why did you start keeping chickens

[coffeenutdesign]

My response is kind of long, so I made a blog post about it.

http://coffeenutdesigns.com/why-chickens/

 

[Phottoman]

My response is kind of long, so I made a blog post about it.

http://coffeenutdesigns.com/why-chickens/

This was way kool. I enjoyed your story and it has me thinking that I should write about my chickens in my blog also.

Wait, I said THINKING about writing, not that I am going to do it right away ... silly me.

 

[CluckCluck18]

I always wanted chickens but didn't think I could have them where I lived. Watched a show on Martha Stewart about chickens and every one in the audience had a chicken on their lap! I just loved that. I told a co-worker about what I was thinking and found out I could have them. He helped me build a coop thanks to the help of Backyard Chickens and there was a farm 10 mins from my house. Serendipity!!
I knew I would love having them, but I have enjoyed it 1,000 times more. And I have not had alot of challenges.....raised tons of roosters that i couldn't keep, diseases, unexpected death, etc. I have loved and enjoyed it all. It may sound corny but I feel like my flock has changed me. They are a blessing and I'm so glad that I made the choice to get them.

 

[bruceha2000]

I realize now that our first egg is worth about $1,000! (LOL)

Yeah, but the second egg is $500 which makes the 1st also $500. The third $333 (and therefore so are the 1st and 2nd), the 4th comes out and you have 4 eggs at $250 each. Pretty soon you'll be approaching grocery store price eggs. Different kind of "chicken math"

 

[Saintboondocks]

We got into chickens when we moved from the city to some acreage. Keeping goats and chickens has always been somewhat of a dream of mine. We got the goats a day before we moved and the birds the day we moved in. We wanted the chickens for pets/eggs. Unfortunately the straight run of 8 we got turned into 6 roosters and 2 hens. So now we'll be selling some roos and getting some more hens. It's been fun so far and we got our first eggs this week! First egg was cracked but we got an egg today and we're super excited to scramble it up in the morning!

 

[earlybird10842]

Our friends had some hens they were giving away,and we decided to take a few.

 

[bruceha2000]

Finally, my parents gave me a limit to the amount of chickens I can keep since they pay for the feed. I can only keep 20 at a time, that is much too small of a number, but it's an amazing hobby that I will always enjoy.

Skip 1 large pizza a week and you can feed another 20 chickens for 2 weeks. If things work out well, you can sell the extra eggs for more than the cost of the feed. Hey, your dad talked your mom into getting the chickens in the first place, right? Clearly they can be convinced with some sort of logic.

Let's see:

- 20 hens
- We'll assume a low lay rate of 3 per week each
- 20 * 3 = 5 dozen eggs a week.
- We'll assume locally raised "happy chicken" eggs are cheap where you live - $2/dozen
5 dozen * $2 = $10/week
- We'll assume they eat like pigs: one 50# bag of feed every 2 weeks ~ $15
(2 weeks * $10/week egg sales) - $15 in feed = $5

The girls are providing $5 extra every two weeks, you still get that pizza since they are self supporting PLUS contributing a little to the "general fund"!
- SOLD!

We just ignore all the up front costs, like the coop and all since that is already paid for. We will also ignore the 4 to 6 months you have to feed them before they start kicking out salable product.

 

[bruceha2000]

Currently we're at over fifty chickens, and seven peafowl. Loving every minute!

Peafowl sound like fun, so pretty. However there were a couple of peacocks and a couple of penhens where I went to college and OMG, those peacocks up on top of the dorms!!! Makes a rooster crowing sound like a babbling brook,

Bruce

 

[Hedwig]

Im only 16 and convince my dad to build a coop so we didnt have to buy eggs. Im in 4-H so i show my chickens too. I love them and they dont mine being handled. Hopefully soon ill extend my coop so I can get more chickens!

 

[coffeenutdesign]

This was way kool. I enjoyed your story and it has me thinking that I should write about my chickens in my blog also.

Wait, I said THINKING about writing, not that I am going to do it right away ... silly me.

Thank you, and you should...eventually, lol. Love to read some chicken stories!