why do you keep chickens?

[Sparrowsong98]

Meat/eggs. We dispatch them to the Big Chicken Coop when they stop laying.

 

[FlyWheel]

"Pets with benefits." I like that...kind of.

However it sounds just a little too close to "Friends with benefits"...and the connotation thereof for my comfort.

 

[perchie.girl]

Meat/eggs. We dispatch them to the Big Chicken Coop when they stop laying.

welcome to BYC

 

[BY Bob]

I don't have any chickens of my own, but I am fascinated by the idea of a pet that can produce an ingredient for tasty quiches. I'm also very curious if a good foraging breed can do anything about the ticks that are endemic in my neck of the woods.

My 3 hens wiped out the tick population in my butterfly bushes. It took them a couple weeks once they found them. There don't seem to be any ticks in my yard at all. I haven't seen any in a couple of years.

Oh, and we have them as pets. Eggs are a side benefit.

 

[dunnmom]

I haven't eaten one of my hens yet. So, it's eggs and pets for me. Sometime in the next few years, our plan is to move out of the city onto an acreage. Maybe then I'll raise some nice, fat cornish for eating.

 

[Abriana]

I raise for pets, and eggs are just a bonus.

Great way to put it!

 

[Amazonium]

I grew up on a commercial chicken farm- we raised 72,000 at a time and after 8 weeks or so off to market they went. I must have seen literally millions of chickens through those years but never once did I see a chicken get to scratch outside, eat bugs and worms, or have the pleasure of gathering an egg. Now, at 62 years old, I'm finally getting to do all those things. My girls still have a few more months before they start laying but my, how much pleasure they already have given me. I start and end my days with them, seeing that they made it safely through the night and are ready to go outside, or ending the day by making sure they are all accounted for and on the roost. I give them all a pet and then lock their door. I plan on letting them live out their natural lives even if they are no longer laying. I do love the silly creatures...

 

[Abriana]

I grew up on a commercial chicken farm- we raised 72,000 at a time and after 8 weeks or so off to market they went. I must have seen literally millions of chickens through those years but never once did I see a chicken get to scratch outside, eat bugs and worms, or have the pleasure of gathering an egg. Now, at 62 years old, I'm finally getting to do all those things. My girls still have a few more months before they start laying but my, how much pleasure they already have given me. I start and end my days with them, seeing that they made it safely through the night and are ready to go outside, or ending the day by making sure they are all accounted for and on the roost. I give them all a pet and then lock their door. I plan on letting them live out their natural lives even if they are no longer laying. I do love the silly creatures...

So sweet.

 

[brdlvr777]

Interested to see who keeps chickens for what. Mine are pets. Can't wait to see what everybody says!

I also keep mine for pets and the eggs are just a bonus.

 

[Abriana]

I am allergic to the eggs (so sad!) so i keep mine purely as pets and bless people at my church with fresh eggs every week for free. I can have eggs baked in things though and so i bake cakes and cupcakes and they are delicious.