When did you start with chickens?

[JennsPeeps]

I'm 34 and had wanted them for a while but never got around to it. My neighbors had chickens when I was a kid so urban chickens weren't a foreign concept to me.

Last spring DBF saw an article in Mother Earth News about urban chickens and said, "hey, we should raise our own chickens". We had NO idea we'd love them so much.

We got 3 chicks very soon thereafter.

Then a banty cochin.

Now we're getting 3 more chicks pretty soon, and I'm trying to figure out if I can sneal an extra chick into the order so that I can get a SLW.

Thank goodness DBF loves the girls.

 

[me&thegals]

I read one too many books about how food (and eggs) are produced by agribusiness. We already have farm buildings, so it seemed pretty easy to get set up with chickens

That was 2 years ago and I can't imagine not having them!

 

[Lunachick]

I never had chickens as a kid and we never had the experience of chicks in the classroom either. I have no idea why chicken fever hit me 2 years ago. But it did and I have my two original red sex links and an added rescue hen I adopted last December.

Now I want to order 3 more chicks and like Jenn I'm hoping for a couple of packing peanuts and hopefully there won't be a rooster in there.

This is a fun addiction.

 

[SunAngel]

My parents often had chickens when I was a kid, but I never considered getting any myself.

We lived on our 3 acres for almost 4 yrs, not using it for much of anything. Then a friend sent us a MMH catalog last Spring and my very first order of chicks arrived on May 19, 2008....the day before I joined BYC. Shortly after that, we discovered local BYCers to buy chickens from and a nearby poultry auction.

Chicks and chickens have been coming and going ever since lol.

 

[Katy]

I grew up on a farm and my folks always had chickens. One of the first things I did when I got married was get my own laying hens....I'm 56 so I guess I've had them 56 years!

 

[chickenbuddy]

I was around chickens pretty much my whole life. My sister had them when I was born so I guess she traded the duty of "chicken person of the family" to me when I got older. She still is a fan of chickens, however. At one point it was only a rooster and a pair of peafowl. I was not particularly interested with chickens at the time. When my dad asked me if I wanted to raise chickens (I was at the time inquiring about keeping exotic birds a.k.a. parrots) and I responded negatively to the idea. (I was very stupid back then) However, I got out of that stage and eventually got four chickens from a feed store. Two roos and two hens. The roos were dyed blue. I have one of them know. One of the roos was a very pretty white chicken of some breed. Looking back I think he could have been perhaps a sex-link. However he was really mean to me. So, we let him stay out of the run to fend for himself. I at the time went out to feed the chickens with an older person for protection. He got killed and so I didn't have to fear him any more. His name was Cream. ( I know it's a really wierd name, but hey! I was little!) The other roo was named Pepper. He was (I think) a RIR and was a hen-pecked rooster, being the roo of several generations of annoying hens. He died only recently, causing a sad day in our little chickendom. I had my first storebought chickens when my older sister bought some from Ideal. From that order came to particular chickens: Nakey and Fluffy Buffy.
Nakey was an Americauna who was mostly featherless her entire life, only a few times having a full coat of feathers. Fluffy Buffy (who died recently) was a story of her own. Though not having an amazing story, she was simply an awsome chicken. She was our favorite. Anyway, over the years we incubated, bought from Mcmurry, accumulated and fought our way to a real status of "overrun with chickens" for our little set aside part of our property for chickens. Having almost seventy birds. We gave many of them away, and then recently had our "Christmas season seriall killing" when we had many chickens die over a few days on Christmas and after it. Anyway, we are planning to get more chickens from the feed store this year, right now having around 13ish chickens.
This is my story, aaaannnndddd you probably have skipped most of it and gone to a more reasonable post

~chickenbuddy

P.S. we also had a one legged chicken named Unipod and a retarded chicken named Blue, who never seemed to grow up like his/her siblings (it was the mystery chicken from mcmurry)

 

[Chicken Girl]

Quote:
Thats so funny! Its the same way for me!But I am still a kid. lol And I got them last year in June! So not even a year! And now i want to build a meat bird coop! lol And i cant what to get my babys hopefuly next month! By the way this wep site has been a great help to me. I have been going on here about a year befor I became a member! YEAH!! So thanks you guys/gals!

Chicken Girl

 

[MissPrissy]

I always wanted chickens. Finally when I grew up and had my own home I got them. Well over 22 years ago now since I got my first layers. Some where white, some were red, a mean little rooster and some precious buff colored girls that I later learned were orpingtons.

 

[Fresh Eggs]

14, fur immer!!!!

 

[cluckychick]

I have always always wanted to live on a farm. I use to daydream about it as a little girl and pretend play that I had farm animals. When we moved here to our present home on 13.5 acres it just didn't happen for whatever reason even though I kept telling DH we should do something besides let the land sit there. Then we got a GS dog stray that wondered into our workplace and she was our baby for 13 yrs. She ate anything that stepped on our property. She passed away and I told DH we could get another dog or I was getting chickens. He opted for chickens thinking they would be cheaper, lol...if he only new then what he knows now....

Now I have chickens and a new puppy