, rather, we're just trying to eat healthier, tastier, fresher food, while being mindful of our environmental impact.

 

[KHBaker]

Mine are for eggs, fertilizer, and pets When we first got them, they were meant to be dual purpose egg/meat but we ended up bonding with them and meat is no longer an option. Our six hens are still young (6 weeks) but their main purpose will be egg laying.

 

[Crow-ded house]

Therapy. I find watching them relaxing. We will not eat them and friends are enjoying the eggs. And once everybody was big enough to go out in the world no ticks or fleas and snakes have taken a beating.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

I got mine for pets and not for anything else. I do still take and eat the eggs but my main purpose was to give them a loving home and help keep me calm

 

[JurassicChicken]

Like many others, I have chickens as pets and egg producers. I eat plenty of chicken, but never one of my own...those chickens are friends of mine.

 

[Abriana]

Mine are strictly pets. they are definitely lap chickens (they pull at my pants so ill squat and they can get on my lap). I would never think of eating them or killing them. When they are done laying, they will be much loved pets until a natural death or if they contract an illness and must be put down. Euthanasia is the only way I’d ever kill them, for their own good. They bring me so much joy!

 

[RodNTN]

I keep my chickens for several different reasons: Eggs, entertainment, breeding, pets, rearing baby chicks naturally, etc.

For egg laying I keep White Leghorns, Production Reds, and Sex Links.

Every chicken I have keeps me entertained

For breeding I keep Ayam Cemani's.

For pets (lapdogs) I keep Easter Eggers, Buff Orpingtons, and d'Uccles.

And for good mothers I keep Old English Games and Buff Orpingtons.

 

[Kaerie]

My daughter and I do volunteer work at a local farm animal rescue/petting farm, and are highly involved in the day-to-day operations of the farm.

Our main flock there is a mishmash of rescued chickens of all kinds, around 40 or so of them. Lots of surrendered roosters, and we get perhaps 2 dozen eggs per day from our hens and ducks. We like getting our hands on anything "different", that visiting children might not have seen before, as well.

I also keep 4 smaller coops there on the farm. Two of the coops contain my birds, consisting of 3 roos and 11 hens. Those are primarily for eggs, although we do have a few show quality black leghorns in the mix as well that we purchased from last year's local poultry show. I have black leghorns, wyandottes, barnvelders, and salmon faverolles right now. Just hatched out a couple of black copper maran chicks that will be joining the salmons when they are old enough.

One of the other small coops is for the farm's 8 bantam birds that are teeny tiny and get beat up in the main coop. It's a converted 2-story rabbit hutch, with a run underneath. We mostly use the bantam birds for events involving children, because they are hardy enough to handle the children holding them, but small enough that the kids aren't afraid of them. We have 2 Japanese bantam roosters, one bantam polish rooster, and the rest bantam D'uccles in there.

The other smaller coop is for the 5 RIRs that we accidentally got at auction a few weeks ago. (The owner was trying to get the bidding started, and ended up with 5 birds for 5 bucks..*laugh*) They will probably go into the main coop in a few weeks, because we'd like to eventually get 2-3 Japanese bantam hens and put one of the roos from the other coop in, and hatch a few eggs.

Then we have the "nursery", which contains our chicks in various stages of growth, including a bunch of meat birds that are around 8 weeks old now, and our hospital wing, which is where we put any sick/ailing birds that need treatment. Currently housing just one adventurous little polish that simply WON'T back off trying to bully the bigger birds, and occasionally ends up with no feathers left on the top of his head. *sigh*

So.. uh.. yeah, right now, I think we're hitting every type of use there is!

Egg laying? Check!
Exhibition? Check!
Dual purpose (meat and eggs)? Check!
Lawn ornaments/pets? Check!
Other? Educational purposes - Check!

 

[Cryss]

The reasons for our chooks has been a succession of stages as we experience them.
For several years we have tried gardening with varying degrees of success. In the late summer '17 we began spreading wood chips for Back To Eden style gardening after becoming excited by the Paul Gautchi YouTube videos. I soon became aware that chickens were an integral part of Paul's system. The family has talked for years about raising chickens for eggs and meat but never seemed to have time to get serious. I was serious about starting my BTE garden and bit the bullet. I convinced the family we should get some pullets so they would be of egg laying age by spring, and buy a small coop from tractor supply just as a start. In spring we can build bigger. (DEFINITELY gotta build that bigger coop. Live n learn) The plan was to add new pullets every year and every 3 years enjoy chicken and dumplings. (Already adding 4 more after only half a year!) So it started with wanting fertilizer. The bonus of eggs became the second reason. Meat became the third.
BOOM! We have 4 chickens. Now reality hits. TS Coop? Lesson learned. Can't wait to build. Predators! I spent 3 months freezing my fingers working with wire. Water? Trudged out every 1-2hours in 4 separate Nor'easter storms to swap frozen waterers out. Health. I've learned how to take care of crop issues.
And then my son in law asks when will these be ready for him to cull. Not sure that is going to be possible unless for humane reasons.
We've discovered what we call Chicken Therapy. After a frustrating work day sit with the flock with a bit of scratch. When anxiety issues arise go talk to the gals. When you're angry just go sit and watch. Plus, nothing will make you smile quicker than discovering a freshly laid egg. And now these gals are our friends. Nope. Can't eat em. Maybe some future flock will be easier. Who am I kidding.
So to summarize, my chooks are for fertilizer, eggs, and Chicken Therapy.

 

[MROO]

I.e. why do you keep chickens?

Well, it started out as "Nostalgia," but morphed into much more.

While researching her beloved Guernsey cattle, my 4H-obsessed daughter found The Livestock Conservancy website - livestockconservancy.org - and Nankin Bantam chickens. The photo was the spitting image of my pet rooster many, many years ago. The stories started flowing and my daughter decided that we "needed" Nankins. It took us two years and a six-hour drive to locate our first straight-run clutch of ten fuzzy peeps. The boys won, 6-4, but we were off!

So, why do we keep chickens?

• Eye Candy - Our boys are gorgeous!
• Pets - Every last one is friendly & social. Spending time with them is very relaxing.
• Life Lessons for Children - My daughter takes most of the responsibility for them and shows them at the State and County Fairs.
• Once the ladies go broody, we won't be getting eggs anymore, but that's okay. The whole point of this venture - and the reason we started out in the first place - was to help preserve a dying piece of history - both globally and my own, right here at home.