4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[rarara]

Are they your pets?

Are the eggs just a nice byproduct?

For the eggs?

For the meat?

None of the above - Maybe I should have made this a poll

Also, how often do you 'pet' your chickens? Are you hands on?

Are chickens feral if you don't handle them enough?

TIA

[Janty]

Mine are pets.

 

 

I am hands on and like to sit in the run with them when I drink my cuppa in the morning. Despite my efforts though I do have a few chickens who do not want to be handled and can't be bothered with the whole social thing.

 

Never mind!

 

[Laura & CTB]

Mine are just pets as well. It's nice to get some fresh eggs but that's just a bonus.

 

I love interacting with them as much as possible and they are well used to my sitting in the garden and having a chat with them when they will all quite happily find a perch (lap or an arm) to sit on if I have something nice for them to eat.

 

A great way to unwind after work !!

[speckled hen]

We got ours for the eggs, that changed as soon as we got them and they are now very much pets. Why didn't anyone warn me how addictive chickens are

[chickiepiggies]

mine are pets and i'm far to soft with them

 

we chat and they all follow me around the garden. snowy likes to be carried around under my arm as she's picked on by the ex-bats. eggs are a nice bonus

[Space Chick]

I like to refer to my girls as "Productive Pets", they are pets but I love the egg production

 

I spoil my girls rotten, but they give as much love back as they get

[Chicken Shirl]

Eggs are now the bonus. I got a hen for the eggs, just one hen as I am alone most of the time, and we could not buy organic free range eggs here. She became my best friend, so the others just followed on, and they are all my friends. Some are more sociable than others and they all gather around me when I am in the garden for whatever reason. It's a lovely experience, one I would not have missed for the world......... I adore everyone of them because everyone is different......... They make me happy and are good for the soul.........They would be feral if we just left them alone, I'm quite sure of that.

[docsquid]

We got ours for the eggs, that changed as soon as we got them and they are now very much pets. Why didn't anyone warn me how addictive chickens are

 

Oh yes indeed, exactly the same here. They were going to be working birds for eggs, but now we are enchanted by them!

[JanTheDiver]

Mine were got as both pets and egg layers (I eat a lot of eggs ), but now they are definitely pets first and egg layers second.

 

I wouldn't be without them, I didn't realise how I would get so attached to them

[docsquid]

I forgot to say that they've only been here since last Friday. I have spent some time in the Cube run with them, and gradually gained their trust. They will now all take food from my hand, and Blodwyn and Megan will peck my hand gently even if I don't have any food with me!

 

I'm gradually getting them to trust me, and they will tolerate me stroking their feathers now, particularly Gwennie. I'm not rushing to pick them up, I'd like them to be happy with me around them and then I'll pick them up.

 

What I'm most keen on is that they will come to me when I call, perhaps if I have a bit of corn in my hand, so I can get them away from places they shouldn't go and back into the run for safety. They seem to be learning quickly. We just need to be consistent so they associate us both with food and safety. I wouldn't want them to be completely feral, so I am making an effort to ensure they are very tame.

[CluckyBucks]

I fell in love with one gorgeous hen so i rescued her and got her two friends

 

Eggs are a bonus. I keep hens because i love them

 

xx xx

[Olly]

I just wanted to see chickens in the garden! I read about the Eglu and fell in love with the idea of having hens, even though at the time I was scared of birds.

 

I consider mine as garden pets - they are well cared for, and I love to watch their antics, but they don't come into the house and I am not as attached to them as I am to the cats, say. I don't 'pet' them, although I do pick them up to check on their health.

 

Oddly enough, I had not really thought about getting eggs, just having chickens - the eggs are a real bonus. Just as well, as I have one OAP who has only laid 1 egg this year!

[cluckingmad]

Initially got ours because we wanted to be a bit more self-sufficient, I've had ducks in the past so we decided to get hens for the eggs..

 

Within a minute of their arrival they were promoted to much loved pet status We DO still keep them for the eggs, but the chicken bug has well and truely hit - within 2 months fo our girls arriving we rehomed three ex-batts, then when one passed away we got 4 little pure breed pullets, then couldn't resist three pure breed girls that needed a new home....

 

Love 'em all - just can't beat seeing them all pop out of the eglu in the morning as soon as they hear us coming

[Valkyrie]

Definitely pets with a bonus (and as I have had to buy eggs in they really will be a bonus if they get laying again!). Not exactly cost effective unless you have lots of birds - I have given up logging in how much I have bought in added extras, vets, food and treats - we were on 80p per egg earlier this year, but probably more like £2 per egg now!

It's a pity we didn't do this sooner. They are such brilliant entertainment.

I did dispatch and cook one of our chicks who turned into a cockerel and it's not something I would like to do again for a while, although having the chicks was a terrific experience tinged with sadness. But it is a learning curve because we are intending to have a smallholding in the next couple of years and as cluckingmad says it is very good for being more self sufficient - we already have the veg sorted more or less (and fenced off ).

Keeping chickens is very addictive and the sadder part is that now we tend to do chicken spotting on journeys out - or visit places with chickens so we can add to our list of future wants (it is very long now).

[Gelbel]

Mine are out and out pets (that happen to provide breakfast).

 

On a working day I spend about 4 x 10 mins just gazing at them - they are not touchy feely at all (any ounce of that went when I had to bumper bit Grace earlier in the month). They will eat from my hand though come bribe time to get them back in the secure run but I can't even stroke them - even with a handful of food they shy away from me. My 4 x 10 mins are broken down as a tidy in the morning, then when I make coffee, lunch and an afternoon cuppa. We usually have a good old chat at these times too. I often find excuses for other visits - just to check they are OK you understand.

 

When I FR range them at the weekend I am out in the conservatory or kitchen overseeing them and or at their antics. I've not had them long enough to have some lovely fun in the sun with them in the garden.

 

When my DH and I speak on the phone, whoever is the one away from home always asks after the girls (much to the amazement of those earwiggers - goodness knows what they must think at what we say).

 

My colleagues at work ask for updates on them!

 

Interestingly my Mother thinks I am mad - it's 'the girls this, the girls that, the girls the other' from me when I call her. My brother has had 3 for nearly a year now (reminds me to add to the name thread as the coming by their names are quite funny) and really does not bother with them that much. Which rather annoys me as the attitude is rubbing off on his 6 year old boy.

 

I love my pet girls to bits but just wish they would let me pet them.

[Chunky_Monkey]

We got the chickens for pets with the eggs being a bonus - which is a good thing, seeing as we have only had 2 eggs today from 8 chickens.

 

Most of the hens are really tame now, espeically my original girls and one of my ex batts (3 out of 4 of them were really friendly, though too of them have unfortunately gone now). My other ex-batt, Dora, squeaks when I pick her up. My 3 newest girls are still rather nervous and are still getting used to us. But I'm trying to spend a few minutes everyday outside with them. I pick them up in the evening when they're dozy to try and get them used to them. It's a nightmare trying to catch them in the day time.

[EmmaJC]

Lots of reasons really. For years we did the grow your own veg in teeny suburban garden thing which was great, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to do more to return to a more sustainable way of living.

 

Since leaving home 10 years ago I'd always bought organic eggs and meat, but didn't really consider the side effects of mass production until I stumbled upon an article about cullings of chickens when they reached end-of-life. Added to that was my knowledge of the routine cruelty allowed, beak trimming being one of them, it seemed clear that it was a vastly wasteful way to produce eggs and on mentioning this to my parents they both began telling me about their childhood chickens kept in tiny yards, less than 1/4 of the size of mine.

 

I bought an eglu and aquired my 3 ex-battery hens about 3 months ago and don't regret it for an instant, though they have their moments. Watching them spend hours digging a hole and then sitting in it as you approach has got to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. They are such sweet little creatures I find it hard not to love them, though I don't really consider them as pets.

 

They do change you're life though, that shocked me more than anything. I've been in the market for a new house for a long time and whilst I used to want a lovely Victorian jobbie now I'm more interested in a 30's house with a huge garden so I can give my hens more room. I'm also keen on keeping table birds but as my other half is a veggie I can't see that happening!

 

- Nigella, ex-batt

- Clarissa, ex-batt

- Jennifer, ex-batt

[Slim]

We got ours for eggs and to help the grass grow (THAT WORKS!!) but it is now a obbsesion! as you can see by the link below!

[freya_chick]

Definitely pets! The eggs are just a bonus (and not much of one at the minute as only two out of the five are laying!) - they're completely members of the family and we all love them. My daughters love going out their to give them their 'dead worms' and checking for eggs!

 

Freya

xx

[jomeena]

Ours were for eggs but changed into pets by the end of the first day. They both enjoy a cuddle and flo likes a tickel between her wings, she makes a soft cooing noise. Both girls chase the cats and follow the dog. They have also found out how to climb the stairs into the kitchen. ( poor cats ) they seemed to like trumpet music, so i got them a cd. My friends think this is mad but they do like it, really.

[coco]

We had chickens years ago but they were just for eggs. I l;iked the idea of hacing more chickens and got them with the intention of having them for eggs. That idea went out of the window about 2 days after getting them, they are definately pets. They are spoilt rotten OH says they get more attention than he does,but then so does the dog.

[dippy bird]

We got ours for eggs,but then we fell for them big style which was just as well as we were only getting 1 egg a day for a while! We went from 3 to 5 to 9 in a very short time and we are mad about all of them - even the bullys!! We are also really lucky as we are getting up to 7 eggs a day off them now

Anyone need any eggs as we are swimming in them !!

P.s - whoever mentioned the pumpkin? Genius idea! I bought two today -one for each flock and they have gone mad for it!! (Did I mention that I kinda spoil em all rotten as well?)

[cluckingmad]

pumpkins?! Please tell me them eat pumpkins - OH has badgered me into buying one for halloween, however if the girls will eat them thats an aded bonus (can chutney/cook the flesh for pies etc, but the pips always seem such a waster - can the girls eat these as well as the fruit?)

[Guest]

Always wanted some chickens but Hugh and Jamie spurned me to get my own and I wanted some happy hens bonus of eggs.

 

Would like to rear my own for table but need to get over the pet problem of humanising animals!

And Farmer Brother in law did warn me they become very tame which has probably not helped(as they all have their own matronly personalities)UM one day

 

Great pet great eggs

 

indie

[Valkyrie]

Just found the thread - Do Chickens Eat Pumpkins? A real eye opener and very handy (as long as mine do like them, fussy monsters ).