What makes a "crazy chicken lady/man"?

[N F C]

This thread is such a great idea!

I've loved animals my entire life and always brought home strays that included frogs, snakes and even a chipmunk once! How did my 5 year old self ever catch one? As I grew older, I seemed to develop a propensity to help wounded wild birds and other creatures, and friends always brought abandoned babies for me to try nurse back to health and find them new homes. I was never really allowed to keep anything except a cat and a guinea pig growing up. Naturally, my childhood best and truest friend also loved animals and she eventually became a successful vet tech and my go-to advice nurse. I put college on hold to work full time and achieve my dream of owning horses and rented a cabin in the country. My life was perfect with my horses and my dog, but I just couldn't sustain it forever on my own. Eventually got married in my mid 30s and moved to the "dreaded" suburbs, where we could reasonably afford to purchase our first house.

So, my horses were gone, my beloved dog passed away, I lost my job, then my best friend tragically died shortly after my daughter was born. Talk about a dramatic life change! I love my family dearly, but somehow I felt lost. Later on, I think I got into chickens out of desperation to find any semblance of my old country life after being "trapped" in suburbia for so long. I thought raising chickens might become a family hobby, but they actually turned out to be mine and mine alone. They give me great comfort in a world that seems to have no interest in my trivial homesteading aspirations.

Yes, the glazed-over stares and eye rolls always appear after any chicken talk beyond "wow, you get your own fresh eggs and you don't even have to buy them from the store!" Why don't so-called normal people have any interest in the amazing chicken world? Thank goodness for BYC! There's really no one else who gets it. My husband tries to be supportive, but he doesn't quite understand either. Maybe I am crazy. At least I can come here and read ridiculous chicken stories and not feel alone. I'm constantly learning and researching, striving to expand my experiences... like incubating eggs someday!

I desperately want more chickens. One of every color and feather pattern! I desire my own stunningly colorful egg basket so I can admire and hold that which I covet from everyone else's pictures. But sadly, I have to constantly beat away the Chicken Math Bug. With a stick. Every day. I just can't have too many birds in my backyard... what would my neighbors think? But wait... maybe I could still sneak more in anyway... if I redesign the interior of my coop to sleep more chickens? Or build a whole other coop!

Moving to the suburbs just seemed like a necessary step to save up for our ultimate goal... owning a nice piece of acreage. It's taking a bit longer than we had expected, but I think I'm gonna be in real trouble once we move to the country and actually have the space for more chickens and a rooster, and some ducks and bunnies, and some goats, and some horses. *sigh* I pray someday it will happen. I feel like I'm running out of time, but after reading posts here on BYC about so many people just starting their farm lifestyles after retirement, it's giving me hope.

Thank you everyone, for saying everything that I can identify with: chickens being the ultimate anti-depressant, liking animals more than people, using them as an excuse to leave social gatherings etc. That's exactly my life.

You're among your own kind here Floppy (and I'm glad you're here)!