Any regrets?

[lavenfield]

I found this site about a week ago and it is awesome. I have enjoyed reading all about backyard chickens. I have read some really good positive stuff ... But since I am researching about this I want to know about the bad stuff too. (if there is any) Like who watches you chickens when you go out of town... or can you not go out of town every again. Are they stinky? Are they loud? Are they high maintenance? ?????? Please tell me the good, bad, and the ugly so I will know exactly what I am getting into.

Thanks you

 

[menageriemama]

Hmmmm. Here are my cons. Lugging water thru blizzard conditions out to the coop, the poop all over my yard in the spring summer and fall because my birds free range, when you lose them unexpectedly, and predators. The pro list is too long to type

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

The coop gets stinky when you have to keep them locked up for a while.... Free ranging caused some chicken poop in the lawn that led to chicken poop tracked in the house....

Biggest drawback - you end up loving something that dies pretty easily.

Getting a sitter was not hard.

They make me laugh all the time. find watching them calming. I love giving hem treats. I like letting them eat out of my hand.....

I love looking out the kitchen window and seeing them all over the yard. I have no ants!

 

[ChooksChick]

I agree on the pros being too numerous to list...

It's very zen having these sweet little feathered clowns all over the yard ready to drop me with laughter. I'm found in the coop covered in chickens when I've had a long day. Maybe I'll have a glass of wine with me.

I don't mind the poo, as it's great for the yard. I also don't find that the stink is significant if I'm careful to stay with vegetarian feed- if it has animal protein it's as though it's the same stench as human poo...ewwwww.

I don't like having to haul water, either, but I haven't experienced the winter haul yet, so I'm not complaining all that much. I just bought a bigger fount, so it doesn't have to happen every day now. I also bought a heater so I won't have to worry about it freezing.

Another con is that security is crucial, and if you aren't diligent (and sometimes even if you are, from what I've read here) you will lose a friend or several. It's hard if you love animals deeply, because you are putting your investment into a friend who is small and can get sick or hurt without you being around or being able to fix it.

I've had good luck, so I'm enthusiastically in favor of others catching the bug!!!

 

[kinnip]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Biggest drawback - you end up loving something that dies pretty easily.

This is the biggest problem in my view too. My BF would say the noise is a little more than he expected. I do have roos, so avoiding those will likely be quieter. The hens do some pretty excessive celebration after laying, but with most, it passes quickly. Personally, I love the noise. Nothing announces a pure joie de vive like a roosters crow and the ladies are no worse than your average quilting bee.​

 

[rebbetzin]

Leaving town is one of my concerns too... I do have a neighbor that said she would take care of them for me. But, I can't expect really for some one else to do more than make sure they have food and fresh water. I wouldn't expect anyone to take them out of the coop and run, put them in the tractor, hang the food and water container in the tractor, come back a few hours later and do it all in reverse. Plus clean up the chicken run and coop each day like I do. That is a lot to ask of a friend or neighbor.

I dread now if we go on vacation what I will come back to in the way of chicken poop everywhere!!

I haven't had any bad experiences, yet. But then I've only had my chicks a couple of months now.

My worst job is keeping the ramp up to the coop clean, they keep pooping on it!!!

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Con...when you carry a bale of hay, against you, to the barn for the horses and find out too late that a chicken had been roosting on it all night. YUKKY MESS..run to the laundry room.

The worry of putting the little ones outside for the first time. Will they be warm enough?

The guilt after you barely step on a toe, but they scream like they're broken and run like you've abused them.

Having to force myself to pull out of the driveway and go to work after sitting in the car watching them dig in the leaves and romp happily.

ABSOLUTELY evrything that I loved and now miss about having children. Re-read the above...if you've had kids, it's the same stuff!

Cindy

 

[purr]

I don't regret anything yet but wait till it really gets cold.
Oh I do regret not getting rubber boots earlier.They are priceless

 

[mountaintopchicken]

My Regrets:

Not having more chickens (yet...)
Not having more coops (yet... current count is three coops, 1 duck house, and one turkey shelter)

I've never regretted anything about having chickens because I am a fanatic. But there are some things that are inconvenient:

1) Spending more money on them than I will ever make back in eggs. Not everyone would have this problem though - if you already have a shed or barn you can convert into a coop, or if you are handy and good at scavenging, you can come up with housing for not much $$$. Housing is the biggest expense, I think.

2) Caring for them in the winter, which involves slogging through, I'm not kidding, 4 ft high or more snow drifts sometimes. Wind whips off of our mountaintop, carrying snow with it, and deposits it in big banks. I shoveled, I used the snow blower, sometimes twice a day... clear a path, and 15 minutes later it's gone again. Fun.

3) I'm the only one I really trust to care for them, because whenever I entrust their care to someone else, I feel they aren't getting what they need. Unless someone 'gets' chickens you really can only expect, and hope, for a full waterer and feeder for care and that's it.

 

[mistylady]

any pet is work but chickens are worth their weight in gold! they are worth the work and more!