Who else has Chickens!?

[ChicknThief]

Are there any chicken lovers out there?? I thought it might be nice to start a thread where we can talk about our flocks and share pics of our babies

 

I used to have a very large flock, but there was a horrible accident and I am currently birdless, But I will start afresh soon I still have lots of pics and stories to share!

 

So how 'bout it? Let's talk poultry!

[Kestra15]

My previous housemates had five chickens. I did enjoy fresh omelette.

[Felicityluff]

Ooh, I once had a flock too! I do, I do! *raises hand frantically*

 

Can't say I'm a total chicken lover, but I used to grow up in a farm with lots of chickens and goats. I've long since moved out of that farm, though, and now a majority of the animals being raised there are camels, ducks and sheep. Boo.

 

I like all sorts of animals in general, birds being one of my favorites. Flightless birds too.

 

And though I'm not familiar with the breeds of chickens out there, I remember that we had three roosters and a lot of hens back then; the three roosters were mostly black, but two of them had golden heads and the remaining one (which was the oldest out of the trio, the 'king' as we called it) had a red head. Oh, and one of the golden-headed roosters was a cute little bantam. <3

Got no pictures to share, I'm afraid; I was around 7 when I was living in that farm, so taking pictures never came to mind. Heh. c:

 

And although we've had a lot of black, grey and brown hens, we've never once had a pure white chicken like on television. Is that type of chicken commercially bred or something? /derp

 

 

Excuse my little knowledge. It's shameful knowing so little about my favorite food err, friends. :c

...Sorry, I ain't no vegetarian. :3

 

 

::Edit:: Die, smilies, die!! D<

Edited November 18, 2011 by Felicityluff

[Shienvien]

I have 'decorative' or semi-pet chicken. (Who lay eggs as a bonus.) It actually started from the adoption of two veteran chicken from a place where they were mainly kept for food and eggs... Addition to them came later. Each has its own color: black, black/light gray striped, dust-gray, white with black-dotted neck, dark brown, yellowish beige.

 

They all also have their own personalities and habits.

[Zovesta]

My mom has chickens. She loves them, but my aunt is the one that has to take care of them. .__.

[TheDarkCynder]

My aunt has some, I love them. I don't have any though.

[Gsea]

Ooh! Chickens! <33 They are so cute and so delicious.

Long post ahead- full of chicken-ness and eggs.

 

I have five, all hens, living in my suburban backyard. We originally had 6- raised them from chicks, in a little incubated cardboard box and everything- and when chicks are little, it's hard to tell their gender, so we thought we had six ladies. But after we moved them into their coop, we started to notice that the little runty one was a rooster. We gave him to my mom's friend- she has a bajillion chickens- and visit him now and then.

 

We have two Leghorn hens (white feathers) and three Rhode Island Red hens (red-brown feathers), so every day we get two white eggs and three brown eggs. Fresh eggs are noticeably better than store-bought eggs, and we can't keep up with them. Our refrigerator is overflowing with eggs. It's ridiculous.

 

Even though I raised my chickens form their cute, fuzzy cheep-cheep state to their squawking, egg laying stage, I still love me some fried chicken :3 Mmm. Having a pet cow or a pig would not make me go vegetarian.

 

Anyone want some free-range organic eggs?

[rubyshoes]

When I was much younger, my family had chickens. It was a good way to have eggs and as my family had 8 kids we needed a cheap egg source.

[dolphinluva28]

We have 2 chickens at my house but we used to have three. The old ones used to lay these giant eggs that didn't even fit in the box

[Xyzaq]

If we had room for anything, I would certainly want a chicken. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment, so nada.

[Cori]

My mom grew up taking care of chickens. When she was a little girl she liked to go out to the coop and sing to the chickens. And when I was five, my kindergarten class raised some eggs until they hatched, and the farmer that donated them let us keep one of the roosters. We named him Black Bart.

 

Sadly, I've lived in city limits all my life and owning 'farm animals' like chickens was prohibited. If I ever got a home with some acreage, I would probably get some of my own chickens!

[albinosilver]

I used to have 2 roosters. Well cockerels because they were still young. But anyways, all was well until one night some fox or something busted into their coop and ate them both. Found them in the morning as some shredded up, bloody, pile of bones and feathers...

 

It was so sad D: I loved em while they lasted. Very cute little guys...

 

I porbably will never own chickens ever again, at least not in the area I'm currently in. WAY too many predaters. Nearly hit a coyote while coming off my own driveway a few days back ._.

[littleblackdog]

I <3 Chickens but have none of my own...yet! My inlaws have chickens, which I do see occasionally, although they aren't the friendliest of chickens. Mine will be much better behaved. Fresh eggs are the best!

[kryztyn127]

I used to have 2 Chinese chickens when i was on the 2nd grade. Unfortunately they ran away.. But i do visit my friend's farm (They had a lot of chicken and farm animals in there)

[CYDA LUVA83]

Our rooster used to flog my legs all the time when I was little and had to go into the coop to get the eggs, that all stopped when I hit him square in the chest with an empty feed bucket when he started running at me.

 

Good times. Good times.

[Nine]

Chickens are great; I'm glad that their reputation is slowly, subtly getting better as more and more people are educated. I don't own any myself, though I do hope to one day adopt a rooster and see if they truly do make great lap companions =) A Sultan would be awesome to have, but I'd have no problem with a common breed or mix.

[iceclaw935]

Well, actually, i used to own two chicks, but then they were killed by rats. :'(

 

Those rats...

[Prairie Orca]

My current count is twenty-two chickens. I was supposed to have thirty this year but three of the twenty-five chicks I got failed to thrive, one rooster was put down (too aggressive, was even a danger to himself), one of my original hens died mysteriously, one of the chicks died suddenly (I suspect genetic defect as she had issues), one died in the bushes (broken neck?), and the latest one was killed by a golden eagle.

 

Now I have a young hen in the basement bathroom because the rest of the flock turned on her (and after the fact Dad finally told me the new dog might have bit her ). Her tail is gone. The details are too graphic to mention. She's healing, though, but she'll have to stay inside for at least a month because she has to heal 100% to ensure the others don't pick on her tail when she returns to the coop.

 

I hope to have a more modern coop built some day, as the current one is a building that is more than fifty years old. We've shingled and insulated it and put on a new door, but it's not quite good enough. When and if I get a new coop, I hope to get silkies, and maybe start breeding one of the rare breeds. I may also consider rehabilitating rescued battery hens.

[Kursedfire]

Getting some soon, We have a large block of land and an orchard and dad wants to run some in the there. Our neighbour had some but unfortunatly the other neightbours dog got at them... Hopefully he doesnt get out and get ours.

Any Tips for neewbie family who's getting chickens?

[Leidarendi]

When I was little my family had bantams but they were killed by raccoons.

[Gsea]

Getting some soon, We have a large block of land and an orchard and dad wants to run some in the there. Our neighbour had some but unfortunatly the other neightbours dog got at them... Hopefully he doesnt get out and get ours.

Any Tips for neewbie family who's getting chickens?

Well, good luck with the chickens! They really aren't a lot of work. They eat pretty much anything that a human could eat, but my family doesn't really like to give them meat. Roosters may often fight with each other, though hens are pretty quiet. Um....keep them hydrated- water is possibly even more important to them than food.

 

There's a lot I could say about chickens, but I'm sure you'll figure it out They're very fun and pretty low maintenance.

[BlueSkyy]

I want chickens so badly, but I don't like the idea of forcing them to live outside their whole lives. I wish there were such a thing as house-chickens, but they're so messy!

[TLOSpyrogirl]

We were supposed to get some. Two years ago. I think it would be nice to have them. Aside from free eggs, chickens are sweet if you pet them a lot when they're chickies...right?

We're definitely not getting a rooster, though.

[Da_Troll]

my grandma has lotsa chickens 10-20 it's like I have them cause everytime I go to her house I go to the chickens to get eggz

[Sunrise]

I've always wanted to own chickens, but never had the time to really do the proper research on chicken care, set up a good living space for them, etc. I have a friend who has, like, 6-7 of them, and they're absolutely adorable. And fluffy. Let's not forget about the fluff.