WHAT brought you to the Hobby, and what made you stay?

[Ontario Chick]

QR_BBPOST Hardwired to the critter thing started when I could crawl / walk catching " wild ones " .Evoloution from there . Luck

Don't be skimping on us Ross, there must be an animal in your childhood that made it all click?
I am a city folk originally, but grew up with German Shepherds, pretty sure that's where my connection with animals developed.

[BobG]

My first real introduction to all things poultry was my uncles farm . He had a huge flock of light sussex and produced eggs for local hatcheries . Three lines distinct from each other then blended together for the hatchery to produce sex link crosses and pol pullets . I met university profs and ag students it was a real neat place . My first job was collecting eggs, marking pen nos, amnt of eggs per pen . I learned a lot about breeding and it stuck with me . My own first birds black rosecomb btms started showing and been hooked ever since . So since the age of 10 I have been addicted to feathers

[Killerbunny]

Now when I think about it I was brought up around German Shepherds too. As a young teen the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals ( a charity where you could get an animal treated for free) would call me and give me baby birds to rear over my school holidays. I successfully reared an assortment of sparrows, blackbirds and pigeons for them and convalesced other birds until release time. I had completely forgotten that!

[ross]

We lived on the S/E edge edge of London Ont if anyones familiar where Highbury Ave stopped & didn't cross the river . Where the McDonalds is now was a large /small animal Sat farmers market Auction of small stuff out of back of vehicle or inside pens . I say vehicle cause most cars back then had trunks bigger than most p/u boxes today . I was 6 & spent all my sat. there as a young kid unloading & loading fruit , veggies , critters etc for a small pitance . Holstien baby calves were auction off & some of the new buyers would give us kids a nickle a calf to catch , tie up head out in a grain sack & drag out of pen into a waiting veh . Also got 5 cents to unload a truck of veggies , poultry , cats , dogs whatever . Never got to reload cause most was sold . End of day had about under 2 bucks but big money back then . First large critter i got was a wild young jack rabbit my Grampa caught underneath his back porch which guickly out grew the pen "I" made & chewed out (wood) box & was a free ranger always back for food . Once in a while a chicken , turkey etc would get loose , had a calf in large outhouse till Sun AM till started to bawl for food . We' d chase the poultry into the bush nearby & catch it , slit its neck & hang it to bleed & go back tell the farmer it got away & go back after sale pluck & gut & take home for fresh chicken which was rare in our house . Farmers just smiled they knew sometimes theyd let one or two go on purpose . My first pr. pigeons after "I" built the pen were given to me by an Uncle who raised & flew Birmingham Rollers . A nice pr of yellows . I was 8 at the time . My mom used to shutter cause i was always bringing free pups home that the owner couldnt get rid of . She 'd send me back with it/them of course he was gone haha . Poor maw .Zoo Keeper , Cowboy & Goes on & on but think yu get the drift OC :-;

[ross]

PS Mom told me i could have a dog in every room of my house when i got my own place hehee
had 27 at one time all shapes , sizes & breeds .. Ah chickens have always been for eating , egg laying , bug eating & showing . Easiest critter to free range if living rural (50yrs now) cheapest to house & raise . Luck

[Epona]

Come from a long line of farmers. They all would turn over in their graves if the words poultry and hobby appeared in the same sentence. We've downsized considerably as the age meter has up sized. So now I get to have birds I always lusted for that didn't serve well on the table or at market. So that's why I have the peafowl. I can remember asking for a dog as a child and my grandfather, who we were all petrified of, told me if you can't eat it, it had no place on the farm.

On the other hand, my husband, who also comes from a large family had a different experience. His parents has a very large lot complete with a barn in a small town. They raised all their food, vegetables and meat. But he was lucky, because there were so many boys, his parents kept them busy with hobbies. They raised show pigeons that were highlighted at major fairs.

His dad tells of the times they slaughtered the lambs, and after one experience, they never had lamb again. The kids witnessed it, and if you have, you know they cry and the sound is very human. No one would eat it.

When my grandparents died, we never had pork for dinner. My dad, helping my grandfather stick a pig, had a rotten experience plus during the war years, pork was a main staple in the home. With huge families, pigs were a good resource.

We ship out to process. LOL. Funny how time changes the generations. Then again, my husband still won't eat lamb and I'm not keen on pork. My kids won't eat ducks as they raised tons of them for market. I swear we try not to name or play with our food. LOL

[kenya]

Ha! Ha! Ross my parents told me the same thing, I had 6 german shepherds at one time.

[poultry_admin]

My wife ... WLLady

Haven't decided if I stay yet

[Ontario Chick]

Oh you are in to stay alright, look at that, even the Eagle has morphed in to a Chicken, it happens so you hardly even notice you have been indoctrinated and here to stay. :)

[Chicken Ninja]

We've never not had a pet of some kind. Dog, cats, fish, rabbits, a hedgehog... Basically you name it, we had it. My mum has always been fascinated (maybe a little obsessed... in a good way! ) with homesteading and sustainability. I was 14 and my sister was 10 when my mum got 6 RSL pulets from Frey's.. Guess she rubbed off on me because I was hooked with those hens. Named every single one and for my 15th birthday, my mum took me to a nearby farm where we got some chicks and easter egger eggs (not to mention she unveiled a cooler-bator when we got home). Our head rooster is one of those original chicks... Old feller. Fell in love with the blue and green eggs, haven't looked at white eggs since! Didn't really get into showing until a couple years ago with some good serama pairs. Not sure why I've stayed... but I think its because people who have chickens tend to be the type of people you want to get to know, and through chickens (and by extension PSO and now PTO) I've met and befriended some of those people.