cookiejar Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 If you have more than 35 chickens and you're not in the poultry business. If you have tried to get around the zoning laws/city ordinances to have your chickens. If you've *fought the law* over your chickens. If you buy more chickens than you told your family you were going to "just in case" or "they were so cute". If you *hide* your chicken purchases (from fancy feeds to pullets) from your loved ones because they wouldn't understand/might get upset. If passing the feed store chicken feed aisle makes you quiver. If your not even sure how many chickens you actually own. If you've brought them indoors for any reason. If you know more about your chicken's character traits than a family member's. If you can name more than 5 styles of chicken or can identify them just by a picture of a chick. If you've seen your chickens do something appalling like pecking one of their own to death... and still want chickens. You go ballistic if someone goes near the *ladies*. Link to comment
Kelly Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I don't have more than 35....yet! LOL But most of the others apply to me. There I admitted it! And I'm proud! LOL Link to comment
HSmom Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Hmmm...only 6 pullet (female) chicks (though I did have 9 ducks at one point). No worries on zoning. Just in case or 'so cute' ... see 9 ducks above. Hide? Nine ducks? Only on pizza!! :24: (For those not in-the-know: my butchered ducks turned into Italian sausage - they're quite delicious!) When I drive by the feed store early Saturday morning, when they are still closed, I peek to see if they still have 'chick lights' turned on, just in case any didn't get sold. I know exactly how many I own. I brought baby ducks in one year when the power went out. Put them in a tote in the (only) bathtub with a hot water bottle. My chicks are new, so I don't know their characters ... yet! I recently saw a dead chick and while I was sorry she died, I was glad it was over. Going ballistic? Does threatening to shoot a neighbor's dog count? Link to comment
Necie Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 If you have more than 35 chickens and you're not in the poultry business. ------> I sell my extra eggs. (Said in a 'justifying-my-addiction' tone.) If you have tried to get around the zoning laws/city ordinances to have your chickens. ------>Nope. Ok on this one. Everyone in town encourages me-they want my eggs. Enablers, they are! If you've *fought the law* over your chickens. ------>Nope. Have had to call *the law* (animal control) to get the stupid neighbor to keep his dang dog on his own side of the property line. If you buy more chickens than you told your family you were going to "just in case" or "they were so cute". ------>Welllllll....YUP! If you *hide* your chicken purchases (from fancy feeds to pullets) from your loved ones because they wouldn't understand/might get upset. ------>Nope. I do what I want and if he don't like it...too bad, deal with it. And, BOY, does he do alot of 'dealing with it'! If passing the feed store chicken feed aisle makes you quiver. ------>And shiver, and quake. I got my eye on the neatest incubator....I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT! If your not even sure how many chickens you actually own. ------>Wellllll....I *think* I have about 40. I know there are 9 in the little chicken coop...and *about* 30 in the big coop. They won't hold still long enough for me to count them. Hmph. If you've brought them indoors for any reason. ------>I start them indoors for the first 3 weeks, then they go out to the old chicken coop (DBF's 'Boar's Nest' for 3 wks. He's not too happy during this time (see statement above: "Deal with it"). Then they go out into a small chicken coop. Only brought a full grown chicken in the house once: she was a 'flier' and I finally caught her and sure the heck wasn't putting her down to go in the house to get the scissors to clip her wings. DBF when I walked in the house with a chicken under my arm: If you know more about your chicken's character traits than a family member's. ------>I know that a chicken's personallity and moods are more predictable and make more sense than most family members. If you can name more than 5 styles of chicken or can identify them just by a picture of a chick. ------>Yup, can name and own more than 5 different breeds. Still can't identify most from chicks, though. If you've seen your chickens do something appalling like pecking one of their own to death...and still want chickens. ------>Yes. and Yes You go ballistic if someone goes near the *ladies*. ------>What HSMom said. Except I didn't threaten - I was going to.... But DBF wouldn't let me have the gun. (He's got the key to the gun safe.) The latest crazy chicken thing I did was actually to teach my dog a new trick. Anyone ever seen a rottweiler *kiss* a chicken? It's hilarious. Link to comment
Cat Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 *SIGH* From someone who's actually HAD chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducks... *You investigate any "rucus" during the night because they're more important to you than they are to sleepy Hubby. *You actually put one of your precious birds "down" yourself because it's too painful to watch them suffer, and Hubby's not due home for hours. Then you cry. *You tolerate the need to occasionally beat off a rooster because you want fertilized eggs. *You chase down a possum or raccoon yourself because you've seen what damage they can do. (And convince Hubby to be ready with a shotgun on weekend nights to get RID of that particular problem.) *You've been known to blow out, clean, and save not only the first tiny "beginner" eggs, but some of the pretty colored Araucana eggs and goose eggs. *You've offered to take babies to the Kindergarten classes to let them see live chicks. (Turned it into a "farm" lesson complete with pretty eggs to show. ) *You spend over an hour searching for a hen *in the dark* who foolishly decided that the woods was a better place for her nest. *You grieve with a mother's heart when your setting goose is killed on her nest, trying to defend her eggs. *You awkwardly stuff antibiotics down an injured duck's beak, trying to help her survive a snapping turtle attack. You cry when she dies. *You set out to catch said snapping turtle despite Hubby's laughing... and manage to DO IT!!! *You rush home every evening to shut your birds in, safely away from the predators... no matter WHERE you are! *You come to "understand" what the hens are "saying"... in a chickenish kind of way... NOT specifics (Why, THAT would be ODD!!! ) *Years after you no longer have chickens, you remember their twilight going-to-roost songs with wistfulness. Ummmm, did *I* write those??? :24: Link to comment
lunamother Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 -you come home from the local Flea Market with a week old turkey tucked under your arm, announce to your family "His name is Elliott", and no one dares laugh or question you. -your family is used to the routine of removing the baby poultry from the bathtub (inside their big tub- the bathroom is the only warm room here in the winter/early spring) before taking their showers -your son brings his pet hen to show and tell at the pre-school -you tolerate (barely) the occasional loss of a chicken to a dog, but you instantly carry out capitol punishment if they touch the DUCKIES trouble with the law? wanna see my warning ticket for "Fowl roaming at large"??? and I DID prove they weren't mine. by marking one of them with green spray paint. the 'offending poultry flock' had no 'marked bird' how many do we have? ummm..... 6 guineahens 2 duckies (more to come when we get moved and have a proper duckie pond) 5 roosters 20-something hens the upside of having hens that will set is that makes your flock a renewable resource Link to comment
Ambergris Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I once had a Black Australorp hen who would ride stray dogs and cats out of the yard. She would also come inside (doggy door) and perch on top of my son's iguana tank, craning her neck down to stare at the iguana. Iguana, tank, and hen are all gone. I miss that hen. My new chicks (Australorps and Araucanas) are set to arrive in April. We're hoping one of the current hens will be brooding so we can sneak the babies up under her, a few every night. Otherwise, they'll be bathroom babies until the nights are reliably warm. And bathroom babies STINK! Link to comment
Jewlzm Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 I am not an addict.. I only have 6 Link to comment
foxfire Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 I don't think I qualify for this category as yet...But I'll keep on trying until I get it right!!! IN HIS LOVE, foxfire Link to comment
Leah Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 YES YOU DO!!! Had your chickens how long? Hmmmmmm? And already wanting a rooster so you can raise some more! You have been bitten by the chicken bug! Aren't they wonderful? Link to comment
zzelle Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 how cute we live in town so none yet but might raise some at dh brothers friends house. Link to comment
themartianchick Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Far too many of these apply to me... My 9 chickens are stealth birds in the city because they may or may not be against the law. I've cried over birds that I've put down. I hatched far more than I had a right to hatch and sold them . I have volunteered my incubator to a school for hatching. I keep a cage (about the size of a baby's crib) in the house for chicken emergencies. I buy and grow them special treats. I do speak chicken and sing to my birds as well. I go outside to investigate unusual sounds. My family does not allow me to go into Tractor Supply unsupervised. I feed the chickens before I even think to feed my family. I refer to my chickens as "the girls". Since I worked for a hatchery, I can name many, many breeds of fowl. Childhood memories of raising chickens are what made me decide to do it again. I really missed them! Link to comment
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