When My Family First Got Our Mini Dinosaurs

Once you figured out the chickens you want, you have many choices:

Buy eggs and hatch them yourselves
Buy baby chicks and raise them until their old

Buy full size chickens that are already laying eggs

In my opinion, I enjoy the first two choices. Buying eggs, hatching the baby chicks is not something you would see everyday. Neither is getting the chicks in the mail and raising them until they are fully grown, laying eggs. My mother and I had a crazy thought one day about actually getting fertilized eggs and watching over them in an incubator until they hatch. It was an amazing experience with a lot of work turning the eggs, making sure the temperature was set high and looking into the eggs with a flashlight to see if an actual chick was being born.

My mother was the one who got me fascinated with chickens. She thought about the idea of going outside everyday and getting fresh eggs rather then going to the store and buying a carton of processed ones. Yes, taking care of chickens can be a lot of work but with enough daylight, they will get the job done of giving you your eggs.

As time rolled on, my mother finally sat me and my sister down asking us what kind of chickens we liked. I immediately chose one of the Rhode Island Reds because I thought they were one of the prettiest birds. My sister later chose a few other ones as well. After waiting a few weeks, the chickens were finally making their way to us. We gave them names, socialized and held them and took care of that specific batch.

Since we did this, the chickens were used to being held and when we ventured them outside they sat for us and we were able to engage and pet them.

Years later, my mom got a new batch of chicks and we took care of them, but we did not socialize with them as much and that batch only really engaged with themselves, not letting me or my sister hold them.

Socializing with your animals will allow them to trust you and they’ll eventually follow your lead.