I've read so many posts on here about family members & friends not approving of raising chickens & livestock & the whole back to our roots lifestyle, & I've always felt really bad for the people that have had negative comments made to them or about them by loved ones.
It had never really happened to us, though. Our relatives & friends that we're close to love hearing about the chickens & the goats. Some of my great uncles & cousins have even been talking about getting their own chickens this year. Every so often we give eggs to the relatives that we're close to that live nearby & they love them, so I guess that doesn't hurt either. But it finally happened tonight. My mom & I were in the great room & we overheard my grandmother, who was in her bedroom, telling my aunt (my mom's sister) on the phone that we (meaning me, DM, & DF) have gone crazy, along with some other not so nice things about our chickens, the farm, & us. I have to say, it hurt to hear that.
See, my grandma lives with us & we take care of her. She's 82 & has Alzheimer's; it's not very advanced AD but more like she gets confused sometimes, has bad short term memory, & sort of resents the ones that take of her (in other words us). We try not to have anything to do with my aunt (we're perfectly nice to her when we see her, but we don't seek her out); she's only ever wanted to have something to do with us or my grandparents when she needed something & she's always loved stirring up trouble in the family. She's recently been calling my grandma the past couple of months & sucking up to her, which Grandma has fell for wholeheartedly. Now, Grandma thinks they're best buddies, my aunt's such a good person, & that we're full of hate for not wanting to be best buddies with her too. And, of course, my grandmother's resenting us has been quite a lot worse than it usually is. It's made life a little difficult for us, but we've dealt with it.
This is how it's always been my whole life with my aunt & my grandparents. And I seriously doubt it's going to change now. So, she'll stop having anything to do with my grandmother soon, probably will only speak to her every six months or so (even though she only lives 2 miles down the road & is retired), & she'll start spreading lies about us & my grandmother all over town. Now, I guess we can expect to hear lies about the chickens added in, too.
I guess it just upset both DM & I because we've always been the ones to take care of both of my grandparents, & my aunt always made it perfectly clear to us that she didn't care what happened to them. My grandma had 3 surgeries last year & we were there for her for all 3 & my aunt (or her 2 sons) didn't even call to check on her after each one. Add in the things that she's done to hurt my grandparents & us over the years & it kind of hurts that my grandma doesn't support something that we love.
We've worked hard to get our hobby farm to where it is today, & it's something that DF & I always dreamed of doing (something that my grandad always dreamed of too). When we got our chickens & goats, my mom fell in love with them, too, & joined in with us. I know we have quite a few chickens, but 19 of them are chicks & we won't keep all of them. They're all treated pretty well, too, & we spend more on our animals than we do on us. I really do love my grandmother, so I haven't let her know that we overheard what she said (my mother hasn't told her yet either) & I doubt we ever will. We've learned from past experiences that that'll just make it worse.
Sorry I went on so long. I needed to vent, I guess because neither of us was expecting to hear what we did.
ETA: Has anyone else been called crazy lately for keeping chickens?
It had never really happened to us, though. Our relatives & friends that we're close to love hearing about the chickens & the goats. Some of my great uncles & cousins have even been talking about getting their own chickens this year. Every so often we give eggs to the relatives that we're close to that live nearby & they love them, so I guess that doesn't hurt either. But it finally happened tonight. My mom & I were in the great room & we overheard my grandmother, who was in her bedroom, telling my aunt (my mom's sister) on the phone that we (meaning me, DM, & DF) have gone crazy, along with some other not so nice things about our chickens, the farm, & us. I have to say, it hurt to hear that.
See, my grandma lives with us & we take care of her. She's 82 & has Alzheimer's; it's not very advanced AD but more like she gets confused sometimes, has bad short term memory, & sort of resents the ones that take of her (in other words us). We try not to have anything to do with my aunt (we're perfectly nice to her when we see her, but we don't seek her out); she's only ever wanted to have something to do with us or my grandparents when she needed something & she's always loved stirring up trouble in the family. She's recently been calling my grandma the past couple of months & sucking up to her, which Grandma has fell for wholeheartedly. Now, Grandma thinks they're best buddies, my aunt's such a good person, & that we're full of hate for not wanting to be best buddies with her too. And, of course, my grandmother's resenting us has been quite a lot worse than it usually is. It's made life a little difficult for us, but we've dealt with it.
This is how it's always been my whole life with my aunt & my grandparents. And I seriously doubt it's going to change now. So, she'll stop having anything to do with my grandmother soon, probably will only speak to her every six months or so (even though she only lives 2 miles down the road & is retired), & she'll start spreading lies about us & my grandmother all over town. Now, I guess we can expect to hear lies about the chickens added in, too.
I guess it just upset both DM & I because we've always been the ones to take care of both of my grandparents, & my aunt always made it perfectly clear to us that she didn't care what happened to them. My grandma had 3 surgeries last year & we were there for her for all 3 & my aunt (or her 2 sons) didn't even call to check on her after each one. Add in the things that she's done to hurt my grandparents & us over the years & it kind of hurts that my grandma doesn't support something that we love.
We've worked hard to get our hobby farm to where it is today, & it's something that DF & I always dreamed of doing (something that my grandad always dreamed of too). When we got our chickens & goats, my mom fell in love with them, too, & joined in with us. I know we have quite a few chickens, but 19 of them are chicks & we won't keep all of them. They're all treated pretty well, too, & we spend more on our animals than we do on us. I really do love my grandmother, so I haven't let her know that we overheard what she said (my mother hasn't told her yet either) & I doubt we ever will. We've learned from past experiences that that'll just make it worse.
Sorry I went on so long. I needed to vent, I guess because neither of us was expecting to hear what we did.
ETA: Has anyone else been called crazy lately for keeping chickens?
Last edited:
