What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[ChickenCanoe]

I looked it up and they do. That's probably where she got them.
https://www.rei.com/b/bogs
I got her a membership years ago when she started traveling abroad.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'll have to ask her where she bought them but REI might carry them. A good friend of mine is a boot shoe expert at REI Outdoors. She always gets awards for footwear sales, her skill at fitting and matching one's activities with the right shoe/boot. You may need to find someone like her and get fitted. Sorry, she works in Santa Barbara California but I imagine most of the REI stores have a person like her.

My local garden store carries Bogs so I have the luxury of being able to try some of them on. I only have issues (unsurprisingly) when I buy styles that the store doesn't carry.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

My hubby pretty much only wears Bogs now (he likes that he can just pull them on). I have 2 pairs for working outdoors, one for chickens and the other for general gardening or rainy weather. They hold up well though fit can be an issue since they're fairly stiff. The ones I wear into the chicken run don't fit me well so they hurt if I walk around a lot, but the rainboots are extremely comfortable.

Yes, they hurt to get on, that I distinctly remember. I have a regular pair of rain boots/wellies from TSC, but those definitely hurt for extended periods of time. They'l be by the basement door from now on to slip on to wake the ladies up and put the ladies to sleep from now on.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

Another 'mistake'.... wearing your slippers outside (in the rain!?!) to check on the chickens! Sorry, no sympathy.

To be fair in regards to my misjudgment, there's a gravel walkway almost the whole way and they are imitation UGGs that my sister gave me, so *technically* they are supposed to be 'boots'

 

[RoosterML]

My worst mistake was not staying on topic in a thread.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

I'll have to ask her where she bought them but REI might carry them. A good friend of mine is a boot shoe expert at REI Outdoors. She always gets awards for footwear sales, her skill at fitting and matching one's activities with the right shoe/boot. You may need to find someone like her and get fitted. Sorry, she works in Santa Barbara California but I imagine most of the REI stores have a person like her.

I have an REI I think around here. We also have a local 'chain' (of two stores) that carry a huge selection of good brands, Red's Shoe Barn. That's where now-hubby brought me at that time. The cheap pair that I got (that busted at the seams) were still $80!

I am farrrrr from Santa Barbara

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

My worst mistake was not staying on topic in a thread.

I was just thinking we kind of hijacked this!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I was just thinking we kind of hijacked this!

We certainly did but wearing the right shoe is an aligned choice.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

I've been wondering if it would be a good idea to build a small flock 2 at a time for a few years. I have four hens now which is a good number for my little household but I've been thinking: eventually they will all stop laying and I will just have a retirement home for four hens.
Curious what others think of my plan.... So 2 chicks every year for 3 or 4 years. That way when the oldest ones stop laying, the youngest ones are still producing eggs. What do others think of my version of "chicken math"? Lol

This is what I was thinking, eggactly. I have 4 (two retired and one who hasn't laid yet but I think she's broody). The temptation to buy 2 chicks has been strong, but thankfully the idea of babies when winter is coming has stopped me from continuing.

My 'planned' chicken math basically has been the same idea, 2 a year to continue production incrementally.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

We certainly did but wearing the right shoe is an aligned choice.

It certainly is more important than I would have guessed prior to chicken ownership!