We have 14 hens currently, over the years we have had more and less. They aren't really our "pets", but there is one hen that I dote over- she is my oldest one at 6 years. She is the last one to start laying in the spring and the first one to molt and stop laying in the fall, but I am attached to her and I will keep her until she dies a natural death.
I like to keep different breeds, and if I am unhappy with a breed I will only keep those birds for about 2 years and then I replace them with a different breed. We have hatched out several batches of chicks in our incubator and it is a lot of fun.
I have been designing a chicken quilt in the back of my mind lately. I would like to do an applique block of each breed of chicken that I have kept (I would design the blocks myself to resemble each breed), and then border with Ohio stars (I live in OH). I don't know if this quilt will ever come to fruition, but it is fun to think about!
Amy J.