When did you decide to raise chickens and why?

[Arielle2]

A lone hen needed a home......the rest is history. Her name was Arielle.

All the chickens, turkeys and ducks here are her fault.

 

[SplashyDashyChicksHatchi]

So it wasn't really a choice... our neighbor found a hen in her yard and since she had dogs, no shelter or food for it, and no desire to have one, she asked if we wanted it. After being accommodated into her new rabbit cage, she seemed content. But we were to be deceived... my mother came home with a large feed bag, two scoops, treat holders... and 4 chicks. We've gotten 5 more since then(-2 since they died and one had to be replaced since she was too young) and have a happy flock of 2 adult hens, 6 beautiful pullets, and 1 squirrelly rooster.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

I had wanted chickens for a few years. We used to live in town and were not allowed to have them. We would buy eggs from the farmers market and they were so delicious. When we moved to a rural area, one of my conditions was that I wanted chickens.

 

[Treerooted]

I'm not sure exactly when I started wanting them, but I think it became a more specific goal in university. At the time I didn't feel settled enough to get any. Even after buying our first house our plan was to move to the country so I decided to wait until then.
And I did! Currently have 14 and now 23 new additions.

 

[lazy gardener]

Way, way, way back... 2 friends and I were saving our money so we could pool our resources and buy a baby squirrel monkey from a magazine ad. Back in the day, you could do that sort of thing! Well, our funds were short, and one day when we were walking from one of our homes to an other, we found a white broiler hen who had escaped from a transport truck. So, we decided that one hen in hand was worth more than a squirrel monkey in a magazine ad! We took turns keeping her. A short while later, in 6th grade, I provided banty eggs from a local farm for our classroom hatching project, and kept the chicks (100% hatch rate!). That started my own first flock, and it grew from there.

 

[ChristineAtkins]

When I visited my friends home with my family last year, my children saw the chickens over there and insist of having them in our home. First I was against it, but later I have to agree because of them as they love it and for me my child's happiness is more important.

 

[MountainGaurdian]

I have always raised chickens, every ranch or farm I ever lived on I was always put in charge of chickens for some reason.

As an adult it seemed natural to raise them for myself. Why I raise them.... Honestly... I just really like birds....

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I got 4 chickens this spring over the objections of DH. I was retiring (and I did, at the end of June!), wanted a project, wanted to be more self-sufficient, and was sick of paying so much for good eggs.

Still waiting for the eggs, and I have to put up with DH’s griping about how he was “ forced” to build a chicken coop, but the chickens are a source of constant entertainment. I hope to try meat birds but probably not this year.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I wanted chickens sense last winter, and I got them this spring as chicks. The reason?: I WANTED A PET. More here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/when-did-you-decide-to-raise-chickens-and-why.1221342/

 

[Phunktacular]

I was in Korea, in the Army. My wife and sister-in-law went Easter shopping with my Mother-in-Law. My MOL tells her daughters that they should get our children some chicks. The MOL buys each of our families a half dozen leghorn chicks. I'm supposed to be gone for over another year so, my Father-in-Law comes and build my wife a small 2x6 coop with an elevated hen house for the ladies. I found out soon after that we now had chickens. I didn't actually think they'd last until I got home so, just went with it. I got home around Easter the following year and we still had 5 of the 6 hens. (Friend of my wife's brought her young lab retriever over and he got ahold of 1 of them) The night before Mother's Day, my wife and I went out to celebrate because, the next day was fully planned for company. When we got up, the yard was full of feathers and we had lost all 5 of the remaining ladies. My sitter and kids all forgot to lock the coop prior to going to bed. About a week later, I could tell my wife was still sad and really missed her birds so, we went to a local Mennonite farm store and ended up with 6 RIR's, 6 Cornish Crosses and a Broad Breasted White poult. The Broilers were the best chicken we've ever had, the reds lasted about 3 months after laying their first egg, (Had a huge problem with predation at that house) and the turkey got so big that I couldn't scald it because it didn't fit into my 40 gallon stainless steel pot (which is too big to much of anything else with.) By that time, I was hooked. After we lost the RIR's, my next purchase was 20 Buff Orpingtons. I have been hooked on the Orpington line, ever since then. Now, I've got about 15 adult Orpingtons (10 buff and 5 lavender). However, I'm in process in building my new coop because, when I ordered my Broilers this year, the hatchery also shipped me 100 sex link hens by accident. I sold about 1/2 of them and my wife convinced me to keep the rest. So, now I'm building a coop to house about 50 birds.