What do you raise your chickens for?

[diamondsilkies]

I love the fresh eggs, I make compost from their poop, and love them in general. I love their personalities and antics, and they never fail to make me smile. I breed them as a hobby, mostly because I love the high quality silkies and find breeding an interesting hobby. (Also the chicks are just darling)

 

[Poultrybreeder]

I use my chickens for show, meat, eggs, and of course breeding. All is well, except when I have like 5 dozen eggs in my fridge lol.

 

[Mimi13]

Ha! I’m not sure which reason came first: the actual chicken or the egg! But, since I had never raised chickens before it was probably the egg; just one of those decisions you make later in life and say, “Hey, honey, now that I am retired I can help grow our food!”

Yes, I started out, like most, for the eggs, but those darn birds grew on me (yes, even after one pecked my diamond stud earring out of my ear and ate it.) I think the care and nurture of the little chicks, while waiting on those eggs, makes the little boogers grow on you for sure.

Excitement grows and intensifies as the pullets prepare to lay eggs. By the time the first egg is laid most keepers are giddy beyond belief. It’s about this time that you are completely in love and start thinking about getting more, yes, getting more chickens!

I have names for all my chickens and there are several of them that enjoy sitting on my lap getting every bit of attention and loving that they can. However, I did grow up on a farm where it was normal to raise our food for slaughter, therefore, it has always been in the back of my mind that at some point, aside from the wonderful eggs, my birds would become dinner. It’s just the way I grew up.

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

ALL OF THEM (Picked the top 3 tho)

 

[Shadrach]

I get paid for doing it.
Crazy isn't it, all the posts I've made, the book I'm writing about chicken behavior, the work with them I've done and they're not even my chickens
If I did keep chickens I would keep rescue chickens probably.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I’m raising a team of sled chickens to pull me around in the winter snow, but the eggs are nice too

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

@OhZark Biddies wow

 

[Hopperkiller]

To control grasshoppers without insecticides from eating my shrubs and fruit trees. Now im running short of spiders, beetles, and other bugs. The flock has since turned into theraputic enjoyment. What is more relaxing than chickens clucking and scratching chasing bugs and one noisy rooster adding to the scenario. They kill a mouse every now and then and the keep away game begins.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

@OhZark Biddies wow

I come from a long line of chicken wagoners... this is my great grandpa Efrem with his trusty draft roo Clyde ... Clyde is on the right.

(non of the above is true ... just a funny picture from the interwebs)

 

[PouleChick]

Pets with benefits (eggs)

Yep! I picked eggs, meat and breeding. Love the eggs and hope I can have enough to sell by spring to help cover feed costs! I said meat but at this stage I'm not quite there yet, still hoping I will be able to rehome those roos I'm not keeping (I was going to have a cockerel = freezer camp rule but actually having them that has been blown out of the water!). Breeding again is something that is kind of a new plan as I can't get Easter Eggers as such here very easily so I'm hoping to breed my blue / brown / chocolate / white layers in varying combos to get some cool egg colours!

I come from a long line of chicken wagoners... this is my great grandpa Efrem with his trusty draft roo Clyde ... Clyde is on the right.

(non of the above is true ... just a funny picture from the interwebs)

That is brilliant