What made you decide to get chickens?

[d.k]

* They both just showed up!!! One at the top of the driveway little over a year ago, and one at the front door last week!! Whaddurya gonna do??? Can't say, "No", right??? That's not nice!!! (Somehow, I foresee a lot more chickens in my future. . . )

 

[rebecca10782]

How funny

Was she in a basket and bonnet

I wish chickens just showed up on my doorstep

 

[sussexgal]

It all started with a wet area behind the barn.... I live on the farm I grew up on. Dad retired the farm in 84 and I moved back in the early 90's after Mom got sick and needed help. So... here's this wet area that used to be a garden field. Bet it would hold a pond! Yup..... put in a nice fishing pond. SO says - don't we need some ducks to go with the pond? Home came a school hatch project. Seven drakes and two hens. Discovered rather quickly that drakes are not nice to each other if there's too many and a hen is around. I worked with a woman who had chickens and pigeons.... see where this is going? She wouldn't take free ducks and insisted I take a few chickens in exchange. She traded me a nice trio of mixed breeds for 5 drakes. (I got the better end of the deal.) And so it bagan.... I now have close to 30 chickens. Sell the eggs and just bought an incubator... Soon I will be building another coop so I can keep even more chickens.... there is just no end in sight! I love the little ruffle butts... Oh and on the side? The husband of the woman who got some ducks says: Don't we need a pond to go with the ducks?

We don't own the poultry - they own us!

 

[La Banan]

Three reasons:
my head said - get more self-sufficient, hard times acoming!

my heart said - they are a healthy home entertainment centre - funny and dear!

my spirit said - chickens taught me to meditate years ago and I want more support for that part of my life.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

i took over our original group for DH last year when his hours changed. He choose those chickens Sex Links, Easter Eggers,Speckled Sussex. I needed a distraction when my son was deployed ti Iraq so DD and I ordered 25 chicks from Sandhill. We ordered Polish,Cochins and orpintons. We waited and waited. They finally came in April but 9 died out of 25 so we got in touch with them and they sent another 23. Then DH decided he had to have Black Australopes so he bought 10 As you can imagine I no longer need a distraction I'm too busy taking care of all these birds.lol

 

[Mycookoonest]

When I went through a full dozen eggs in one weekend... I said... Hmmm I'm too lazy to keep running out for eggs let me get a few chickens...

A few and we've now settled on 23 chickens and 2 turkeys.

It was a good learning experience for the kids when they were incubating, then hatching, then watching Mommy and Daddy take care of them. The kids LOVE to go out and feed them treats, and will talk about the chickens to no end. My 2 year old knows about all their names.

I also wanted to be a little more greener. And save a few chickens from mainstream poultry farming. DH went to a poultry farm and saw the hundreds even thousands of chicks and chickens just one on top of the other. So it was easy to sell him on freeing a few from that life. Now he's so proud of our setup and his chickens (LOL).

 

[vfem]

My husband DARED to tell me I'm going country! Laughed at how well I took to leaving the city when I cried how much I wanted to have the hwy noise and the nightly parties. Oh how I was going to miss club hopping on foot, and knowing I could call a taxi at any hour.

So to just give him a jolt I suggested chickens and why not plant a field of corn in the backyard! He laughed... so I took it the next level and did an online search for types of chickens for a few weeks. Came across silkies and SERIOUSLY fell in love. I told him I wanted them.... joke OVER! I had to have this adorable little poofs in my yard.

He told me ok, didn't think I was serious until I found a hatchery and we drove to get them. The look on his face in the car was priceless as we took our silkie babies home.

Now he loves them just as much as I do, and he can't wait to finish the chicken palace in the yard for them

 

[1mommahen]

DH, DD and I walked into Agway for seeds for the garden and heard the peepin'! An hour and 8 chicks later, we were on our way home! Now we're up to 18. And next Spring is right around the corner!

 

[PeeperKeeper]

The price of eggs went up last Easter so we JUMPED in!

 

[lockedhearts]

Well, when we bought our place 6 years ago, Hubby started bugging me about Chickens.
So last year I bought him 4 for Easter. We now have 49 and one incubator full with eggs coming this week.......

Yep he knows better than to complain about building more coops, it's all HIS fault anyway