I've raised pigs and chickens and owned donkeys. I love chickens but when you live in the country (or even in the city), you need to keep them in a very secure pen....and especially at night because raccoons, and possums, as well as foxes, and whatever other kind of nocturnal predator exists in your area, will kill and eat them. Chickens are a lot of fun, and I especially like the smaller breeds and the more old fashioned breeds. Some like white leghorns are raised primarily for eggs and meat, and they have a lot of "good sense" bred out of them....as far as good sense goes in a chicken, anyway. I no longer have chickens due to the number of raccoons here and because I don't have a very secure pen for them.

I've raised pigs....not because I wanted to though. I was given a baby feral pig, and I had her spayed. I had never seen any other feral hogs around my property, but I wanted to be sure she didn't get pregnant, if any showed up.

A hog hunter lived down the road from me about a half mile, and a little feral pig showed up and stayed. Escaped from him. She was very wild, but eventually got tame, but by the time she was tame enough to handle, she was too big to have spayed. I named her Piggy Lee and the one I had spayed was Piggy Sue. I didn't worry much about Lee getting pregnant because there were no boars (males) around. A couple of years later, another little pig showed up. Unfortunately, he was a male. He had been used to bait the hog hunter's dogs and he was very beaten up and scared. I named him Pig Newton. So, when he grew up, he mated with Lee and that is when my hog raising started. Meanwhile, the meth addict next door and the hog hunter's son, stole Piggy Sue, the one I had spayed.

Like clockwork, Lee had two litters a year. Always four in each litter. One of her daughters from her first litter, Pig Delores, also was very wild and soon was having pigs too. I taught them to load in a trailer and sold them at a hog buying station. Not Lee or Delores or Newton, because they were too smart to get in the trailer. I really didn't want to sell them anyway.

The hogs stayed back in the woods during the day and came up at night and I fed them. I get free salvage dog food and bread, so that is what I fed them. I put out 50 lb of food a night. I didn't want them but I didn't want them bothering anyone else.

I sold probably 100 pigs over the past few years. Pig Newton got tame enough that he would eat from my hand, but Delores never got tame. Once in awhile she would take something from my hand. Lee was very tame and liked a bath and I gave her a bath often.

When the flood following Hurricane Harvey came, I had a dozen hogs, and all of them drowned but one. I am not sure which one it is....except it is yellow, like Newton was, but I know it is not him. He probably weighed 600 lb and there is no way he could have swam as swift and deep as the water was. I had three yellow ones, and I think it was the smallest one that survived. He is about 18 mo. old. I put out food for him every night and hope to get him in a fenced in area. I don't plan on selling him. If he survived the flood, I feel like he deserves to live.

I have owned six donkeys and I like them very much. Right now I just have Amos. Moses and Hobo died in the flood. Donkeys are more like dogs than horses. Very sweet and like a lot of attention....usually. However, the worst thing I have ever seen is two jack (male) donkeys fighting. They are vicious when they are mad. I wouldn't suggest anyone own a jack. Many are very gentle, but if you have ever seen them fight, you know what I mean. I wouldn't suggest anyone raise donkeys because there are so many of them that need a home. People give them away all the time. Hundreds are shipped to slaughter every year in Mexico. I would suggest giving one a home....or, two actually, because they love company of their own kind. If you get a jack....have him gelded as soon as possible. I plan to get another donkey as soon as I move my horses back home....they are still in a friend's pasture due to the flood and having to fix fences here. Amos needs a companion and so as soon as I can, I will get one for him. I will take whatever I find, but if it is a jack, I will have it gelded immediately.

Everything that Marilyn said. I had chickens and the predators are a thing that keep coming back. I no longer have chickens, did until last year I think. Now I get eggs from my daughter's hens.

Sue

We have raised animals in the past. Be aware having chickens and any other animal is a 7 day a week job. There will be no vacations or days off, unless you have a very responsible person caring for the animals. They need to be able to recognize a sick animal and handle the problem. Finding someone to do the necessary care is not easy.

I have a bunch of cats and a dachshund. So I know taking care of pets is a full time job lol I've always wanted chickens but yes I have heard you have to really protect them. I've seen people on here talking about donkeys and thought that would be a nice pet to have. By jack do you just mean a male donkey? Are females ok? And I think micro pigs are adorable but have heard pigs get into everything. lol Cats and dachshunds do too so I guess it wouldn't really be much of a change. haha

My daughter had chickens. They're the pet that gives you breakfast!

She was in a suburban area, but near a lake...so we have seen foxes, possums, raccoons, plus snakes. Her chickens were fine. They can put up quite a fight and make a racket if something is around.

Hers were free range and she let them out every morning and locked them up in the roost every night...

We had green and blue eggs. Plus they're WAY more amusing to watch than I ever thought possible!!!

Backyardchickens.com has a very informative forum...

Plus donkeys can easily live for 30 years. I don't know about pigs. I had a chicken that lived 8 years....I thought that was old for a chicken.

I was raised on a small farm and we had hogs and chickens. The hogs were for food only with barely enough left over for breeding stock the next spring. During the years that we did not have electricity, the hogs were butchered in the fall after frosts began. The chickens were raised for eggs and fryers. When female hatching-lings were ordered in early spring, 10 to 15 males were included for fryers later in summer. Roosters were the bird of choice for young fryers. These have firmer meat and muscles. There is a secret, however, for best taste: Roosters should be consumed before they become fully mature. Their hormones affect taste and texture.

One year, we tried to raise turkeys and found this is not for the novice. We hoped to have some birds to sell for a little extra cash. We ordered 20 newly hatched birds. At first, we were successful. We kept these new birds in a doghouse size structure in our fenced yard. This fencing surrounded a small yard, our house and a large vegetable garden. Two farm dogs also lived inside this enclosure. Their presence kept vermin at bay.

These little turkeys required much attention in their early life. They need to be taught to eat. In a natural setting, they take cues from their parent. My sister and me delighted in caring for these new playthings. A caution: These young birds will imprint on you and regard you as their parent, and young children will become attached to the birds. Never name a bird, for if you do, it becomes a pet and parting or killing it is traumatic.

After imprinting, these cute birds would follow we kids and it was easy to take them to new surroundings to forage. These birds were growing nicely and we got the bright idea that they might help control a horde of grasshoppers that was a problem. One day, we took the birds to a patch of grass near a cornfield that was infested with grasshoppers. After a short training session, these birds were catching and eating 'hoppers; And then we began to loose birds. The next day, the brood was a bit sick and two birds had died. We were mystified. It took is few days to make the connection between the deaths and the grasshoppers. The birds had overeaten 'hoppers and were foundering. Before we figured out what was wrong, we lost all but 2 birds. Before the summer was over, we lost the two remaining birds to other mishaps. We learned a lesson the hard way. Before trying to raise turkeys, one should find all he can about the care and feeding of these birds.

jemdandy - these would be just pets. If I get chickens it would be for the eggs also. But there's no way I could use them as food other than that. I would get attached right away and I just couldn't bring myself to do something like that. My husband couldn't and wouldn't either. I appreciate your info. Thank you so much! :)

I'm looking at the BackyardChickens site. I love it. :)

Have any of you had ducks before? My mom had a friend that had some or maybe it was geese. I just remember them not being very nice. But people on this sight say they are nice, smart and have less disease than chickens.

I just can't resist... Ducks also taste better than chickens

(ducking and running, yes, a pun)

rob333 - Aaaawwww boooo!! lol You booger lol

I had ducks when I was a kid and my daughter had ducks when she was a kid also. My mother used to cook duck from time to time. Personally, I never cared for it....or goose. I much prefer chicken, or turkey. At one time or another, I have raised all kinds of poultry, except peacocks. I didn't have to raise them....the neighbor did...and they stayed here more than they stayed at home.

My parents have land and they have chickens. They used to be able to free range them all day. Then the hawks started showing up and that was the end of that. Now the chickens have a custom made (by my husband) netted pen around their coop. The hawks still show up every day, soaring in the sky. They are beautiful, but they ruined the fun of having chickens roam around freely. Their chickens are pets and for eggs only.

They tried having ducks one summer and not only did the hawks kill the 2 adults trying to hide in the brush along the pond, one killed 2 babies that were in a cage up against their house.

I rescued two ducklings from an overcrowded pen at a pet store many moons ago...when I lived in Northern CA. I would have taken them all home but didn't know how I'd explain that to a fussy hubster when our home was on less than a half acre and the back yard was no larger than perhaps a third of that space.

It was still cold at night..and they were quite young...so they resided in my only bath tub until I felt confident that they'd survive the night temps. I think that amounted to about 2 or 3 weeks. They imprinted on me and I never went anywhere without a feathery parade trailing along behind me.

It turned out that I'd bought a pair of Pekings. Once they were old enough to be released to the back yard...I built a
safe enclosure for them as raccoons were prevalent in the area.

She gave me an egg every morning [I love duck eggs] which she proudly announced...while waiting for me to come and take it. The two of them together were the best guard dogs I ever had. Nothing...and I do mean nothing...came into my yard without being loudly announced. Plus they kept my property clean of garden pests like snails and slugs.

I lost her to a form of cancer when she was 3 years old. She died in my lap as I tried to comfort her. But he was still with me when it came time to sell that property a year later and move on. I couldn't take him with me so I made arrangements with a baby zoo in Oakland to take him. I used to give them both daily showers with the garden hose and had a small wading pool for them. However, they'd never seen a large body of water. The day I took him to the zoo and released him into the pond...he was in duck heaven. He swam back and forth from one side to the other of the huge water feature and commenced flirting with a new lady duck. When I left...tears streaming...they were paired and having a grand time together.

Would I adopt again? In a heart beat if I had the space. Condo living is not conducive to farm fowl. Those two ducks ruled the roost for the time that I had them and I loved every minute of them. They were clean and relatively odor free. Perhaps I had the exception to the rule though. They trained my two small dogs and personally interviewed any visitors to the property. Not to mention that they were the neighborhood attraction for young and old alike. Just remembering them brings a smile to my heart.

I have chickens and totally agree on the need for a very secure pen. I can leave them for a weekend--there are various waterers and feeders that can last for several days.

I also had 3 ducks a couple of years ago--they were very cute and personable but their water and kiddie pool were always a mess.