Why did you get your first chickens?

[adgcountrygirl]

I've wanted to live on a farm with lots of animals since I was 3 or 4 years old. (We lived in a metroplex at the time.) My husband is a rancher and a teacher, and I told him I'd always wanted chickens. We were offered some chicks a few years ago by another teacher at the school where he worked and he said, "You'll have to ask my wife." Woohoo!!! We've had chickens since. The first year I calculated how much I spent on them I was nervous about telling him. All he said was, "Okay." I asked him if it bothered him that I spent almost 2 thousand dollars on them, (food, coop building material, ect.) and he said, "Well, did you have 2 thousand dollars worth of fun?" I giggled like a little girl and said, I think I had atleast 5 thousand dollars worth of fun so far." He just smiled and said, "Alright then." I have the best husband in the World!!!

 

[cracked egg]

Our story started when my youngest son caught a RIR in a chicken scramble at a kids rodeo. Big problem,we lived in a small apartment in town. At this time a women I had seen twice and lived 250 miles away decided to move on in. Luckily i found a old farm house for rent and within 2 weeks we had a house full of kids and one lonely hen in a old barn. We added a few more half grown chicks with her, a dog got them 2 weeks later. Big red,had hidden and survived,and 2 EE's joined her. Dawn then added Sweetgrass turkeys,and guineas. A order to Ideal added 25 chicks,then another 25.
Well long story short, we still have one of the old EE's and 20 other assorted chickens,11 turkeys,6guineas and a pair of peafowl. After having a bunch of different breeds,we are planning on 3 breeds to keep,Phoenix,,Barbanter, and Spitzhauben.

 

[cracked egg]

Our story started when my youngest son caught a RIR in a chicken scramble at a kids rodeo. Big problem,we lived in a small apartment in town. At this time a women I had seen twice and lived 250 miles away decided to move on in. Luckily i found a old farm house for rent and within 2 weeks we had a house full of kids and one lonely hen in a old barn. We added a few more half grown chicks with her, a dog got them 2 weeks later. Big red,had hidden and survived,and 2 EE's joined her. Dawn then added Sweetgrass turkeys,and guineas. A order to Ideal added 25 chicks,then another 25.
Well long story short, we still have one of the old EE's and 20 other assorted chickens,11 turkeys,6guineas and a pair of peafowl. After having a bunch of different breeds,we are planning on 3 breeds to keep,Phoenix,,Barbanter, and Spitzhauben.

 

[turtleboy127]

Our story started when my youngest son caught a RIR in a chicken scramble at a kids rodeo. Big problem,we lived in a small apartment in town. At this time a women I had seen twice and lived 250 miles away decided to move on in. Luckily i found a old farm house for rent and within 2 weeks we had a house full of kids and one lonely hen in a old barn. We added a few more half grown chicks with her, a dog got them 2 weeks later. Big red,had hidden and survived,and 2 EE's joined her. Dawn then added Sweetgrass turkeys,and guineas. A order to Ideal added 25 chicks,then another 25.
Well long story short, we still have one of the old EE's and 20 other assorted chickens,11 turkeys,6guineas and a pair of peafowl. After having a bunch of different breeds,we are planning on 3 breeds to keep,Phoenix,,Barbanter, and Spitzhauben.

Just like mine

 

[LovePolish2]

We have had chickens since before I was born. I've been around chickens my whole life.

 

[MayDayMel]

When I was around 12, we started raising Quail for a game reserve. It was interesting, and I loved watching them. My mom had some chickens, Domineckers, and I LoVeD having fresh eggs, but moved away for school/etc and didn't have anywhere I could have them. Fast forward to now, we bought a house this past fall, and it had a coop that didn't need much love to get it going. So we got 3 Barred Rocks a week ago (that came with a mystery chick) and today got 2 Rhode Island Red's.
My children are loving it, and it has been a great teaching opportunity.

 

[baileyvivian]

My family had had broilers since I was born and when I was around ten we got out of them. I remember always being so excited going and picking up the chicks but I hated it when they had to leave. This summer being fifteen I decided I want chickens again. I spent hours secretly fixing and cleaning the old coop so it would be suited for layers. My parents asked my what I was doing but I said I was with the horses. I finally showed them the coop and asked my parents if I could get a few layers; my mom was all for it but it took my dad some convincing. He finally gave in also adding they were gone if I ever got a boyfriend and that was fine by me! Chickens are way better then boys! I scoured the internet for information (that's how I found BYC) and I decided to get started hens and not chicks. I found a package deal of hens of kijiji and I excitedly went and picked up my 5 leghorns, 5 ISA Browns, and 3 Black Sexlinks. My dad was thinking maybe 5 but I had saved up enough for 13. I brought my hens home and I waited for eggs. I had to wait 3 days for them to start laying! Then I was getting a dozen a day and I started selling eggs to my teachers and my mom also sells them at work. Half the fridge was eggs! I saved up the egg money and every chance I got I would add a few hens here and there. Now I have 31 hens, soon to be around fifty (I think I am addicted). I now have 5 leghorns, 3 ISA browns, 3 black sexlink, 5 americanas, 5 coloumbian plymouth rocks, 10 barred rocks, and soon to be 6 silver laced wyanottes and another ten americana! I also am setting americana eggs this weekend so there will be even more! I have to thank my parents for helping and supporting me with my crazy plans and wants. Just think, my dad thought maybe five hens but that number will soon be multiplied by ten! Thanks for reading!

 

[chick chicks]

Me and my friend were sitting around a fire outside, we had been doing weird little crafts for the past week. So we decided to try and boil eggs in a tin can filled with water over the fire... and from that hatched the idea to incubate and hatch our own chicks ( we planned on selling them once they were older ) we started with 8 eggs from a friend who owns chickens and incubated them with our own homemade incubator and got 2 out of the 8 eggs hatched (one roo and one hen we found out later) we just loved them too much to get rid of them so I begged my dad to build a coop out of the old greenhouse in our back yard and we now have the same 2 we hatched and 3 other hens that we got from a swap meet (we are 12 and 15 so I think its pretty cool lol)

 

[chick chicks]

Haha highfive for the 15 year old chicken farmers

 

[corgi coop]

My teenage daughter informed me that she had decided to follow a vegan diet. However, she soon discovered that it was very difficult to consume enough plant proteins. SO- she proposed to me that she would not be adverse to eating eggs if she was assured that they were from our own healthy, "free range" chickens. She had been begging for chickens or ducks since she was little- so this was just an excuse. So began our journey- first to the feed store for two chicks, 5 weeks of house raising the chicks, several weekends building a coop, finding a happy home for Libby the hen who turned out to be Liberace (who knew until he crowed one morning), exchanging rooster for another hen, and FINALLY at 19 weeks, our first eggs. That was 18 months ago, and I really love having the chicky girls now. They have personalities and are fun to watch. HEY- and the eggs are great too!