What Made You Get Your Chickens?

[stilwellchick]

I grew up in an affluent area, never seen a farm, and always went away to riding school in the summer. I was the kid that was more interested in staying in the barns hanging out with the animals than doing activities with the other kids. I was fascinated by all farms animals, especially the chickens and goats. Fast forward to adult living in city...put up a 6' privacy fence and started with 4 chicks. Loved them! Got married and had to move to DH's house with no chance of having chickens. Seven years later convinced DH to move to acreage and now have chickens again. I missed having chickens every day for 7 years. BTW, goats on the way in 2 months. I have waited about 40 years for them.

 

[Donza]

Funny how these little critters grab you isn't it? I live in the "rural" suburbs of South Florida on a few acres with horses and cats and got my first chicken in 1995 when she excaped from a neighbor across the little canal in back of my house (she was a balsera LOL). She moved into a tree behind my barn and would come hang with me in the barn during the day.

I had always wanted Silkies and so when she went broody I bought her some Silkie eggs. Of the 6 eggs only one hatched. We named him "Peeping Tom" and I spent my afternoons following them around and watching them play. I learned so much from them! Then one day she decided to "wean" him and instead of leading him back to their nest in the barn she flew up her tree to roost. Well Silkie chicks don't fly and unfortunately I didn't realize what had happened until the next day when I found her in the tree and baby gone for good. He was only snack size for a raccoon or a cat. She was desperate to find him and so I thought if I got her another chick she would be OK.

So I called friend with the eggs and he brought me over a day-old bantam Dutch chick. But still being very new at chicken psychology I tried to give it to her in the middle of the day and she took one look at it and decided to kill it. Well between her and the curious cats the poor chick had a rather stressful afternoon. Once I recovered the chick I realized that I now had to raise her myself.

So she came to live in my home office and grew up playing on my desk and sitting on my wrist as I typed a text book I was writing. So she (and I) became "Computerchick". You can read her story on "Pip's Pages" at www.computerchick.com. The diary stops in 1998 because I started working full time and just never had the time to work on it but she lived until she was 8 years old (2003) and then quietly passed on in her sleep.

She never really accepted the fact that she was a chicken and was horrified when the first rooster tried to breed with her. She lived in a carrier inside my house and would come in thru the kitty door every night to go to bed. She would also come in to her little house every afternoon to lay her eggs and then sometimes spend the day wandering the house until I got home. She was a very special girl and had so much personality - she taught me so much. She and I could communicate and I always knew what she was thinking.

So I've had chickens (chooks to you Auzzies) ever since. Now I only have one lonely Silkie rooster and his 3 children (2 roosters and a hen). At one point there were 34 but thanks to the passing years, hawks, neighbor dogs and the other wild critters these 4 are all I have left. I REALLY need a new Silkie hen for the lonely rooster if there is someone in Florida who will part with one - it needs to be close enough for me to go pick up. I don't want to have her shipped.

Oh and for those of you who have fire ants - be warned that Amdro or any of those fire ant mound baits are DEADLY POISON to any birds and especially chickens. I found out the hard way

:~D

 

[HorseFeathers]

We saw an article in Mother Earth News about city chickens and thought hey, thats a good idea. Boy we had NO IDEA...

 

[CathyB]

Well, I had a chicken in college and loved her. I never really thought I would go ahead and order a small flocl. I think I had several reasons. I always wanted them and loved them, I wanted to be more self sufficent, and I saw pictures and read an article about the so called "free range chickens" and how they are treated. The last one is what did me in. I wanted to eat eggs from happy chickens! Call me crazy, I know some of you will......

 

[RockHouseRanch]

I read an article in a magazine about chicken breeds that were so-called "heritage breeds", breeds that were not commercially produced and in danger of perhaps dying out one day. I had just moved from an apartment in Brooklyn to the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma and had all the space in the world. So I thought, why not help out a breed that needs preserving and have fresh eggs to boot? My chicks are about 5 weeks old now (Dominiques) and they're doing great.

 

[chicknmania]

My son was in FFA and entered two white leghorn hens in the local fair for his FFA project. Trouble was, he didn't have any hens, or any chickens at all. At the last minute, he borrowed two brown leghorn hens from our disbelieving neighbor. AT the fair, a friend of his stuck a brown leghorn roo in with the two hens, for a prank. My son entered this roo, who we named Lucky, in the crowing contest and he secured championship before a wildly cheering audience. This beautiful rooster then became ours, and, of course...he needed some lady friends, right? The rest is history.

 

[Miltonchix]

On impulse! I somehow got on McMurrays website and that was it! Ordered my first batch of birds, THEN decided I had better build a coop.

1st batch was the Homesteaders special (10 brown egg layers, 2 turkey, 2 ducks, and 2 geese)

Tried using box lined with straw and newspaper for brooder. What a MESS! So, I ended up purchasing an official brooder from MM and now........hooked on chickens.

 

[TechEdFireman]

We had chickens, rabbits, pigs, ducks, and geese growing up. I have always loved animals since I have been around them all my life. I finally convinced the wife that we should get chickens b/c we are starting a family and it would be a good thing for our child to grow up with oh and the eat and meat is better than store bought. We settled on 8-10 and then I ordered 6 more all from Ideal she wasn't happy about with me getting more than she agreed on. I only lost one and she now has a soft spot for them.

 

[chcknrs]

I grew up on 600 acres. We had chickens, pigs, rabbits and a 3000 sf garden that 3 families shared. When I got married we had to live in the city for many years. For our last move, I hounded DH to find a place in the country so I could have a decent garden and some chickens. Now I also have 2 goats, and am trying to convince him we need a couple of pigs and a couple of steer.

I truly believe the natural foods are what's kept me alive. I have an autoimmune disorder, and since we went to natural and organic foods I have not been to the doctor for it.

 

[pattycake]

I wanted a third baby, and my husband put his foot down! We compromised on chickens.