Why do you keep chickens?

[rancher hicks]

I was forced into retirement and many of my friends were losing their jobs. So I thought I could keep a few chickens to give away eggs and provide fertilizer for my garden and I could give away veggies, which I have done and still do. I do sell eggs and donate the money to the church earmarked for an orphanage in India.

Sure I could just give money but that would require no effort or work on my part.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Our backyard chickens were an accidental, bad parenting mistake gone surprisingly well. But there's history cropping up, too: my husband's related to a painter who was a pet chicken artist over a hundred years ago in Forest Park, IL. My own mother confessed to raising chickens in their Oak Park, IL backyard during the depression, and she says she hated it. It was not a popular thing for her neighbors to put up with (Chicago suburb) She recalls the chickens being difficult and stupid, and she recalls the meat being "tough".

Our own 4 little bantam hens produce too many eggs for us; this weekend we each ate 5 (little) eggs a day so as not to waste their loving efforts. At times we are literally overrun with eggs, but I don't give any away because I have a fear that if somebody got sick, they might think our eggs made them sick, then yadda yadda trouble problems.......

My family is on a strict and permanent gluten free diet, and that special bread is small. So, the (smallish) bantam eggs are a perfect fit for the smallish bread for a favorite dish called "moon-over-miami", or "egg-in-toast". I have never seen small eggs in the supermarkets, so I am very grateful for our accidentally acquired little bantam hens. Their eggs are tasty and a good value for the tiny amount of money we've put into them. When they stop laying, I will miss the eggs on SOME days, but I sort of look forward to the days when its just lovin our pets because they're nice pets.

They really are nice pets. And their spare feathers have been used for lots of crafts here and at school. Mostly, the chickens are just very nice company. We have an accidentally hatched silkie/rosecomb pair, and they're heavenly soft to pet. They look like regular chickens, but their softness is addictive to the hands, "like velvet pudding to pet", says the 7year old.

We used to have a beloved cat, but we don't recall him being as sociable with us as the chickens. They seek us out and desire our company far more than the cat did. And they desire pets and laps for longer than the cat did. And they're just as good at catching chipmunks. But they're better at eating beetles off my roses

!

 

[Amyable]

Katherine, I think I skewed your average; both my dad and grandpa were the chicken keepers

 

[DaughterOfEve]

I took your survey. I think you are on the right track with your theory. Also we can no longer afford to travel very far so keeping critters seems to be good timing. I love the steady supply of eggs. We have had many times they were the only protein in the house. I appreciate the whole circle of life thing. My daughter is learning a lot too. We sell a few eggs which has gotten us out of a jam too.
I really love summer when I can carry the girls around, sit with one on my lap, or watch chicken tv from my lawn chair.

 

[ranchhand]

I started with chickens 18 years ago at Easter, simply to "rescue" them from small children and their uneducated parents. Now, I keep them for fresh eggs and because I enjoy having them around. They continually amaze and amuse me.

I call them working pets.

Survey done!

 

[PeepsInc]

Poultry Man, for the love of the sport! ....FIRST CHICKENS- When I was 9 I would admire the chickens in the center of town. Eventually I had some Bday money, Mid July. So I road my bike 3 miles to town (to buy chickens from an old timer that had chickens running all over) & then walked home with 5 hens in a sack (with slits cut in it) I was proud of my accomplishment,but my mother with her bird phobia wasn't impressed. She told me, when I grew up & had my own house I could have as many animals as I wanted. & my chickens had to go! So I kept them in my grandmothers barn for a few weeks, until my uncle complained about their pooping & made them disappear.
Second flock- Then when I was 17 I found my first rental. The previous tenant had gone to jail & left 100 chickens ,ducks,turkeys,rabbits,goat,& even a dog behind. His family had been making occasional trips to the empty house to feed the animals that seemed to be everywhere. After a few months of caring for the animals, they became my responsibility. I had the task of thinning them out a bit, by taking most to the livestock auction. I kept what I felt I could afford to maintain at that time, about 50 chickens. After a few winters of freezing in that old farm house I had to move to a well insulated cottage,and sell the rest of the birds.
Since I've lived where I'm at now, I've had a small flock of oddball layers. Then a small flock of meaty's. Now I'm on my 5th flock. I think I started again because I needed something to help fill my time, now that the kids are getting older. & because I like hatching eggs

This time I did my homework,& I built a flock of various pure breeds for show potential. I love their company,& I can honestly say I don't think I'll ever go with out having chickens again. .........To answer your question, I keep chickens because I have my own house & I can have as many animals as I want

.... Just don't tell my wife I said that

 

[Sammimom]

We used to visit Grandma and Grandpa every Sunday, and my sister and I made some real pets out of a few of their RIR's, who were happily never eaten. They would follow us all over the property, and even try to fly in the window when we were inside! I always knew I would have chickens myself someday, so when my little people were old enough for me to catch my breath last year we got a few chicks. They have been as fun as I remember, and my daughter is just enchanted with them. I'm sure she'll be a BYC member someday herself!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Because I am the "Crazy Lady" of the neighborhood!

 

[Uzuri]

Because when I get a hare-brained idea, I always follow through. That's how the house happened, that's how the cats happened, that's how the animated film that I'm working on is happening, and that's how the chickens happened.

Hopefully I never decide I want an elephant.

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Wow, Dixie, I would like to meet you!

My husband served in the AF and we moved quite a bit ourselves. (I even tell a story on my blog about how I dug up a lawn in base housing to plant a garden once when my husband was on TDY - and got us ticketed by the base police.) It's always been my dream to have our own place, to plant trees, keep a garden, and recently, raise chickens. Honeybees are my next project.

I, too, have worked a professional job and now I am able, prefer to stay home, keep my garden, and write. My problem now is that I'm realizing I just don't have enough land to do everything I want to do. I'm seriously considering moving to somewhere I can. I especially want to give my chickens a better life. I do my best by them, and they seem to be happy birds, but it would be better to give them more space. Plus, then I could keep a rooster and produce my own baby chicks, raised by their mothers, as they should be.

I, too, grow not for profit (people have asked to buy my eggs, but I only barter for other food, like fish from my friends who like to ice fish) but to provide food for me and mine - to do that most basic work that all living creatures are meant to do - produce their own food.

Thanks for your response.

Katherine