why did you start keeping chickens

[Fur & Feathers]

started keeping chickens because am a permenent resident of a residential care centre and we are not allowed indoor pets.
was asked by the owner of the autism/residential care organisation am under if woud like to start incubating chicks,so we coud have pet chickens here and also on our farm [a farm for people with autism to go to].

-spent just over a year in total learning the basics with support staff,they had made the information in PECS symbols so was able to understand it better-was not allowed start doing this by the owner before had learnt as much as able to.
the organisation owner bought the incubator-a brinsea mini advance,a brinsea candler,a chicube chicken house which worked out amazing as a brooder [and woud recommend it to anyone with the money that one was got second hand].
a guy that used to walk the dog for him has a farm and has a lot of chickens,he gave six eggs in return for pushing his empty wheelbarrow back to his house as he was knackered,a fair deal had thought!
didnt know at the time he had allowed inter breeding,we lost one chuck at a week old to it and one; lorna was born with a crippled toe and is a bit loopy, kanner was also born undeveloped and seriosly ill although he is the healthiest and biggest out of them all now he has alot of agression in him when he wants.

got the cochin hatching eggs from ebay,and every single one of them was born perfectly healthy and still are [though had to cut them all out due to them being acutely shrink wrapped].

chickens are more important to self than humans.
support staff are constantly going on about being fed up that they arent laying eggs yet and keep saying they will put them in the oven if they dont do any soon,they woud get a foot up their rear and a lot worse if they touched the chucks and that isnt why have the chickens.

 

[PartyOnARoost]

Very great stories interesting.

 

[HappyHazel]

We got ours for pets and eggs. A friend of ours has chickens and she asked us to raise some chicks for her. We said yes and feel in love with them. Now I can't imagine a life without chickens! I love their personalities and the eggs we get (almost) every day!

 

[AZChickenQueen]

Well, I had chickens growing up (we inherited a motley bunch with unclipped wings with a property my folks bought). Then I moved away, got married and became a city slicker for 15 years or so before moving to lovely rural AZ, where chickens and assorted other, um, critters run free. The hubby and I are a bit nutty in that we refuse to eat most of what now passes for "food" in this country, and Arizona is not exactly noted for its culinary prowess

so we decided to plant a garden once we got tired of "Whole Paycheck", I mean "Foods" prices-which is no mean feat in 110 degree summers with hungry bunnies. Our solution was a giant, welded steel "cage" with raised beds and misters:


Then, once I got hubby to go this far, I suggested that it would be really nice if we could have our own eggs..hee, hee! I had some help from an unlikely quarter: a longtime family friend who lives in a suburb in California but keeps chickens! She told my husband how FABULOUS chicken raising is, and how much he was JUST GOING TO LOVE IT and mailed us a chicken magazine. Well, that did it - next thing you know Hubby's building a coop - entirely out of old real estate signs and signposts I might add - yes, I am a Realtor and I like to say that this is the most production I've gotten from signage in this market!

I found a lovely lady in Gilbert, AZ who raises chicks with her daughter and sells them at pullet stage and since I didn't want to deal with raising chicks right off and only wanted hens for eggs (yes, I have raised them for meat as a youngster and no, I don't want to do that again), we got 6 girls from her: 2 EEs, 2 RIRs and 2 Barred Rocks. We have since added 2 chicks (see my previous posts under "what the heck is this?") that were supposedly "Araucana hens" but have turned out to be Silver Leghorns - 1 hen and 1 roo LOL) I am now banned from the feed store when hubby is away on business!

We also have a number of dogs, but we think the chickens are possibly more entertaining than any of them. Hubby now refers to them as "my girls" and "my little rooster" and likes to take them lots of treats...and the other day, when he saw FIVE hawks had landed on the garden roof, he bolted out the door to shoo them off, saying, "You're not gonna get MY chickens!" I did gently point out that since HIS chickens are in an enclosed yard, complete with top, the odds of that happening were pretty slim, but it's nice to see that I have a convert, and I'll bet he won't even notice if one of the girls goes broody and sits on some eggs...

 

[Nathan Sampson]

OK why I started to raise chickens. I would like to start off and tell you that since the time I was around 5 yrs old I had an adamant hatred for the species of chickens. I was raised around chickens my mom and dads chickens were ok, but my babysitters chickens were horrible mean birds and her red roster thought that everyday he had a duty to chase me and ride my but spurring me as I ran for the back porch bleeding and crying the whole time.
When I got older I started to raise horses again after a period of not having any in my teen years. Then after I came home from the war in Iraq in 2005 I piddled around some and got to thinking about buying goats. I finally found some that I wanted and bought them. A few years after the investment in goats my wife was telling me she wanted chickens but in my wife's language of wifanees she wanted me to take care of chickens and I told her how much I hated them. She finally wore me down to the point where I went to a few feed stores and bought around 20 chicks. I actually started to like these birds after all the time I took and raised them sitting in the goat nursery with them playing with them and making them tame. I started to like the little fuzz balls.
After this I learned that our local Tyson plant sponsored a chicken show at or local fair. You pay a deposit of 10 for 25 chicks and I have 2 sons so I got 50 chicks for 20 dollars that was refunded when we showed 5 of them a piece at the fair. They also gave us 25lbs of feed for each child. I twas fairly simple raise these birds we give you show 5 pullets sell one of them and eat the other 20 yourself was a great deal. All in all at the fair we made 420 dollars from selling 2 chickens great return on the initial investment plus we had 40 broilers to put in the freezer. This was a great experience for my 2 boys who loved it we bonded even more from this.
The whole time these were growing we had our egg laying hens as well. Sadly we had to move and so the flock had to stay. Eventually after having to live in a city with a no chicken ordinance we managed to buy 3 acres out in the county. One of the first things I did when we got settled in I went and bought Henri our little hen I hope to add more to the flock sooner than later.

 

[fastbird]

I started raising chickens because it was another way to be more independant and self responsible. I harvest, grow or raise well over 50% of my familys food so I started with 16 jumbo broilers and 10 brown sexlink egglayers, just to see what I was in for and will now go big with the eating birds next spring and hopfully my girls will be delivering enough eggs soon that I can scratch that off my grocery list.
The girls are 16 weeks old now and I am patiently awaiting that first omlette.

 

[Woodysgirl29]

My friend got chickens a couple years ago. Despite being a vet tech and really wanting and never getting a pet bird as a kid, I turned my nose up at owning chickens. She had the chickens for a year and started selling the eggs at our work. Then I saw a silkie and I was getting chicken fever.
Unfortunately my husband was not sold, he said no (silly man thought that would slow me down). To get him involved I had him plan and build the coop while I spent the winter reading and learning about our future additions. Spring rolled around and I dragged him to a chicken swap where low and behold 8 (8week old) little silkies were waiting. We brought them home and fell in love.
Our 4 year old has loved helping and holding the chickens. I often find my husband and son digging up worms for the chickens. Next year we are going to order baby chicks. My husband has already started planing my next coop.

 

[Alden Chickens]

My son wanted to give it try. We picked up 6 chicks (the mininum allowed) at the local farm store and have been learning as we go. Although he lost 2 of the original 6 the 4 remaining "girls" are lots of fun and are keeping us and my in-laws supplied with eggs. He is already planing on 6 more for the Spring. Time to build a bigger coop in the old dairy barn!

 

[gryeyes]

I hate all birds. I went to TSC to get fencing for the garden. It was Chick Days. God made babies cute for a reason. The beginning (sure isn't the end!).

 

[Donna Lynn]

My Granny always kept chickens and we had fresh eggs at all times. I remember her pound cake was so delicious with fresh eggs and so rich!

As I got older I've always wanted to live somewhere that I could have a few hens. I talked up the benefits of fresh eggs to my egg loving hubby and a friend of ours is a health coach and helped me out with this by posting good articles on FB. Sweetheart that he is, he helped me build our coop over this very hot summer and now our three girls are living like queens.

Mildred (named for my Granny), Mabel & Pearl are three happy hens and I can't wait for their first eggs! Granny would love it and be so proud! Thanks, Granny! ( I have the most beautiful old photo of my Granny with chickens, geese and ducks. I'll have to post it sometime! = )

I'm so hooked and I love feeding and taking care of my girls. They are the best!