What do you raise your chickens for? (poll)

[flockoffour]

I was curious about what everyone rasied their chickens for, whether it was for laying, meat, show birds, etc.
Thanks

 

[mtnviewfarms]

I keep my flock for eggs to sell at local farmers markets and I incubate, hatch and grow out chicks and sell them as started, POL and laying pullets. I also rotate out and sell my older layers as the younger ones I keep from my hatches come into lay.

I also LOVE having different Heritage Breeds and breeding them, crossing them - I get some fantastic crosses! I just enjoy being around and raising chickens - every aspect of it and them! They are such
fascinating creatures and the learning about them is endless.

 

[BarefootMom]

Also to give my kids chores and responsibility. I would hate it if my kids though eggs and chicken nuggets came from the store! Today while picking up my chick, my almost 4 yr old daughter asked me what we going to do with the chicks. I told her 50 of them we were going to eat. Her response "Chicken Nuggets!! I love Chicken Nuggets!" That's my girl!

 

[shamrockmommy]

Currently my tiny flock (soon to be expanded by 14 in the brooder) is for eggs and enjoyment. Our first 3 have names and so we could never butcher them, no matter how old they are. I am slowly getting accustomed to the idea that the occasional rooster may have to go to the stew pot (or at least to the dogs, who eat a varied diet). In this batch of biddies, it looks like at least 2 roosters (supposed to be all pullets!).
(in total I have in the brooder: 3 australorps, 7 easter eggers, 2 comets and 2 RIRs). Our older 3 are comets also.

And then I discovered a show breeder of SLWs, just GORGEOUS birds, beautiful! So I ordered 1 roo, 3 hens, and that is the roo I'd prefer to have over everyone, so we'll just have to see.

 

[Shalva]

I got chickens for one reason and one reason only..... Tick reduction... I have nine show dogs and am sick of them coming up with lyme and decided on natural tick reduction in the form of feathers... That having been said the eggs are a side benefit... and we are vegetarians so they are wonderful pets. Now that i have them I just LOVE them I never realized how nice chickens were

 

[3KillerBs]

The chickens we're getting are for 3 purposes -- pest control, eggs, and a step towards greater self-sufficiency.

The ticks, palmetto bugs, roaches, squash borers, stink bugs, etc. that plague our home and garden here in the steamy southeast are beyond bearing. I could spray the entire yard down with poison or I could get chickens.

Without a rooster the self-sufficiency part is minor but we're in town so no roosters.

Expensive, but ultra-high-quality eggs are a bonus.

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

Aside from Eggs (for me) and Meat (for my Dad) it's mostly back yard antics

 

[cmoore333]

I put other and laying. My daughter suffers from food allergies, manly certain foods that have been over processed. She loved egg salad, egg dishes of any kind. Although the allergy reaction started out minor, it started to get worse. So on the advice of her allergist, he suggested trying farm fresh eggs, or duck eggs. Both seem to help. So since we live outside the city limits, and have several acres of land, we decided to raise our own...
I don't think it was the eggs themselves is what Rebecca was having a reaction to but what said chickens where feed. Mine free range all day and she eats way more eggs now, and only suffered one time ( I think it was one of those reactions as she ate eggs three times that day, so to much of a good thing)

 

[JTifft]

Laying and pets at this point. Thinking about another small flock for the table. Roos that hopefully the wife and kids wont think are so cute. One thing at a time.

 

[Tanith BHH]

Mostly for pets now, as none of them lay as much, and I have no intention of eating them, maybe if I had more land I'd keep some meat birds. But I love the eggs (when they do lay) they have been the most expensive pets/animals i've kept so far, which I had not been planning on!! Suppose it was my fault for choosing the breeds that I did!