Why do you keep chickens and what got you into it?

[wishful]

I'm not sure if this is the right section but I wasn't sure what would be.

I was just wondering why you keep chickens (or ducks or geese or whatever)? Or for those, like me, who don't yet have them but are taking an interest in them and want them eventually, why do you want them? I don't just mean like "for eggs, for meat, or for both". But like is it for the companionship/pet aspect, or about environmentalism (eating local food and all that), or food quality/safety (wanting fresh eggs/more flavourful meat/knowing what they've eaten and that there's no antibiotics/etc) or animal welfare (wanting eggs/meat you know were humanely sourced) or some combination of those or something else I've not thought of?

Also what originally made you decide to keep them? That might be a hard question - I can't remember an exact moment or trigger that made me suddenly look into chickens and start reading this forum and want them, though I know obviously I've not been reading BYC my whole life. But if you can remember it, what made you want them? Did a friend have them, or you picked up Easter chicks and decided to keep them, or you were raised on a farm or what?

I was just thinking about this and was thinking it would be interesting to see what people had to say. Sorry if something like this has been posted before - I did a brief search but got responses about how many chickens could be kept in a certain space and things like that, rather than /why/ chickens are kept.

Thanks to anyone who responds.

 

[paddock36]

I had them when I was a kid. I grew up and moved away, of course I couldn't take them with me. Then later I moved into a neighborhood and found out that a friend of mine had chickens in his back yard and that made me want them again. So now I have them in my back yard too.

 

[chicmom]

Welllll, Wishful, I always wanted Easter chicks, but we city kids were never allowed. Mom and Dad always said no. Then, when I was much older (like 44), a friend of mine got a few chickens, and I got to see them and BAM--THE CHICKEN BUG BIT ME! So my hubby said OK, and I bought three little golden buff pullets from the hatchery, and the rest is history! LOL

I like mine for pets and for eggs. I've got 18 chickens right now.....7 hens that are a little over a year old, six - six week old chicks, and five 3 week old chicks. I JUST LOVE 'EM! My co workers call me the chicken lady. I sell the eggs just a little bit...a dozen here and there. I usually buy mine from the Meyer Hatchery in Polk Ohio, but I did purchase an incubator and hatch five chicks recently.

I love everything about them.....They're wonderful pets and you can't beat their perky little personalities.

Sharon

 

[Amanda0609]

Hi! I just started with chickens. I decided to get them because my husband has a friend that raises his own for eggs and as pets and recently planeted the idea in my head. Also my mom was raised on a farm and I never had pets, other than a cat growing up. So I have always wanted a lot of animals. I am currently in city limits with just a yard so I am limited to what I can have. If I had my way I would have rabbits, horses, cows, etc. For now I have to settle for dogs and chickens. I want them for eggs, also to know they have a better life than chickens that are used in a commerical setting. I also like the idea that I know what they are eating. They are also like pets to us. My son is enjoying watching them and he talks to them. He is only 3 so I don't let him handle them. So far its been pretty fun. I have had my chicks for 4 weeks. Over the weekend my husband finished building the coop. Now I am working on getting it painted and the little stuff done so they can move outside this weekend. Now that we have chickens I wonder why more people don't. I guess its just easier to buy eggs or meat at the store. I think I will be really proud when my girls start laying eggs and I can share them. I'm interested to see what others say.

 

[gryeyes]

I cannot put my finger on the the reason WHY I decided I wanted to raise chickens, but it was only last summer. In September 2007, I promoted and transferred from the Central California Coastline to the Sacramento area. Terrified. NEVER had planned to move away, much less to Sacramento. But I was lucky enough to rent a house which is the second (and "back") house on an acre; my landlady is a co-worker and she lives in the front house. She has 3 sheep and allowed me to move in with my two small dogs and four cats.

First, I built two backyard ponds. Then I started raised bed gardening last spring, and as I began to enjoy the vegetables of my own labor, I suddenly thought about building a chicken coop. I could keep maybe 4 chickens, I thought. No problem with the landlady, and I started to construct an A-Frame "tractor" (which is permanent, as it's too heavy for ME to move). It took a few months of weekends. Literally. And it looks like a girl built it, too!

I wasn't ready for chicks until October, at which time I found the LAST feed store selling chicks that late in the year, and I eventually purchased a variety of chicks - so I would be able to tell them apart. "Just pullets."

I told myself it was for the eggs, to have fresh eggs. I knew nothing about chickens; as a matter of fact, when they started to grow combs, I thought I had all roosters! I didn't know hens had combs, too. But those little chicks could have grown up to be special, never lay eggs kinda chickens and I would have loved them anyway. One turned out to be an accidental roo. I love him, too. I bought two laying hens from a BYC member because she was down-sizing her flock and it seemed to be a great way to jump-start the egg-gathering process before my own pullets started to lay. Not that they HAD to lay, mind you, but I did expect them to do so.

I love collecting the eggs. I tell the girls how proud I am of them when I find each egg in the nestboxes. Seven of my eight hens are laying.

Now I have six more chicks, and two ducklings. They are all ready to go outside this coming weekend.

I love knowing I am giving them a good home, that they aren't in some caged, egg farm. They're beautiful. They do the cutest, silliest things. They make the most interesting sounds. AND they give me eggs. I would never process any of them for food; I'll probably run a home for elderly hens some day.

I'm VERY proud of myself for having built two coops (the second one I'm building is almost ready for occupancy). Prior to last year, I'd never held, much less used, power tools. Woo hoo! I've got a circular saw, a jig saw and a cordless power drill!

I hope I'll always have chickens. And the ducks, too.

 

[pulletkeeper]

I live on a farm with my husband and the only livestock we had were dogs (ok, not livestock, but loved nonetheless). I quit my job a year ago to raise produce full time and sell at our local farmer's market which I am now the manager of. We sell a lot of produce on the farm and I wanted to be able to sell eggs on the farm too. Besides the fact that I eat at least one egg every day and use many more for cooking I switched to EB eggs last year because they are supposed to be healthier. After much thought I wondered "how can I be sure?" and figured the only way to do that was raise my own. My husband has been refusing to let me have chickens for years even though one of our buildings is an old chicken house where his grandmother raised chickens forever ago. My husband and his father later converted it to a hog shed with concrete floors. Now it has gone back to a chicken house with 2 good size coops inside. I love my chickens and love watching them. I praise my ladies for giving me eggs and talk to the chicks about all the eggs they will lay. I try to find neat things in nature for them to play with and on. I even made them a dirt bath yesterday and saw them using it today. I don't mind cleaning up after them because, truthfully, they are less maintenance than my husband.

 

[sheaviance1]

I have an enormous appreciation for the hardships faced by our ancestors. When I started seeing the economy in America take such a drastic downturn, I took a long, hard look around me and suddenly realized that all of the old-timers in my life are gone, there is no one left to teach me how to grow and store my food, how to can, how to do the things in life that I have been taking for granted for so many years. My first garden was a huge success, the later ones have been more of a challenge. I had a dream not too long ago that America became a third world country. That dream, I suppose, was an indicator of the fears I found myself having about my employment. I have been feeling a compelling desire to learn all that I can about how to do things they way they used to be done before so much technology came into the world. My garden was my first step, and I found that I truly enjoy getting out and getting dirty. I love to work with my hands, enjoy canning my produce, love reaping the rewards of all the hard work that I do. I find it incredibly satisfying on a level that has been unparallelled in my life thus far. I have been reading all that I can about growing and preserving my food. I think, for me, chickens were a logical next step. I recall my grandparents, aunts and uncles having chickens when I was a small child. I look back on going out with my grandma and gathering eggs and I feel almost transported to a more peaceful life. My grandma lived at the base of a mountain in a house she and my grandpa built theirselves. When she passed away in the late 90's, she still didn't have running water in her house. She worked very hard her whole life, but I have never met a person who was any more satisfied with their life on their deathbed than her. She was an amazing woman, kind, gentle, tough and patient. For me, being in my mid-thirties, there aren't many people who understand my passion for doing things the hard way. I feel like the time is coming when I will need to know these things for my own survival. While those feelings may very well be unfounded in my lifetime, I do feel very strongly that the knowledge needs to be preserved and passed on. I live in a rural area, but no one around me does any of these things anymore.

This is my first year having chickens. I purchased 4 buff orpington pullets and 2 australorps (actually, my hubby bought the australorps). They are now about 2 weeks old. I love coming home and having them to look after. I cannot wait until I gather my first basket of eggs. I am really looking forward to getting them in their coop, cleaning it out and adding their "by-product" to my compost bin. My friends all think I am nuts, but I really don't care. What they think of me is really none of my business. I can say, in all honesty, that I have found a lifestyle that I find incredibly rewarding and that makes me deliriously happy. Some of the same friends who have been ridiculing me (and yes, I mean that seriously) are still searching for the happiness that I have found, and it is eluding them.

 

[Manda0227]

I got bit by a hen when I was about 3 years old. My grandfather warned me over and over again to stop trying to pet her chicks- but I didn't listen. So I kept at it, and she bit me! For some reason, ever since then, I've always wanted to have chickens! I finally started to do it this year! So far so good with the no biting. lol they're only almost 2 weeks old though!

 

[cassiadawn]

I know exactly when the thought of keeping chickens first entered my mind. Before my husband and I were married, I attended a few bridal shows. At one of them, I won a holiday at a vacation ranch, where they had a small flock of meat chickens. My husband-to-be and I were both rather surprised by how simple their care seemed to be, and the wide variety of food they could eat - turning grass and kitchen scraps into eggs and meat? Great! We'd been planning on moving onto an acreage in the future, and pretty much decided at that moment we'd get some chickens when we did.

Last year we got 12 black sex-link pullets, and pasture fed them (in a chicken tractor) all summer. We processed 8 in the fall, and kept 4 over the winter for eggs. This year I'm going to be raising 25 Cornish cross cockerels, around 18 various heritage birds (some to add to the layers, some as food), and I think I'm going to try 4 or 5 meat turkeys as well.

I like the quality of the eggs and meat I get from my chickens, as well as knowing what's gone into them. They get non-medicated feed, chemical-free pasture grass, and all sorts of kitchen scraps... not to mention all the grasshoppers they catch! I love that they can eat a lot of things I otherwise would have to throw out (because they can't be composted, like cooked meat), and they fertilize the pasture as they go. Also, I like that they get to bask in sunshine, scratch in the dirt, be part of a flock, and just generally be chickens until they're dispatched humanely. Raising them from day-olds to table, I find I have a lot more appreciation, and respect, for my food.

Since my chickens are more livestock than pets, I try not to get too attached to them. But I also appreciate the somewhat unorthodox beauty of them... and how excited they get when I walk towards the tractor - they know I'm the bearer of tasty things.

 

[Kansaseq]

Over 10 years ago, while on vacation, I became entranced with my friend's cousin's chickens. She had what she called Araucanas that laid the most gorgeous dark turquoise eggs,and I just couldn't get them out of my mind. I came home and did research and decided it was doable. I'm also a life long animal lover and vet tech, so have had lots of birds in the past, and why not chickens? I also liked the idea that the eggs would be so fresh and healthy, and right ouside my back door. Today I have 19 Easter Eggers and Barnevelders, with 8 Ameraucana eggs pipping in the incubator as I type. It's truly addicting.