Why do you guys choose to have backyard chickens?

[NYRIR]

I keep chickens for lots of reasons...fertilizer, compost turners, bug eradicators, left-over and scraps get eaten, eggs, entertainment, meat, teaching tools for the kids, ...I could go on and on...
Anyway, it has cost us WAY more than we have "made back" financially. We built 5 coops ( we have other fowl as well) and only 1 of those from scrap materials. The rest was new lumber and materials, so very costly as they altogether house over 150 birds.
If you want to "try" it....start very small and see how it goes. But as for monetary gains, it's very hard to do.
Hope this helps...and good luck

 

[wanabeefarmer]

Why do guys have backyard chickens ???

Very simply.

They are therapeutic.
A lot less than a therapist at $100 + / hour and you don't have to make an appointment or jump in your truck/car.

Provide entertainment.
Get some and find out for yourself.

Educational.
You don't have to have a rooster for a hen to lay eggs.

Healthy food source.
Eggs with lower cholestrol than store bought.

( Add yours here )

My flock is 19 hens and one rooster.I sell the eggs to my friends at $5/doz to pay for the organic feed.
That way the eggs I consume for myself are free and I get the pleasure of their antics/therapy...
Only yesterday did I get an assotment of hatching eggs to try my hand at incubation.
Depending on my success I will have a rainbow of colored eggs being layed in 7-8 months.

They free range here on 3 acres and eat bugs and slugs and grass and rummage through the horse poop like it was candy.
Occasionally a coyote /bird of prey/black bear or lynx/cougar will get a free meal....but it is survival of the fittest.


As others have mentioned...there isn't a $$$ saving per se re: meat/eggs....
However the benefits of having them far outweigh any monetary output.
As one company puts it.

Priceless

 

[duckinnut]

You won't lose your house if you gamble on chickens!

 

[galanie]

Honestly? This sounds like a "please entertain me" thread. But to answer it, I wanted chicken poo for my garden.

 

[moetrout]

Ya know....I honestly don't remember now. I think it was something like the kids need to learn to care for something or learn some life lessons or some other BS. It doesn't matter now anyway! The wife and I think they are really entertaining, easy to care for, and they give us the best eggs. I have many friends that benefit in eggs every week. We only have 9 right now, but during the summer that's a lot of eggs!

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I'm not sure just what prompted me one day to want chickens. I'd never owned chickens in my life, and only ever knew one person who had chickens (a childhood friend who owned a very mean, dirty Pekin duck and a MEAN Silkie rooster, and I never understood what in the world she saw in them). But my husband died about a year and a half ago, and so my life since then has been turned upside down. All I can tell you is that one day last September I decided that it was time to fill in the inground pool (never used it anyway, cost a fortune to maintain, and it was needing yet another $2,000 liner).... and HEY, since I've already got a nice big hole there, how about putting a root cellar and water cistern in that hole? Then I can turn the whole backyard into a vegetable garden to feed myself and maybe earn a few extra bucks, PLUS if I build a shed I'll have someplace to put the ATV and dirtbike, AND since I'm building a shed it would be cool to have chickens as well, and I can just attach the coop right onto the shed! God must have thought it was a great idea, because within a week I had almost all the materials I needed, FREE, from craigslist and freecycle. I filled my driveway with building materials. After some brief research I decided that Australorps were the breed I wanted, and lo and behold a fellow posted an ad to sell some Australorps. Off I went to pay for them, and I know the guy thought I was crazy when I told him I needed a week to get the coop ready for them (OMG was I optimistic, 'cause I'd barely started the shed OR coop!!!) I worked my tail off for a week and did manage to have at least the coop semi-ready for them, and I was a chicken owner. I kept them locked in the coop for a couple of days til I could get the run built. I did manage to fall off the ladder when finishing up the roof and broke a bone in my foot, which meant that most of the building work ground to a halt. The shed and coop just have tarpaper on them for now, but I'll get them sided come warmer weather. I live in town and am supposed to have only 6 hens, no more, and their coop just BARELY is enough distance from the neighbors to be legal. However, I have been contemplating adding another coop and another dozen hens along the back property line. I decided that I'd make a decision based on whether or not the needed building material again fell into my lap for free. Sure enough, I found a guy tearing down his garage who is willing to give me ALL of the lumber, and is even kind enough to de-nail it and leave it stacked in a neat pile for me.

I am really happy that I have chickens. I find them to be a great stress reliever. I find myself going out several times a day just to check on them, sit and watch them, sometimes pick one or more up and pet them (the petting part is ok but it is NOTHING like the affection one gets from a dog or even a cat... the chicken let's you pet it, says "big deal", and is ready to go on it's way as soon as you put it down). I like to listen to the sounds they make, I never knew they could make so many different sounds I have one chicken who seems to enjoy being an entertainer, she constantly does crazy stuff (my dog s also an entertainer) that makes me laugh. Believe it or not, I have only eaten a couple of their eggs... I've been keeping my mom, daughter and one paying customer in eggs so there's not much left over. I figure that with another dozen hens I'll have that much more to sell and may even get some for myself.

 

[Apyl]

Personally I am doing it for many reasons. 1. the eggs, 2. the meat, 3. to barter. We will raise the chickens, have eggs, babies, and butcher some. We then will give friends and neighbors eggs and meat when they want some and we have it. We also receive venison and help when we need it from our friends and neigbors. Another bonus is that my oldest does 4-H and my younger two will also when they are old enough, Raising the chickens is a great experience for them.

Edited to add: I also am getting them to lower the tick population, which is really bad here.

 

[jspitzer221]

I work at a feed and seed store, so bringing chicks home just seemed like a logical thing to do. I really do love it, they're really great pets. The eggs are just an added bonus

 

[Mattemma]

Chickens to me are like the pets we have. I don't really care about the cost. You pay $5 for a dozen eggs? Oh please buy mine! I sell them for $1.50 a dozen or give them away!


Unless it was an extreme financial burden I would not keep the chickens,but a few are not a burden. They are fun to watch. Bit of a worry when it comes to disease or predators,but we deal with than with any pet. I would eat the chickens if needed.Hatch the fertile eggs if I needed more chickens.

 

[enjoyin' my chickens]

Why keep backyard chickens? Why not. The only downside I have seen is that the monetary value feed per doz. eggs is higher than the store but their are other aspects that make it worth while. For instance lower Cholesterol in the eggs because the chickens get exercise as opposed to being caged up. I know what I am feeding my ladies. The entertainment value. You can't go to the theater and get this much laughs and smiles for the price. As it has been said on here before they are very therapeutic, and they smell fresh like the country air we all love to smell.