S/o of the eggs...Anyone have chickens for their own eggs?

[MamaKath]

I have thought about it on and off over the years. I would love to have fresh eggs, but am not thrilled at the amount of work chickens would be when we travel. The rest of the time wouldn't be so bad, but we have a hard time getting people to come in for the dog and cat, lol. Just interested in if folks do, are they happy with that decision, etc.

[daisymommy]

I would do it in a heartbeat if we were allowed to in our housing subdivision! Maybe someday :)

[ABO Mama]

We have 2 chickens in our backyard. They are really pretty easy to maintain...way less needy then dogs or cats. They are fine if we leave for a weekend (they have unlimited access to food and water).

[kijip]

We share 6 chickens with another family.

[twindad]

We have 4 chickens in our backyard. We live in a subdivision with an HOA that does not allow "farm animals", but these are our pets. We also checked with our neighbors before getting them and they did not have a problem with a few chickens.... they are much quieter than some of the barking dogs in the neighborhood.

We've been surprised that several neighbors have approached us and offered to watch our chickens when we travel... they want the free, fresh organic eggs. Caring for them while we are gone is quite easy - make sure they have fresh water and food every couple days.

[beckyr88]

We have four chickens in our city backyard. They are a lot of fun and really not much work at all (once the coop is done!). We got them last spring, and they just started laying right before Christmas. The kids all love them! Our four chickens give our family of five just the right amount of eggs, but not much to spare. We don't eat a ton of eggs, but I do bake a lot...

We don't travel very much, but there is a local google group of chicken enthusiasts I would turn to if I needed a chicken sitter. If you have any specific questions, let me know! I love to talk chickens--they are our perfect pet. The pet with benefits!!!

[niccig]

Do you give them kitchen scraps? My parents do, and I hated the smell when you feed them, and we had to move the coop to fresh area of grass, and not all the kitchen scraps were eaten or decomposed. My parents have a couple of acres.

Also make sure the coop is very secure. We would lose chickens and eggs to snakes/lizards, but this was Australia as DH reminds me, and in VERY rural area.

[JBaxter]

my mom is the keeper of the chickens. I think there is a dozen. They dont do much in the winter

[MamaMolly]

We have a chicken mostly as a pet. She's been slow to lay eggs, we've been advised to get a rooster to encourage her, but they are so loud I just don't feel like bothering. She's a lovely pet!

[citymama]

We are planning to in our new house. The neighbors across the yard have chickens. For those of you who have them at home, what kind do you have, and how much maintenance/work is it?

[BarbieSmith]

We rescued 3 kitties, and they have full access to the outside (fenced-in) back yard, where any "pet" chickens would be. Please, can someone tell me if the kitties would bother the chickens? Don't laugh, I really don't know...
Barbie

[mezzona]

They are very easy to care for. They just squack (sp?) a lot when theyre hungry but not too loud. They need a coop, food, and water. If the coop has a wire floor, you can collect their poop... They make good compost/fertilizer. My dad did it, not me, so I don't know how exactly, but there may be some resources on the net.

ETA the coop is just for them to sleep at night and lay eggs. They usually spend the daytime in shade or sunbathe and fly dirt on their backs to keep the bugs off. Lol they are cute, actually.

[Corie]

Here is a great past thread about owning chickens/chicken coop.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=351345&highlight=chicken

[caleymama]

Here is a great past thread about owning chickens/chicken coop.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=351345&highlight=chicken

I thought I had posted pics here of our "ladies" and our coop! Thanks, Corie - saved me a search :)

backyardchickens.com is a good online resource

[caleymama]

We rescued 3 kitties, and they have full access to the outside (fenced-in) back yard, where any "pet" chickens would be. Please, can someone tell me if the kitties would bother the chickens? Don't laugh, I really don't know...
Barbie

Our yard isn't fenced, but we also have 3 cats that all go outside. They could care less about the chickens and vice versa. If it came down to it, I'd put my money on the chickens! We joke that one of the cats must be part shepherd because he likes to lay around near where the chickens are when they are out in the yard. He'll move as they move around the yard. He almost always comes down to the coop/run in the morning when we let them out and occasionally has hopped right into the run behind me - hasn't phased the chickens and he usually hops right back out after looking around for a minute.

Here he is one evening this past June - you can see one of the chickens to the left by the bush:
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj263/justwatchingthemgrow/chickens/IMG_5966-1.jpg