why did you start keeping chickens

[Tmaxson01]

I moved to a house that had 11 acres. A neighbor had chickens and we started buying eggs from him. We thought about getting some chickens for ourselves but hadn't got up the courage to do anything about it. One day we visited the neighbor and he had some chicks that were just kinda dropped off at his house. He is pretty old school and put the babies in with all the older flock, they were picked on and spent most of their day running and trying to hide from the older chickens in the small 12 x 4 pen of which he had about 15 to 20 birds crammed in. A couple of them died so we decided to build a small coop and rescue the babies from neighbor/older chickens, however by the time we got the coop built (only 1 days time) and went to get the remaining chicks they were all dead. So we then had a coop and no birds. I went on my local Craigslist found a ad for some 12 week old mixes of which the guy said were mixed white rock and Dominique however they were actually Brahamas and we got 5 of them and so the chicken math began. 5 - 1 (mean Rooster) = 4 + 6 Red sex links + another 6 Red sex links + Broody who hatched 5 chicks and so on and so forth. Two years later... I now have 29 birds, three of which are Roosters so we have three separate coops and I am planning on getting some chicks in December.


I can't imagine my life without them!!

 

[chickencoop789]

Well, every year my whole family goes to Pennsylvania to see all of the relatives. My uncle had chickens and cows and I always wanted to see them. I began to get interested in the farming business so he gave me a leghorn egg and 2 silver seabright eggs. When we got back home I was scrambling to get everything that I needed to hatch these eggs. Unfortunately, they didnt hatch. After that experience, I became more and more interested in chickens. I soon discovered BYC! I received so much information on chickens and that made me want chickens even more than I previously did. Eventually I got a small coop and 5 chicks From Meyer hatchery. I got five because I expected to end up with a rooster and I expected one to die. Of course, they were all hens and all 5 of them lived. My coop was only big enough for 2or 3 chickens. I couldn't give 2 away because I loved them all. So I got another coop and connected them both. So now I have a small flock of 2 RIR, 2 Barred Rocks, and 1 Black Austrolorp. I am the only person in my town that has chickens. So when word got out that I had chickens in my front yard, the whole town wanted to see them.

 

[rubycanyon]

I had been wanting chickens for years, mostly just for eggs.
Now, I keep them for:
pest control (no spiders or grasshoppers in my yard this year!)
weed control (no dandelions, either)
compost (their poo is great and they turn the pile)
eggs (of course)
entertainment and companionship! (never would have guessed this one)

 

[mistressangyl]

Hehe, my chicken story begins at the county fair we (my BF and dad and I ) were showing our trains at... we were set up right beside a bater of white meat type chicken eggs that i got to watch hatch... after the fair was over they were giving the babies away.... they were soo cute who can resist their cute lil fluffy butts lol and i took home four after talking my dad into letting me keep them (as i live in his old house) my dad and bf turned an old dog kennal into a coop and i kept my babies. the first rooster was turned into dinner but i couldnt see it happening to the rest becouse of the type of bird they were they only lived about a year as they were ment to be food not pets or egg layers. I friend who lives about 45 mins away had six babies she didnt want and offered them to me i jumpped and chicken math later i have nine chickens and am looking to get more lol

Idont know what id do without them and the eggs they previde.

Chicken TV and the math behind it are great lol

 

[aoxa]

Pets. We went strawberry picking one day at a u-pick. There was this crazy fluffy thing wandering around. Learned it was a chicken (a silkie), and it didn't take much convincing. We were sold. We took a month to prepare. Research, coop building, etc. We bought our first 4 chickens on August 1st 2011 and somehow that lead to 100+ more and an actual relocation to make all this possible. I was actually afraid of birds before this. Now I am fascinated and in love! from this:

to this:

in 1 year. Madness I tell you!

 

[ChickenCrazy8]

I wanted a pet but my parents said no to dogs or cats (my sister is allergic). I thought it was over until a friend of ours who lives on a farm who heard of my predicament and said I could look after two of her younger chickens for the summer!!!

I read tons of books about chickens and how to look after them and I had tons of fun looking after them When I returned them to her in the fall I had learnt a bunch about chickens and what great pets they make. The next summer I looked after two more. and the next and the next.... until last year I convinced my Mom and Dad to let me have chickens all year long.


My dad made me an amazing chicken coop and I now have six chickens

 

[oletymer]

Grew up watching chickens in grandmas Yard, then watched grandpa butcher one for dinner, My 3rd son brought one home from a science hatch in school....well thats were it all started ....you CANT just have one, What was that teacher thinking....it cryed all night till I found a local farmer with the same age chicks to company it....and I feel its relaxing watching them and it gets us outside everyday , I would like to find a butcher in our area that would proccess them so I can raise a flock of meat chicks , so if anyone knows anyone who knows anyone...

Im in Claysville Pa. pass on there #

 

[rarebear]

When I was 2 my parents moved us to the country. A few years later they got chickens (of course they ordered straight run and ended up with a ton of roos *Thank you Grammie for showing us how to kill them!*). I was terrified of them (especially one friendly hen named Quaily Bird, I didn't trust her......) but loved baby chicks and gathering eggs. My mom always let me add three of whatever breed I wanted to our spring order. When I was 8 or 9 and actually starting to like chickens a little more, I got my first Porcelain d'Uccles. A roo named Stan and a hen named Sophie. One day I decided to go tame Sophie. It only took a few days and she was riding around on my shoulder constantly. And Stan was a sweetie pie too. Well, then I fell in love with chickens, made friends with old lady Quaily Bird, and yeah, now I have a flock of 80+. (For the record, I am NOT scared of ANY chicken now, even my evil rooster Jerkface.) That's my story. I guess I do it because of Sophie.

Here's my Baby Girl now:



When she was younger:




She puts up with so much, she has a knitted bowtie and a collar for when I bring her inside:

she is SO pretty

 

[TXchickmum]

-loved chickens from the time I was a small child. The folks got me an "Easter chick" each year. I would keep it until it was fully feathered out and then take it to a friend of the family that had a farm. -always loved getting pics of my chicks (grown up). One of them actually decided to run with the turkey flock one year.

I've always lived in "suburbia" where it hasn't been conducive to raising chickens (due to ordinances).......until this past spring. -had heard of a few area neighbors that were keeping chickens in the back yard. -soooo, we actually began checking the local ordinances. -and, when the feed store posted the sign (around Easter) stating that "the chicks are here", I dropped in after picking the daughter up from school. She chose three chicks. -brought 'em home, and went to TSC to fetch a waterer. They had bantams. -son had to go back to TSC to see the bantams. Four more chicks were added to the flock. -and finally, about two months ago, we retrieved four more from the local feed store. It has been the most fabulous experience! -love our "pets" and the wonderful, fresh eggs. (Fresh eggs keep the hubby on board with this whole endeavor.) I would LOVE to move to some acreage where we can actually have a real garden, nice flock of chickens, and some livestock. -would trade the "city" thing in a minute to get out of Dodge to the country!!! -have seen concrete for 42 years......and it isn't all that intriguing.

 

[EggieRowe]

My parents both grew up raising chickens for eggs & meat, my dad in Missouri and my mom in Taiwan. So when they got married they both wanted a mini farm. One of my earliest memories as a baby was riding out to the coop on the tractor and throwing scratch at the chickens. Its of the few memories I have of my dad as well since he died when I was 2. My mom and I lived in suburbia after that, so no chickens until I went to college. She met a great guy and moved in with him in out in the country. She wanted to raise silkies for meat - they are apparently quite popular for Chinese medicinal soups. However, silkies are a lot of work for so little meat, so she progressively phased out the silkies for dual purpose breeds. I moved closer to her after college and she'd give me a carton whenever I visited. A couple years ago they decided the chickens were too much work, her & her BF were both in their 70's, so they began filling the freezer. They offered me a few of the younger hens for eggs, but I couldn't keep them in my neighborhood. So I talked my BF into letting me keep the hens in his yard. (It wasn't hard since I'd been sharing my eggs with him & his boys. There's really no going back to store eggs after you've enjoyed fresh ones!) Unfortunately, when we moved in together to a new place a raccoon killed all our hens. We built a bigger, better coop at the new place and now we have 20 hens (and 1 rooster) and are eagerly awaiting our first eggs around December. My mom loves to come over and see the chickens. I can't imagine life without them now!