Why, Oh Why, Do I Raise Chickens?

Written by Carole

On those cold mornings when I do not want to go outside, much less feed the chickens, I think, why do I raise chickens? There are a variety of reasons for me to raise chickens, not to mention the many benefits you get from raising chickens (in my opinion). So let me count the ways…

The fresh eggs that the hens give back for compensation of feeding
What’s for dinner tonight? Chicken! I don’t raise mine for meat purposes but chicken meat is something my family and I enjoy having on occasion and without the meat birds where would we be.
“Grandma, you mean that little chick came out of that egg?” I’m not a grandmother yet but if I was I could imagine my grandkids asking this question since I hatch my own eggs. Some of the best learning tools are from life experiences. So chickens are a great educational tool.
They are so entertaining. If you have never been around chickens and watched how they interact with each other and me, you should. Once they become accustomed to you being around they are so friendly and love to play games. They also play games with my dog and just watching their interaction is great fun.
I enjoy educating city slickers on the many benefits of farm-fresh eggs. I am surprised at the number of people who do not know the difference in store-bought and farm-fresh. There is a world of difference between the eggs (most of you already know this if you are visiting this blog).
There is a large community of people in the world who raise chickens and love to talk about them and I am one of them. I enjoy intermingling online and offline with anyone who wants to talk chicken! If I had never taken up this hobby/task then I would have not known this tight-knit community exists.
I am trying to become more self-sufficient and raising chickens has brought me one step closer. I have already mentioned the eggs they supply but on top of that they also give me an over-abundance of fertilizer for my garden we are planting this year. And maybe with all their scratching and pecking while they are free ranging they will help keep the bug population down so my vegetables will flourish.

If I wanted to sit here and think really hard I could probably come up with a lot more reasons why I raise chickens. I probably drive people crazy that are around me due to my frequent talking about how many eggs I get or how many more baby chickens I hatched, or whatever happened that morning at the coop. Can anyone relate? Sure you can if you raise chickens because you have probably become as addicted as I.

Oh yeah, did I mention that baby chickens are just so darn cute?!

Tags: Chickens, raising chickens

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11 Responses to “Why, Oh Why, Do I Raise Chickens?”

monica
February 21st, 2009 at 8:31 am

OUR CHICKS HAVE ARRIVED!!
We are now the proud parents/owners of 4 black cochin and 6 buff orpington. Oh my they are so cute! They are in the house right now with a light in a rubbermaid tote.

We are going to use the plans that you emailed to us (with a few alterations to make it 2 stories). If I ever get the camera figured out, you will definitely get some “pre-poop pictures”!!!

Love this site!!

[Reply]
Carole
February 21st, 2009 at 8:39 am

Monica, Congratulations! The fun is just beginning. Make sure to take lots of pictures. I’ll put some in my ezine for the other readers to see. Glad you enjoy the site and are a frequent visitor!

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Nancy M.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:19 am

I love my chickens so much. So, I totally understand. I lost 6 yesterday and I feel so depressed and stressed and sad. Baby chicks are so cute!

Nancy M.s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday

[Reply]
monica
February 21st, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Nancy, did they have an infection? That is so sad! I hope that you can get some that are going to be healthy.

Carole, The village zoning (organized so that they could review whether we could have chickens–no one ever asked before!) Requires a coop no larger than 5′ x 3′, (small huh), but they don’t care how high the structure is!

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monica
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:46 pm

I have a question?
How do you keep the chick butts from getting pasty with poo? I cleaned off 3 COMPLETELY last night, but when I checked on them after class today, there were 5! We are feeding them Dumor chick starter (20%). I don’t want to have to keep wiping the chick butts forever, but I don’t think they can get the poop past the dried stuff. Ick!
They don’t appreciate having their butt wiped either. All of the books say that it can be wiped off, but apparently, they have not met my chickies. Warm water doesn’t seem to be enough, but I don’t think that I can use soap either.
I don’t think diapers would be of much help either!!
Suggestions please!!

[Reply]
Carole
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 pm

Those little chicks may not appreciate your efforts but you are doing the right thing. Pasty butt won’t be around too long it usually happens within their first week after hatching. I usually wipe them with a wet paper towel until their backend looks very wet (almost like soaking them in water). I check on them occasionally to make sure they haven’t messed again. I also feed Dumor chick starter. You are doing the right thing and it will pass before very long.

[Reply]
Farm Chick Paula
February 25th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

I agree with you- they are so darn cute I can’t resist them! And they are so entertaining- sometimes they crack me up!

Farm Chick Paulas last blog post..A blast from my past

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Cindy
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:24 am

I want chickens so badly!! I have made up my mind that this year, I am going to buy some chicks. I am just waiting for the weather to turn so that I don’t have to keep heat on them forever! I had a few hens at my last house and loved having fresh eggs. I actually have a hen house here but last year it was doing duty as a dog pen.

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