why did you start keeping chickens

[gryeyes]

At age 55, I started to learn about raised garden beds because the house I rented had a great back yard but LOUSY, adobe & rock soil. Bringing bags of soil and fertilizer and other amendments was getting to be a real drag... literally. Drag this bag, drag that bag, yadda yadda yadda. Grew some tomatos, some lemon cucumbers, a melon or two and 2 rows of corn. The next spring, I thought there has to be a better way to do this...... Hey, wait! Chickens MAKE fertilizer!!

So I built an A-frame coop in preparation for getting "a few" chickens, maybe 4, or 6. Took me three months to built the small coop...... some time spent every weekend if I felt well. (I have fibromyalgia.) By the time I was "ready" for chicks to raise, it was late September and I couldn't find feed stores with chicks that late in the year. I decided to buy chicks online from MyPetChicken and actually placed the order. (MPC was the only online site with chicks that late AND in small quantities.

Meanwhile, I joined BYC and learned chickens are also great at reducing insect pests..... Cool! Oh, yah, and of course they lay eggs. Not much of an egg eater, really, but what the hey, this sounds like a good thing.

Honestly, they would not have had to lay eggs at all, as far as I was concerned. Gimme some fertilizer and eat those bugs!

A co-worker said there HAD to be local chicks for sale somewhere - he was appalled at the shipping cost I was prepared to spend "for some stupid chickens." So I called around and one feed store told me the Bradshaw Feed still had chicks..... I called 'em, and yup, they still had chicks through the months of October.

October 1st I brought home four chicks. October 8th I bought two more. I wanted all different "dual purpose" (big fat fluffy hens) and one chick died, so I "needed" another, can't buy just a single chick because it would be lonely on the ride home. Suddenly I had eight chicks. One of the "sexed pullet chicks" was an accidental cockerel, but by the time I figured it out, I loved him too much. My landlady said I didn't have to get rid of the rooster; she believed fertile eggs are more nutritious, so I kept him. He is still my dominant rooster, 3 years later, although the flock is now upwards of fifty chickens plus a pair of Toulouse geese, two Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys, and 28 ducks.

<*ahem*> Y'see, I discovered very quickly that chickens (and ducks and turkeys) have wonderful personalities! I may now have a small egg selling business, having moved to the foothills from where I first raised a few chickens, but truthfully, if none of 'em ever laid eggs, I would still keep poultry. (I certainly can't eat all those eggs, even though I now eat 'em pretty regularly). There's not a single bug on my three-quarters of an acre that lasts more than the blink of an eye when spied by a flock member, I will never have to "whack" weeds EVER, my garden plot grows wonderfully well. Although I do have to chase chickens out of the garden if I want to eat any of the produce myself....

I've since retired and now I can spend as much time as I want in watching chickens. And ducks..... and geese.... and turkeys. It's my greatest pleasure to see how they all interact, how they all trust me, and to watch Mommas with their respective chicks and ducklings. (One duck hatched FIFTEEN eggs and 14 of the ducklings survived. I gotta find homes for some of 'em...)

So, fertilizer, bug control, and eggs were my reasons, in that order. Every member of my flock is named and most will be able to live here forever. I have had to re-home quite a few cockerels... and will have to reduce the number of ducks, but the hens and two select roosters will live here for the rest of their lives. When the hens stop laying they will still eat bugs, provide fertilizer, and make me smile every single day.

 

[Cooper Farms]

i just started this year with chickens, got them for eggs but know i find myself sitting out there watching them, know iam breeding black sexlinks and when i find some delewares and welsummers iam going to breed them. i grew up on a farm but never had chickens, other then my dogs they r the most iteresting things to watch, i will have chickens for some time to come.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

My gma raised chickens her whole life she sold her flock when I was very young, I just remember watching them and thinking they looked peaceful. I had chased after the dream of living in a small house with lots of acres where I could raise livestock. This spring I helped save my neigbors flock who bough them wih onlly the knowledge of picking out a fine roaster in your supermarket. I built them a pen to save them from a smultering abandoned trailer while a coop could be built. I was suffering depression at the time and working with the birds was lifting my spirits. DH said to me "what has happened? You seem so happy and you are active now. Do we need to get you some chickens too?" Wow it was therepy. I went to the breeder here in town and bought my own flock that day, I was so excited I was shaking. I brought home 9 straight run chickens and 2 turkey. An hour later Iwent back for a couple more chicken and 1 more turkey lol. We put up their coop in 3 days time and got them settled in and since june 3rd of this year I went from that small flock to 36 birds with my last batch of 10 from a hatchery (1 wk old tody) and 4 adopted pullets from a lady who is moving, got those just last week all on thursday. They are responsive to me and are excited to see me and talk to me, take walks with me in the pasture. I dont know where I would be without them today. That nasty depression hasnt shown its wicked head since I got the birds

and I am 5'0 went fromo 188lbs to 142lbs since june. I have met some people on this site that I value in my trusty library or people to call on. So poultry has changed my life completely...


Camo the narragansett

My everything recycled coop and run. My hubby built the straw shed it is recycled goods too.


this is their fav place to be, they wait for me to come outside


afew of my new babies.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

We originally got them to cut down on the earwigs eating my garden. Also, my husband had suffered a major heart attack a week previously. While contemplating the expanded garden I needed with his therapeutic diet, I worried about the bug problem. We both decided that getting chickens for eggs would give us healthier eggs and help us raise healthier vegetables. We ran to the feed store and picked up 5 chicks!

Now we have 25.

 

[Audraleo]

I just started, I have 6 chicks a bit over a week old. I was tired of hearing and seeing how bad chickens are treated for their eggs and so I wanted to take control of that. I've also wanted a pet for years, something the kids could enjoy as well. We have a few friends who raise them and it just sounded like a pet we could all enjoy as well as benefit from. I can't do cats, husband is too allergic, and I am not ready for a dog in my house, I have 3 kids already running thru it! So chickens seemed like a great idea. So far we are loving having them.

Audra
2 barred rocks, 1 white plymouth rock, and 3 gold sex link chicks

 

[aoxa]

My gma raised chickens her whole life she sold her flock when I was very young, I just remember watching them and thinking they looked peaceful. I had chased after the dream of living in a small house with lots of acres where I could raise livestock. This spring I helped save my neigbors flock who bough them wih onlly the knowledge of picking out a fine roaster in your supermarket. I built them a pen to save them from a smultering abandoned trailer while a coop could be built. I was suffering depression at the time and working with the birds was lifting my spirits. DH said to me "what has happened? You seem so happy and you are active now. Do we need to get you some chickens too?" Wow it was therepy. I went to the breeder here in town and bought my own flock that day, I was so excited I was shaking. I brought home 9 straight run chickens and 2 turkey. An hour later Iwent back for a couple more chicken and 1 more turkey lol. We put up their coop in 3 days time and got them settled in and since june 3rd of this year I went from that small flock to 36 birds with my last batch of 10 from a hatchery (1 wk old tody) and 4 adopted pullets from a lady who is moving, got those just last week all on thursday. They are responsive to me and are excited to see me and talk to me, take walks with me in the pasture. I dont know where I would be without them today. That nasty depression hasnt shown its wicked head since I got the birds and I am 5'0 went fromo 188lbs to 142lbs since june. I have met some people on this site that I value in my trusty library or people to call on. So poultry has changed my life completely... Camo the narragansett My everything recycled coop and run. My hubby built the straw shed it is recycled goods too. this is their fav place to be, they wait for me to come outside afew of my new babies.

I have also lost weight this summer due to the chickens! 22 pounds and counting! Who needs a gym membership or a therapist? Dr. Penny is here to cure my troubles!

 

[ktho]

We were married in 1997 and at that time I wanted garden and just three little hens for their eggs. Eggs are good protein and I saw which way the economy was going. The goal was to live in a small town in a rural area and be able to support ourselves within 10 years. My husband didn't buy into what he called hysterical gloom and doom and besides, he hated chickens and really hated eggs - won't eat them. I built us a garden but then we had to move and moved twice in as many years. Fast-forward 13 years, I'm still wanting chickens and finally he relents because he realizes that things he likes such as pancakes and cakes need eggs. Shazam - we have now have three little hens and a garden. No solar panels, no home wind turbine, no rainwater catchment yet. Sloooooww progress.

 

[aoxa]

We were married in 1997 and at that time I wanted  garden and just three little hens for their eggs. Eggs are good protein and I saw which way the economy was going. The goal was to live in a small town in a rural area and be able to support ourselves within 10 years. My husband didn't buy into what he called hysterical gloom and doom and besides, he hated chickens and really hated eggs - won't eat them. I built us a garden but then we had to move and moved twice in as many years. Fast-forward 13 years, I'm still wanting chickens and finally he relents because he realizes that things he likes such as pancakes and cakes need eggs. Shazam - we have now have three little hens and a garden. No solar panels, no home wind turbine, no rainwater catchment yet. Sloooooww progress.

Three hens? I see four in your avatar

Did you just get them?

 

[Dragonfly Pond]

When my wife became pregnant, it became apparent early on that her number one craving was hard boiled eggs and egg salad. She went so far as to eat a dozen eggs in one day! The doctor encouraged her and we now have a healthy little farmer. I had always wanted to have chickens. My wife though may have taken the cravings a bit far as she bought three little comet hens before we even had a coup or fenced in area! Our family loves visiting the hens and getting fresh eggs. It really has changed our lives!

 

[The Howards]

my hubby and i were watching a show about pets. a woman was on there and was discussing her pet chickens. hubby turned to me and said "i can see you doing that". it kinda stuck in my mind. i started gardening and decided i did want to give chickens a try. we went to the local co-op and got 3 fluffy chicks, before the hour was out i was back up there getting 3 more...couldn't have an odd chick out if they paired off! those 6 didn't make it unfortunately, i was devastated. a year later i was ready to try again and this time i wanted all different breeds. got one from the co-op and one from a local breeder. just this last summer we added 6 more chickens and 4 ducks to our flock. we intend to add more next year. fresh eggs are a bonus to me, i just love to watch and interact with them. so ours are egg layers/pets they will not be eaten. when they are no longer laying they will continue to be pets. could be that we are just animal lovers all around, well except for snakes...eeeeew.