Why did you get your first chickens?

[outdoorsii]

Our 1st chickens were 6 RIR's, got them just for their eggs! was old they were younger than they actually were though, 2 died the first summer of heatstroke, after that we only had 4, the ones in this pic, so we got 2 leghorns & 2 Barred rocks, 1 of each of them got taken by a fox Then we bought 6 wyandottes gold laced ones, 1 ended up being a roo soooo of course then we had to get an incubator! & then it begins!

 

[Soundguy]

I moved the family from a large city to a small community about four years ago; you know got sick of the fast paced life and all the traffic. We all love the town we moved to along with the couple of acres of land. So last year we happen to go to the Feed Store to buy some repair supplies for a sink, when my girls spotted the baby chicks for sale...that is why we now have chickens. The whole family loves them. We are looking forward to the feed store getting the new shipment in next week so we can raise more of our feathered friends.

 

[Our Roost]

Idle conversation about our grandparents and how they lived during the depression era started this whole mess. The childhood memories from our pasts were coming back to haunt us! Both our grandparents raised chickens and had garden plots to supplement their food sources during some very rough times. All we remembered was the fun we had but not the hard work grandpas and grandmas endured. At 65 plus years old, we both decided this was the logical thing to do for our grand children and we didnt think it would take a whole lot of effort on our parts. What could be so hard? We had hopes that they would enjoy it much like we had. My idle time as a retiree just created a new job without wages or fringe benefeits much like our grandparents! And so began the journey involving hours of reading and planning before the first sawcut and nail was ever driven.
Location. location. location! Everyone knows that a good business needs a good location. We had plenty of property, ( not all BYC members do) but arriving at an agreeable location to erect a coop in the perfect "location" regardless of how much property you have can bring about much debate. Women seem to have the upper hand in the kitchen and believe me, when she makes up her mind where she wants the coop, its her kitchen! At least I got to build it.
The size, the shape, the area, breed selection and how many chickens are all key factors that will make you put on your thinking cap. And at or ages the mind and body work a bit slower and we already know the dos and donts. At least we thought so! You can teach an old dog new tricks but it just takes longer.
Its been a long journey after having that conversation and opting to carry on our heritage. The rewards of smiles on our grand childrens faces have certainly outwayed the hard work we put into it. The job that didnt pay wages and fringe benefeits payed off in fresh eggs, meat, and the most beautiful smiles we could ever imagine! I'm gonna kick back and smoke a pipe now, just like my grandpa did!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Multiple factors that all just culminated at about the same time:

1. I had access to materials, door, windows for a playhouse. Materials were collecting dust and the kids were pressing me for a guinea pig. I asked them first: Do you want a play house or a .....CHICKEN COOP? Of course and thankfully we got the resounding answer of Chicken Coop. We are all okay with chickens now instead of guinea pigs. In fact they tell me that they think the chickens are better than a guinea pig would be.
2. And the memories my kids are getting from this whole experience are priceless. A chicken story everyday for us to make us smile and time away from the hustle and bustle of iPods, TVs and computers. My kids are getting outside and I love it.
3. Watched documentary, "Food Inc." Sealed the deal right then and there. Always trying to be healthier and giving old mother earth less stress.
4. I love gardening and the chickens fit well into that picture with some adjustments fencing off more delicate plants and now need to relocate the deck tomato plants. To be honest I'm thrilled to have the poo for my gardens.

It all started adding up that we should get chickens. We were told by somebody else that we would have no regrets. That is for certain. What a Joy they are.

 

[wildriverswolf90]

My story is pretty simple. I used to live in a major city, where I only had 2 dogs and a rabbit and a cat. I dreamed of owning a farm and one day I sorta got my wish. We rented a small 1 acre farm in the country. It has an old barn and a old chicken coop. I first I never dreamed of owning chickens, I didn't even like chickens. But one afternoon, a friend took me to her cousins farm. A saw some pretty chickens, barred rocks, RIR, and leghorns. But still I wasn't impressed, but I knew chickens would help get closer to a goal of being selfsufficent. So I started my research, and then I found the most amazing thing..... not only could you get chicks in the mail! There were hundreds of different kinds! so I fixed up the old coop, and settled on buff orps, since some of my family came from orpington england, but then I found out something even cooler!! Chickens have unique personalities and thus began my love and addiction. I now have a bunch of different chickens, I've started show quality breeding pens, and now am fixing up part of the old barn to house turkeys. I had no clue chickens were addicting and now I'm doomed

 

[XxCosmoxX]

one day my mom bought 2 chicks for no reason...so thats the begining of my flock...

 

[Garrisonkidsduo2]

Why did I get chickens? I had chickens growing up and use to love catching the headless chickens when it come time to eat them after raising them. We would only eat the extra roosters not our hens they gave us eggs. After growing up and moving off and having kids of my own I kind of missed living on a farm. I missed the rooster crowing, I missed the eggs, and I missed the entertainment. I wanted to teach my kids responsibilities and thought that would be a good way to do it so I went out and got our first few chicks. I got 3 Road Island Red, 2 buff orpingtons, 2 black ausorlorp, and a barred rock. We didn't even have a coop, so things went into overdrive. The coop was built and the run, the roost, and the feeders were bought. The next thing I know I use a cooler and start hatching eggs I got from our neighbor and we have even more chicks. Yes I became a hatchaholic very quick. Them that is when things got interesting. We found Blue Copper Marans, Black Copper Marans, so the second coop building went into affect. A second run was underway. Now that those were separated into different pens we could hatch and sell since they were not mixed. The old flock that I started with was put in the freezer. Then my daughter that was 6 is very small for her age and it scared me for her to go check eggs since those are big birds and she is almost the size of the roosters. So that is when we found Molted Japanese Bantam and their coop had to be done over night since they were already laying eggs. She enjoys checking eggs. They are small chickens and she can't get hurt from them and they give her small cute little eggs. Then she wanted blue chickens like her brothers Blue Copper Marans so we went out and got her Blue Millie Fluer from Ideal Hatchery which I think are just Millie Fleur Because now that the 1 I got that was blue when he was a chick has no blue in him what so ever. So the new coop is actually being built now. An yes we have 4 pens in our yard for 4 different breeds of chickens so we can keep them separated and sell the chicks and eggs as a clean breed and pay for some of the food. We have to let the different breeds out at different times for their free range time that way they are still separate. And yes we are still hatching. We have gotten ducks and have 2 different breeds of bucks in with our Marans 1 breed per pen like chickens, along with Lavender guineas. The guineas fly in and our of the pens but we only have 1 color of those so it doesn't matter.

 

[blondiebee181]

My aunt had chickens when they lived in the country...they had inherited them from some neighbors that moved and happened to have an old coop already on their property. Whenever we would go visit, we would immediately run outside and catch chickens and get eggs. I had names for all of them (even though there were several RIRs and Barreds and I really couldn't tell them apart) I would catch the calmest RIR and take her on the swingset with me and she would sit in my lap. That was my early experience.

Several years later, I was about to graduate college and had wanted chickens for several years. I was disgusted with the egg industry and the cruelty of it all and I still lived with my parents at the time. They gave me the green light last spring. I started researching, (I'm very methodical that way like my mom, I always read up on things before diving in) looking at breed types, coops, feed etc. We decided we wanted egg layers and my uncle Bob is a contractor and agreed to build me a coop at a minimal cost. I started out wanting 3, but that quickly turned to 5 after I went to the feed store and they had 4 types of layer hens AND ducklings! Now I have 7 after taking a lonesome hen from a neighbor, rehoming the original drake and purchasing 2 more ducks. I was just at our feed store yesterday and they had their first spring chicks in and I SO BADLY wanted more! I miss raising chicks, and chickens are so addicting! I love my babies, they are like my little feathered children, they run to greet me everytime I come outside (more to the point they want treats

) They give me delicious eggs everyday, and duck eggs are fantastic! And they are so therapeutic...which I never expected, but I love watching them and being around them because even after a hard day, they always make me smile.

 

[MoreHens]

I first caught the chicken bug 12 years ago when I visited my co-worker friend's hobby farm. I thought they were the funniest, coolest creatures I'd ever seen, and I loved watching them run around the yard doing their funny chicken behaviors. I also fell in love with the taste of fresh eggs and was never happy with store eggs after that.

I've been talking about getting chickens ever since and read every book I could find. I studied the Murray McMurray catalogue and researched chicken breeds. I dragged my husband to poultry shows and chicken coop tours. We didn't have time or space to get them until last year, but patience paid off! Now I've got 16 happy hens and enjoy every minute.

 

[Jessiehh]

My chicks hatched yesterday!!!! We go tomorrow morning to get them

We are the first in our families to bring home chickens. It started as my idea. Eventually I convinced the hubby. This has been a four month process and I'm so excited to go get my girls!