Official Poll 2011 - Are Chickens Easier or Harder To Raise Than...

Harder than dogs. Because chickens have such unique personalities! I choose to care for them so much! I enjoy it!

This poll is an interesting idead, but I think that people should really take these results with a grain of salt. I really think it depends so much on what approach people take. For example a person in suburban California who keeps a flock of pet chickens of show quality in a small custom designed coop in an urban setting, changes the bedding all the time, changes drinking water multiple times a day, etc. does a lot more work and spends a lot more money on upkeep than someone who lives in rural Thailand and lets their landrace chickens run free in the woods and rice paddies. I think there's too many different circumstances, different kinds of chickens, different reasons people keep chickens, and different approaches and techniques to keeping chickens to make a universal comparison (for that matter, the same goes to some degree for the other animals in the poll).

So with that in mind, I answered the poll according to how I PERSONALLY do things, in my own unique circumstances... (small farm, working as much as possible toward low-input, naturalistic husbandry, etc.)

I must be one of the unusual ones here, we hjave 16 chickens, for about 18 months., We have a new henhouse and clean it every day, the chickens stay in cages at night and we let them free roam the backyard in the daytime. they eat fro bowls and we wash them every day. We had some rats here, and we blame food on the ground and on the bottom of the old henhouse. So what we are doing it a prevention matter. and our henhouse doens not smell. But as far as work, yes they require over an hour a day., and we love them, too many roosters. they are so cute. .,

Setting up the coop and run was a ton of work - but then you're done! If you do it right from the start, the only real work after that is the cleaning. Day to day, they're the easiest pets I've ever had.

Other than the initial set up for the chickens I feel they are much easier to care for than my dogs. Actually my dogs are jealous that I spend so much time and attention with my fowl but then again I spend a lot of time scooping dog poop from the yard and dealing with all the dog hair around the house or muddy paw prints. Don't get me wrong I love all my animals. The chickens are just so much easier to tend to once established. Not to mention the eggs

Keith

On an average day-to-day basis, chickens are way less work than dogs.

Chickens do not demand your time and you don't have to train them.

I let them out in the morning to free range, top off their food/water containers and that's it. I'm done for the day till I lock up the coop at night.

Of course, I tend to spend hours sitting and watching them, too.

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I sooo agree with you on that one!