# How did you get started raising chickens?



## Keith

What got you interested in raising chickens and how did you first get started?


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## missouri100

When I was small my grandma's neighbor had a variety of chickens and I was fascinated with them. One day the lady gave me a box and in it was a little black cochin hen setting on eggs. That hen and her chicks were my start. The box had Percy Kent written on it which I found out later had something to do with a cigarette brand. I just though she wrote the name of the hen on the box. I called her Percy Kent. That was 45 years ago.

Other than while in college and a few years after, when I didn't have my own place, I have had some bantams and guineas.


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## rob

i started growing my own veg a few months ago. i bought a magazine called grow your own veg. they have a regular feature on chickens and i became interested that way. i then did some research and built my own coop and run i bought 3 bantams 3 weeks ago and have loved every minute of it since.


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## UncleJoe

Back in '07-'08 we decided that being as food self sufficient as possible was probably in our best interest. Chickens seemed like a good place to start learning about livestock.


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## Shalva

ticks.... 

I have 9 dogs and live in a tick prone area... most nights I pull at least 4 or 5 ticks off the dogs... We are vegetarians so we don't eat chicken so that is a non issue... my husband has a friend with chickens so we get our eggs from him so eggs are nice but not the primary reason and honestly this has gotten rather expensive just for eggs... BUT for us it is all about tick reduction....


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## bacpacker

This is my first post on the forum. I'm excited to have found the site.

When I was growing up both sets of Grand parents raised chickens. They had pretty much given up on them due to age by the time I was a teen so I didn't get to learn a huge amount about them. They did fascinate me though. Last year we decided that we needed to start raising some animal to complement our gardens. We figured chickens were probably the easiest and cheapest way to get started. 

We went with Buff Orppingtons for multiple reasons. They are good (not great) egg layers, very large birds for meat, can tolerate both heat and cold which we get here, they go broody pretty easily, & the hens make great mothers. Our thoughts were with a small flock, we could raise a few groups of chicks a year and enlarge our flock pretty easily if it was needed.


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## Apyl

My grandparents always had a farm. Cows, pigs, chickens, corn, ducks, turkey, ect. I loved how simple life seemed on their farms and how if need be they could survive with what they have. After growing up in the Chicago burbs ( which I hated) I finally moved to the country to a couple acres. My originaly goal was to head in the direction of being self sustainable. So of course I started with a garden and chickens, the ducks kinda just came to be lol, I have also built a goat pen so next on the list is a couple goats. My chickens are livestock to me, they are not here to be my pets. they are here to provide eggs, meat, and babies to continue to generations and to make some money back on the feed.


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## ThreeJ

My wife and I bought an old farmhouse with 3 acres and an old barn, seemed like chickens were a good idea to put in there. That was 12 years ago, and 25 chicks. It was fun while it lasted and life got in the way. Now that we have kids, we figured it would be a good learning experiance for them. So now I have 29 more.


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## Sundancers

My husband got a call about a down machine at a chicken processing plant. (He works in hydraulics) He was there for 3 days but after the first hour he called to tell me to order the chicks, I had been wanting. 

It was six months or more before he would eat chicken again. Nothing like seeing where your food comes from.


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## Evets

Soon after moving here from a Philly suburb, I thought it would be fun to keep a few chickens for fresh eggs and to teach the kids about life and responsibility and such. Only ever had a few at a time. The kids are grown now but my grandson like to visit with the chickens when he comes by. I only have 3 brown hens now but that's enough. Someone in the neighborhood has a rooster but I don't know who. He crows all day long though. I don't mind a bit.


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## Homeschoolkids

Well it all started with a homeschool project May1,2010.We thought it would be a awesome experience for our boys 6yr old and 8yr old.They kept notebooks, collected data , noted each time we turned the eggs and keep notes on the development of the chicks when we candeled them. We borrowed a friends incubator , got 12 fertile (Hopefully)chicken eggs from a local feed store and begain the long wait for the hatch. On May 27th we became owners of 7 baby chicks  The 5 eggs that didnt hatch where not fertile a relief to us that we had not did anything wrong. Out of the 7 chicks we had two roosters that we had to find new homes for because of our zoning. We had them long enough for the boys to see the roosters interact with their hens, protecting, finding food for them warning them about hawks. All noted in the boys notebooks afterall this was a school project. It was a sad day when they left. Next project after hatch was to build the coop and run which the boys had a blast doing. Now 2yrs later we have a little broody hen so we got her 3 easteregger chicks and 1 silky to raise. She is doing great with them. Their 4weeks now. Were crossing our fingers that we get hens.


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## amyswhimzyfl

I didn't know I was a country girl until we bought a place with 2A and a 2 story garage (barn.) Bought some chickens for food and eggs and never looked back!


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## ChookChic

We had chooks when I was young - lived on 5 acres. When my husband and I moved to our "weekender" farm permanently over 5 years ago the first thing I got was chooks. Just love them and their personalities - could watch them for hours!


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## ziggiejones

When I was growing up we had chickens, pigs, horses, goats, rabbits, a garden and so on. After a bad marriage I went back to my mothers place where she had chickens and turkeys. I spent almost all my time with them and they made me happy. I am now in a new relationship and we are planning to get some chickens and I hope turkeys also a couple of goats for milk and cheese to go with those wonderful eggs. Even though I make them my friends I have to remember they will also be DINNER someday. We have a very limited income and it is hard to get started with the price of wood and fencing so it is taking longer then we had hoped. My mom got rid of her chickens, ducks and turkeys so she is giving me all the feed and water containers so that is alot of help there. We are hoping to get enough chickens to be able to sell eggs to buy there food.
Thank you for being here and giving me ideas on what type of chickens and what kind of coop I should go for. I wish I could find a site for turkeys and goats also. Anyone know of any? Please let me know.


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## Riverdale

I grew up on a faarm in northern lower Michigan, My great uncle lived a ½ mile away, and he raised chickens. Been around them all my life.

When we bought the house here, there was a small shed we turned into a coop. Have had chickens ever since, between 8 and 150..... 

We raise for eggs (we eat a LOT of homemade pasta) and I sell enough eggs to pay for the feed (bought at a local grain elevator for $10/50#), plus freezer camp for however many cockerels we get.... 

MMMMM home grown, homemade chicken noodle soup, with noodles made with your own eggs, and veggies out of you own garden is the best!


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## chickhenfarm

For us, we'd been eating a lot of eggs and the price of "store bought" brown eggs here is quite expensive. Plus, the house we rent already had a set up - chicken coop w/pen (very nice and secure). That along with my love for animals/birds. I started out by looking on Craigslist for Chicks.....one purchase lead to another and another and another.....lol. I now have 13 breeds of chickens totaling 57 chickens! I do have a few roosters that I will be letting go.... keeping only 5 for breeding purposes. All of my chickens were purchased 3 days to 6 weeks old. I wanted them all to grow together and get along with each other and so far.....success! I have just a few more weeks to start seeing some eggs, YAH! 
My Chickens:

3-Langshans, 2-RIR (18 wks/4 1/2 months) 
2-Maran, 2-Barred Rock, 2 Tetra Tint 1-Barnevelder (15 weeks/ 3 1/2 months)
11 Buff Orpingtons at 12 wks/3 mo. 
6-RIR, 6-Americauna/Golden Comet mix (10 wks)
10-Silkie (8 wks- 16 wks)
1-RIR, 2-BB RED, 3 Millie Fleur Serama, 3-Silver Laced Sebright, 3-Campine (6 wks old)



Gotta Love CHICKENS!


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## vandj

When I was young we had 2 broiler houses, 12,000 in each house. I hated chickens. When I got older I tried just free range chickens (before they were called free range) I liked seeing them around and the bugs were a lot less having them run around. When you crack an egg and see that bright golden colored yoke, you know why you have chickens.


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## Maggizzle35

I thought I would get a few hens so that I could have fresh eggs. I started with a couple buff orpingtons and got a few easter eggers and a couple Cayuga drakes. Now I have several different breeds of chickens, ducks, geese and a few turkeys. We have enlarged the chicken coop twice. I have olive egg layers, Silkies, Polish, Cochin banty and full size, Easter Eggers, Black Alstralope, buff Orpingtons, Barred rocks, Lt. Brahma, Kucoo Maran. Khaki ducks, buff ducks, Rouen, Mallard, runners, Mag pie, Peking and Cayuga. 1 Buff goose, 2 Chinese, 2 African and 2 Embden plus 3 broad breasted turkeys. Quite the flock but I love them.


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## vondonna

I have lived on our family's 500 acre farm for my entire 50 years. I'd always worked in office management and had been at my job for 20 years. When the economy tanked I was downsized out of a job right along with thousands of others. I'd been a farmer kid my entire life and if I had this major life change drop at my feet I figured I'd might as well open the door when opportunity knocked - I had the time and the room. Plus I figured if we really were plunged into a depression (as was speculated at that point), we'd have eggs and chickens to eat if we were hungry.

I started with 12 chickens and added a dozen here or there. After 4 years I have 68 chickens, 2 beehives, multiple fruit trees, etc. Never been poorer, but never been happier. LOL


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## laxbro

I had chickens as a kid. So i got 4 chickens last year hoping to get at least 3 more next year


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## cathiesue

I've always wanted chickens. Finally got the chance to have a few and i'm enjoying taking care of them. They live in an old well built playhouse. they have a 40x24 pen but free range all the time. Well, as hot as it's been they free range right under the back deck. i have all girls and hope some start laying soon. One australorp, 3 BO and 3 Swedish Flower hens. I'm looking for Swedish Flower Rooster if anyone has any leads.


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## hollyosborn

My neighbors house burned down where she worked, at the "bird ranch" further up the road from us... she called and said go get them.. so I was able to snag half of them.. i wish i had grabbed the rest too... another neighbor took them though so they were loved. I love my chickens, i love the eggs.. I bake for market every week so fresh eggs make a world of difference in baking... as well as FREE... also sell eggs at market too, so they pay for their feed right now. I love how they eat whatever i feed them, and i just want MORE!


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## hurryiml8

My oldest son always wanted chickens, so for his 12th birthday we built a coop and bought chicks. I haven't looked back. Store eggs make me want to throw up.
Karen


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## CMCLB

My homeschooled kids are also Army Brats. My son loved holding the chickens in the petting zoo. My daughter watches birds in the yard. When Uncle Sam sent us to KS we looked for a farm to rent. We had chicks from TSC in the mushroom before we even moved in! They're in their big coop & free range all day. I also got Muscovy ducks & Guineas. Doing a batch of Cornish Cross for the first time too.


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## CMCLB

*mushroom is spell check for mudroom


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## ChickenAdmin

My parents wanted to teach my siblings and I responsibility. We lived on acreage so they though animals would be the natural route.

After deciding on how we were going to do it, we all went outside and built in a chicken coop into the barn, which was formerly used to house horses. 

We also picked up a goat and the rest is history. Whenever I'm in a house that allows it I keep a few.


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## Maggizzle35

I get a lot of compliments on how good our eggs are and how nice the yolks are and all. It makes a big difference. I have to agree, I can't stand the thought of store bought eggs any more even the ones that say they are organic. You don't know how long they have been in the store. We have turkeys, ducks and geese as well as our chickens. I love the turkey eggs they are quite flavorful. Duck eggs are really great for baking.


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## chickarino

I work in a feed store and every march we order chicks to sell ...I hang out by the stock tanks every year, should be working but I sat there dreaming... finally my husband said the word I have waited seven years to hear "YES" I now have 8 chickens a mixerd variety and they are due to lay in august... I have to say they are really the best pets ever!!! Thank goodness for the word yes


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## twentynine

Learned about chickens from my pawpaw and mawmaw. When imoved out of town it was natural for me to get some chickens.


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## viejachula1

I went out of town to see my grandchildren, and when I got back, my husband had a chicken coop built, and sticked with 3 hens and a rooster! All our children are grown now, so I have chickens! We went back and bought 2 more hens... To him, they are just birds, and food. To me, they are more than that. I called the hens "my girls" and I think it drove him nuts to hear that!


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## viejachula1

Oops, stocked with hens, not sticked... Lol


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## machinist

I got started when Dad bought 1,200 Leghorns when I was a kid. We sold eggs to restaurants, nursing homes, bar & grill joints, and lots of individuals. I always loved the homegrown super fresh eggs. 

Then the Caged layer operations got going, and the price of eggs dropped from 90 cents to 21 cents a dozen, in one week! Dad refused to sell egs for that price and fed the bulk of them to our hogs. Within about 10 days, the hens went to the cannery and we got in the hog business. 

HOWEVER! In the intervening 10 days, Dad and Mom, being frugal Depression survivors, decided we should eat as many of the old hens as possible. Mom and I butchered chickens every day, often 15 to 20 in a day. We filled our 22 cubic foot deep freeze with chicken. 

We had chicken to eat almost constantly for over a year. I lost my taste for it, enough that I volunteered to go hunt rabbits and squirrels for some variety!  

I still don't want to eat any chicken, but the eggs are great! I wouldn't want to be without them.


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## sharkbait

I have wanted chickens for a while. We have a 30A "farm" with a big old barn that was doing nothing but housing my tractor. With the economy going crazy I figured now was the time to become a little more self sufficient. I love the chickens it has been a steep learning curve trying to free range. Lost all my first flock except one bantam that roosts in the rafters. I am back up to ten in the flock and starting to get eggs. Going to add dwarf goats to the mix soon.


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## ChubbyChicken

25 years ago, my dad brought home chickens and said, "look kids, new chores!"


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## willandbekahsmom

My husband and I decided because of the price of food these days that we should start raising chickens for eggs and meat. My grandmother had chickens, and we had fresh eggs from her. My husband's grandparents had chickens too. We ordered 5 Delawares and 5 Barred Rocks from the local feed store last July. When it came time for them to be picked up, they had not hatched yet, so my husband bought 4 Buff Orphingtons and 2 RIR that were 2 weeks old. We ended up getting our 10 chicks. We found that taking care of chickens is great for the whole family. No supermarket egg compares with fresh healthier eggs.


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## willandbekahsmom

I forgot to say that we actually started with two bantum roosters that some good friends gave us. The roosters did not get along with their two small flocks. They also gave us a small coop that they were not using. We were hooked for sure.


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## Peggi

When I was a kid, a family friend gave me several chicks. I raised them in my tack room at the stable where I kept my horse. Eventually, they grew up and had little ones. We didn't have much money. Mom was single and going to college. The eggs were a great boon. That was in the 70's. Now, 40 years later, we 'ordered' Jersey Giants and several bantam breeds with the intention that the big ones will provide eggs and meat, and the little ones will help with fly, flea and tick control around the property. The babies are 10 days old and doing great -- all FIFTY of them! (what was i thinking....)

We have a small coop for them when they get too big for the horse trough in the living room. The big coop plans have been drawn, materials gathered and work crews scheduled for this weekend to build it. (Yes, my husband is a saint... 

I can hardly wait until they are grown. The property feels like home with them here.


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## 513

It's great to read your stories. N god luck with those new chicks! We started about 5 years ago when my hubby decided he'd love chickens, so I bought him a coup for his birthday. We now have two coops and a large aviary family of 13 consisting of D'Uccles, cream legbars, white leghorns and some French marans. Our polish got picked on too much so have moved to new pastures..but we can visit! Think even though it started off as my Hubbys wish I love them even more and just love incubating and raising them!


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## Roslyn

Well......I grew up in the country, but no one I ever knew had chickens, the neighbors had cows, pigs (evil pigs), sheep and a pony that I helped take care of. I have always been closer to animals than people. But, my Grandmother was an avid Bird Watcher and we had a bird feeder so you could sit at the big dining room window and watch the birds. I would sit there for hours watching the different song birds come and go, and occasionally she would have me write down who I saw each day and an approximate number of different species. She belonged to a bird club and they collected that data.

Jump to the future and I always fed the birds and usually put the feeder somewhere that I could sit and watch. The first apartment that my husband and I had together was on the edge of town and the neighbor had a rabbit hutch (the kind on stilts) and it had little chickens and a cat. Every morning the little (bantam Cochins I think) chickens would come out and peck around and I could lay in bed and watch them out of the window. Eventually the cat had kittens, so I watched the chickens and the kittens interact. It just stuck with me, chickens were really cool.

So, fast forward a good 10 years and my husband and I were sick and tired of living in town (small town in Lancaster County PA) we didn't like having the teens favorite drug dealer as our neighbor. We had issues with the stifling religious rules that people followed. It wasn't enough to be Christian, no, you had to actually attend the very church that others did. If you did not attend THEIR church then you were some kind of enemy and your children were not allowed to even speak to their children. We actually were at a "end of the season" baseball picnic with the same parents that we had gotten to know over the season, and all the kids were running around in the park playing when they "discovered" that we weren't Catholic. Three mothers and fathers looked at each other, looked at us, and then stood up and went to sit at another table. That was about it, my kids just couldn't understand what the difference between the Presbyterian Church on "X" street was with the Presbyterian Church on "Y" street. Neither could I.

So, after the hype of Y2K and the emotional devastation of 9-11 we both became modern Back-to-the-Lander Hyppies. We picked up and returned to the property that my husband grew up on, in the middle of the woods with one neighbor (who we knew already and still is a really great neighbor!)

First on the agenda was starting a garden, second on the agenda was chickens. I had been preparing over the last year with tons of how to do it yourself books and I was ready to return to my Country Woman Roots. I dug that first garden by hand, just me and a shovel and I added to it a little each year. We picked out 9 hens and 1 rooster from Tractor Supply's chicks and it started me down this chicken feather road!! Except for the last two years I have had peeps every Spring, either purchased, or home grown.

I have always been an observer, since I was a kid and I wandered through the woods watching wildlife, plants and birds. I studied horses and psychology the first time in college and I've always been good with body language. I've made good study with my various flocks of chickens and this forum is a great way to share the amassed volume of stories about my boys and girls. I have enough of them!!

I've had so many experiences that I think I would have never experienced just because I have chickens. They are fascinating creatures and I don't think I will return to the 50+ flock I had at one time, but I think that I will always have chickens.


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## 513

Wow Roslyn


So sorry to hear about your earlier experiences, but your back to the land living is exactly what I wish for! It sounds brilliant and all you hard work paid off! Although in the UK hopefully one day I will get that cottage n bit of land to become a bit of a hippie too!


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## kahiltna_flock

I had been entertaining the thought of getting chickens, my sister had got some and just loved them. I live in the middle of town, lots of logistics to consider, plus we had a busy summer ahead of us. We were planning on building a deck and our daughter was getting married so it wasn't high on the list of priorities. We had new neighbors move in across the street. The previous owner was a serious prepped, and antisocial so we didnt know her well. The new owners are serious city folks. They pulled out all of the raised garden beds and asked if I wanted them, heck yeah! One day he came and knocked on the door, wanted to know if I knew anyone who would want the chicken coop in the back yard, free, they just have to figure out how to get it out. Before consulting with the hubby, I said ME, Me! Luckily, hubby agreed. Put the deck on hold, went to work on moving the coop. Long story, shortened, we had to tear it all apart wall by wall and carry it over. The day it was finished my sister in law called and said a friend was downsizing her flock and once word got out she would be wiped out since everyone wanted her chickens. So we jumped on it. It seemed it was fate the way it all fell into place. Started with 8, now have 12. Would love to add more but there is a limit here in town. But I can't imagine not having them ever. So much fun.


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## realsis

Well, for about 3 years now I always wanted chickens. I'd go to the feed store and just hover over the babies! Finally my husband said yes and the rest is history! I don't live on a farm, I wish I did! My chickens are urban chickens. That's why I have a very small flock of four, but they have brought so much joy into my life! Eggs are a bonus! I really love my chickens! I'm so happy for the experience!


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## fuzziebutt

Hubby wanted a 3 piece from KFC, and I have a wicked sense of humor. I brought home 3 chicks from the feed store. And yes, his 3 piece!


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## robopetz

fuzziebutt said:


> Hubby wanted a 3 piece from KFC, and I have a wicked sense of humor. I brought home 3 chicks from the feed store. And yes, his 3 piece!


Haha I love it! Sounds like something I would do!


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## AlexTS113

fuzziebutt said:


> Hubby wanted a 3 piece from KFC, and I have a wicked sense of humor. I brought home 3 chicks from the feed store. And yes, his 3 piece!


Halarious!


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## OliviaE

Um well a few years ago I went to my cousins and right when my cousin showed me his beloved chickens and newborn chicks I knew I would get chickens. I finally got my chicks on Monday and they r AWESOME!!!!!


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## 513

OliviaE said:


> Um well a few years ago I went to my cousins and right when my cousin showed me his beloved chickens and newborn chicks I knew I would get chickens. I finally got my chicks on Monday and they r AWESOME!!!!!


Congratulations!


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## OliviaE

Cescacharl said:


> Congratulations!


Thank you so very much!!


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## AlexTS113

OliviaE said:


> Um well a few years ago I went to my cousins and right when my cousin showed me his beloved chickens and newborn chicks I knew I would get chickens. I finally got my chicks on Monday and they r AWESOME!!!!!


That's awesome!


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## OliviaE

AlexTS113 said:


> That's awesome!


Ya.........


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## AlexTS113

I have always had a love or chickens! It runs in my blood!


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