Chickens

[Darnelle]

I have 6 assorted hens and 1 Cochin Rooster. They aren't very productive, and certainly are not profitable, but they provide a lot of amusement... so I guess "hobby" is the right word! Each is named and some will eat out of my hand even though I got them full grown. They all come running when I call. I flatter myself that they like me, but I bet it's the bucket of food I bring!

[Deb & Chuck]

I forgot that I guess one of my hobbies is chickens too. We have about 20 hens and 1 old rooster. They are allowed to die of old age here, we just want the organic eggs.
Deb

[Bobbie Mayer]

No chickens here (Janine would eat them, one of her hobbies is chasing and if allowed, catching chickens) but a friend of mine keeps guinea hens to keep the ticks down on her rural property. My neighbor in Washington has chickens, too (which she keeps safely fenced!)

[bill&sandra]

Darnelle! happy chickens! I have 7 hens; 4 Chinese Silkies and 3 Belgian Mille Fleurs who give me eggs when the feel like it and amusement nearly all the time! What drama! I have a monthly newsletter I write that I post on my Facebook page (Sandra Higgins Hanna, in Notes)
if you want to check it out.
Other than chickens, I also have Miko the Magnificent, my 14 year old male iguana who loves to be loved and petted--well and spoiled too!
My other hobbies are writing, jewelry making, reading mystery novels with a nice glass of wine! ha!

[Darnelle]

I have a monthly newsletter I write that I post on my Facebook page (Sandra Higgins Hanna, in Notes)
if you want to check it out.

I'll definitely look that up, thank you!

My hens are a mottley assortment and I can't count on a daily production. Love the organic eggs and do end up selling a few dozen per month. That comes close to paying for their feed, but they'll never lay enough to pay for the coop, run, supplies, electricity for heat and water in winter.... Still, they are great fun and I'm hoping they keep the woodtick population down this year as I let them free-range almost every day.

[Sandra Lair]

We don't have chickens, but when the Egg Camping Club gathered in TN last fall, someone at the campground thought we were all "egg farmers" who got together to go camping!

Sandra

[Darnelle]

someone at the campground thought we were all "egg farmers" who got together to go camping!

[Brian Van Snell]

We don't raise, but we do admire. This one from Lynden, WA fair:




Brian

[Sharon G]

I used to raise aracauna bantams and Rhode Island Red bantams. The most I ever had was around 3 dozen, but that was way too many, so I gave them away, all but 5.

I had one aracauna hen that I called "Mama." She would come toward me and eat out of my hand, and seemed to really enjoy my company. I'd always bring a special treat for her... sometimes grubs out of the garden, sometimes veggie scraps from the kitchen.

I had one little Rhode Island Red rooster that followed me around like a dog. He was my buddy.

I really loved them, but had to get rid of them when we started taking long camping trips. I could leave food and water in feeders, but hated having to come home before we were ready.

I love being free to go camping any time, but I do miss my chickens!

[Kristen Beck]

My husband finally said ok on the chickens! I cannot wait and I think i have the style of coop picked out for him to build! Are there any urban chicken farmers out there. We live in Medford and in town they allow chickens so i cannot wait to see them clucking and scratching around the garden. I'm thinking i might get 4, 2 speckled bared rock and 2 rhode island reds. I hear they are the best layers and are pretty hardy chickens.

[Cyndi B.]

I had to give up my chickens when we moved to Montana. They were free roaming and the hit of the town and an embarassment to my children. We still have the coops and I hope one day to to have them again. My husband did not like the one's who preferred his reloading table for their daily duty espeically when they started milling around waiting for their turn in the nest box on his table. At least the box kept them contained to making deposits in one spot. Our black still refuses to chace anything thing with feathers often letting the wild turkeys come up to the front porch. Do miss the eggs and their company.

[CarolnJim]

Years ago, and I do mean years.. in the 50's... my mother went with a neighbor to buy food for Dorothy's chickens.

While at the feed barn, my mother saw these cute baby chicks.. free if you bought a bag of feed. Well, you can imagine my dad's comment when she came home and said "look what I got free?" The rest of the work was up to my dad.

When we moved a few years later from California to Buffalo, we had over 50 full grown chickens .. Dad gave them to Dorothy.

[Matt in SV]

It's not uncommon to convert old camping trailers to chicken coops, so maybe there's a way to fold these two hobbies together? We've seen some recent posts on trailers that were "totaled" by road or tree damage. I'm sure the birds wouldn't mind!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXboYrkC8no

[Cyndi B.]

Our first chicken coop/shed was an old school bus. No wheels. Real redneck.

[kbeale NY]

My chichens also lead a wonderful life without adding alot of eggs but they sure are entertaining. We have 11 hens a rooster and a capoon. We sent away so we were to get all hens because we already had a rooster. Well one turned out to be a male but of course you couldn't tell till he way 6 mounths old. By then he was ours and I feared for him with our other nasty rooster. So we ended up taking him to Cornell to get fixed for 300 dollars!. Obviously we do not eat our chichens.. Oh and ours have blue abd green eggs..

[Cyndi B.]

We have had enough obnoxious roosters to recognize them early in their youth there for seperating them from the attachable chickens into the meat chickens. Some even got a repreve when it was for sure they were not roosters. The last time we got chickens from the hatchery uptown, yes uptown, my husband got a deal on sixteen baby chicks so I had baby chicks in the house for a couple of weeks. Some went awol in a hurry.

[james kent]

. Some went awol in a hurry.[/QUOTE]
Hense the term, "Chicken Tracks".