Comments on My life, under the microscope...: rethinking the chicken thing

I was reading through all the comments and thinkin...

2010-01-22T09:22:11.732-08:00

I was reading through all the comments and thinking about your post, trying to figure out what to say.....
Sarah did a good job of explaining what's involved with raising show chickens (BTW Sarah, we are, at least, one family who still has birds we bought from you last year!They are doing well and were safely protected from this storm we just had, thank god).

My son (who is in high school) has been going through a simular situation - trying to balance school and other activies ("life") as well as chickens. He wants to improve the breed he raises, but the fact is, there are only so many hours in each day! He has other priorities such as studying for tests, finishing homework, etc. (or else his mom would kill him, haha). Birds do take alot of time, more than people might realize when they first get started....especially if you have found a breed to love, cherish, and develop.

It occured to me - if you look around at shows, who do you see? It's almost always young children with their families (doing 4H) or the "retired crowd". Very rarely do you see people in their mid-years (20, 30, 40's). Jan had it right when she said she is reaching the perfect time to start showing more.....because our mid years are filled with jobs, families, relationships, kids, and just "life" in general - things like chicken shows are no longer something most people have time for. When we finally DO have the time to concentrate on the hobby like we want to, it will be in the years following all the drama (haha). "Episodes" was a perfect word for it!

I know my son will always have chickens, but the actual number of chickens will change over the years. The trick is keeping enough to sustain the work already put into the project....

In the end, I think it's more about life than chickens, and the changes we go through and what we can fit in. There will be times in each person's life when chickens can no longer be a priority, and that's ok - we can look forward to a time in our lives when we can spend more time on our birds (and sometimes things like bad politics and self-serving people make it a little easier. They will all die off eventually! Opps, I shouldn't have said that.....)

--CS

I currently keep my rosecombs only as a hobby (no ...

2010-01-19T15:05:09.416-08:00

I currently keep my rosecombs only as a hobby (no showing), but beware of having too few birds- for some reason I have hatched almost twice as many roosters as hens and now somehow have six roosters and no hens :( (Well, I have brahma hens, but this doesn't help any...) I can't say I've contributed anything to the breed but I love my spunky roosters and they are great as pets too! -ALS

Jan - you said it ever so better than I! Thank go...

2010-01-19T08:39:16.670-08:00

Jan - you said it ever so better than I! Thank goodness for your common sense and wisdom. -BMc.

Well, I'm at the ideal time of my life to cont...

2010-01-18T11:27:11.005-08:00

Well, I'm at the ideal time of my life to continue showing chickens - on the cusp of retirement with plenty of time and enough money (I think) to do it justice. There were always problems with the birds, culling them was hardest on me, with raccoons a close second. But it was something I worked around because I really enjoyed the shows and the people. But as you said, the club was totally subverted by self-serving idiots. OK, you didn't say that, I did, and I mean it.

When you look back 40 years from now, you'll see that life isn't a straight progression, it's a series of episodes. I have, for example, in the "fun" category: the horse show years, the competitive trail riding years, the Raider rooter years, and the chicken show years. You start a hobby, learn all you can about it, make new friends, give it your best shot, and then for one reason or another move on to the next challenge.

I still have horses, though they're just pasture decorations, and will always have a few chickens as well because I love them. And I still have the friends I made along the way. Take lots of pictures, it's fun to look back and see how far you've come, to savor your accomplishments and think about the "what ifs." One of mine is "what if I'd had Dusty when I wanted to ride the Tevis?"

Whenever you're dealing with animals, I think there's guilt involved, as Sarah pointed out. You want to guarantee the best for them, but once they're out of your hands you've lost that power.

I know it was hard for you when the "people&q...

2010-01-18T10:58:44.776-08:00

I know it was hard for you when the "people" aspect went south in the club. You are an honest and straight-forward person, not into politics. For you, my dear, when the people were not there for you, then I can understand your feelings. I appreciate the genetic work you have put into your birds. Also, the fancy needs younger persons, such as yourself. But when the fancy turns into what it did in the club, then I understand your feelings. Best of luck with your decisions. -BMc.

I know EXACTLY the dilemma you are going through. ...

2010-01-18T08:50:18.825-08:00

I know EXACTLY the dilemma you are going through. Except I had only been doing the "chicken thing" for 12 years, while you've had more time to really get established. It still hurts from time to time - I miss the birds, the people, the sense of involvement, the fun. But like you, it had started to become work with all that conditioning for shows. And though I loved the chicks, in addition to what you said, I always felt super guilty that I had to hatch more than I could possibly keep, and let them go to other homes where I couldn't care for them at my high standard.

I hate the fact that I had to sell the majority of them off, because I knew every bird as an individual. And it hurts even more to learn that some of the people I sold extremely [genetically] valuable birds to LAST YEAR with the promise of breeding them have ALREADY dumped them and moved on. Or that I sold them unwittingly into a pox-infested home. >:(

But when it came down to it, I was just moving in a different direction. The shows and breeding had somewhat lost their "spark" for me because it was something that was expected of me by other people. I didn't have time to do the other things in life I was feeling called toward (like finding a mate and moving out of my parents' home). I had a full-time career starting but could FAR from afford my own place with land to put the birds on. And because of all this, I wasn't doing the birds or the breed all the justice I would have liked to in a perfect world. The chicken thing had to give, for me to live true to myself. So, though it was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made, I said my apologies and pulled out of the hobby. And it has been a positive decision for my life.

I do want chickens to be a part of my life in the future, I just I don't know if I'll ever go back to breeding and showing, at least as heavily as I was (and I was a lightweight compared to most in the hobby!). Alden is excited to build us a chicken coop someday when we have a house (yay for an engineer husband!).

Anyway, this was all just a roundabout way of saying that you're not alone, and support is here if you need it. Your heart knows what it needs to do, and you won't have peace with this dilemma until you heed your heart's calling. You did say it exactly with, "I just want it to be fun and enjoyable and a relaxing hobby." No one can blame you for wanting enjoyment in your life, especially from a hobby, something that's SUPPOSED to be enjoyable! ;)