Arizona Chickens

[MagicChicken]

If she would admit that's what it is, we could deal with that. Heck, I'd be a whole lot more inclined to giving up the endeavour for awhile and working it out. Instead, she'll only say it's 'cause they are nasty, smell, disgusting things. She's obviously not been anywhere near them. Even one of her very close friends who has had chickens has told her I'm right about them being minimal work, minimal fuss and minimal smell.

So far, I've told her she doesn't have to do anything with them. They are my project, but I've been trying to communicate and be open about them. That was the entire point about going out today. She has it stuck in her mind that Mama Hen cleaned everything up really well and gave the chickens a bath before the girls and I went over, just to make it look good. We argued about it for a good half hour tonight and she used the same four-word excuse the entire time. She can't come up with any real or productive reasons against it. Anyway, we'll keep trying. There's a few months before ordering starts in October.

Obviously, she believes what she is saying. You might want to find out WHY she says they're nasty, smelly, disgusting things, without trying to convince her otherwise. Could be she has been around chickens and that was her experience. Arguing with her experience (or the experience of someone close to her, like maybe her mother) is just asking for trouble. Recognizing and accepting her experience without judging it gives you a basis for finding a mutually acceptable course of action. Which might involve not getting chickens.

Regarding stinky chickens, the "Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds" thread made me think about your wife's reaction. Apparently meat chicken poo tends to be much smellier than layer chicken poo, and meat chickens confined to a pen are smelliest of all. Even the die-hard chicken lovers on that thread use words like "stinky" and "gagging" and "eyewatering" to describe the smell of broiler poop in a confined space. And they're only talking about 20-50 birds, not a large chicken farm. Those who have switched to fermented feed have reported that the "stink" level of their meat chickens has been much reduced since switching to fermented feeds. So, it made me wonder if your wife had at some point encountered a batch of meat chickens that WERE nasty, smelly and disgusting because of the way they were being kept. It can happen. If my first chicken encounter involved a batch of stinky chickens I wouldn't want anything to do with them. Just saying.

Good luck. I hope you work it out and can get some friendly, non-smelly chickens soon!

 

[Arizonachicken]

Had to worm (or DEworm) the chooks today. Blah.

 

[Demosthine]

MagicChicken, I've asked a dozen times why she things that and all she'll say is that she knows it. So and so told her so. She hasn't so much as hinted that she's ever been remotely close to a chicken coop or anything. She even some of the posts that were on my side and her really good friend who actually had chickens agreed with me. So I have no idea.


On a side note, we were watching Cajun Pawn Stars and they had one of those little quizzes on the screen. She bet my best friend and I that she had the right answer. She said if she wins the bet, I don't get to have any chickens. She LOST!!! Haha! Mark and I both jumped on it and said it's all on, now. I just won the bet! Haha! To make it all that much sweeter, Mark and I had both said the correct answer.

I don't expect her to follow through on it, though. Not with the way she's been acting. I told her it's ok, because I have a few months before ordering starts, so she has until October to get use to the idea of her losing... LoL. In other words, we're still working on the mutual agreement...

 

[AZBootsie]

Quote: Chickens will not and should not eat ants. The formic acid will make them VERY ILL (at best). There was a discussion a "few" pages back. Maybe someone saved the link.
I wondered why Chickens won't eat the ants. I have seen them take a tiny morsel of food away from an ant though......so I knew they could see them

 

[AZBootsie]

MagicChicken, I've asked a dozen times why she things that and all she'll say is that she knows it. So and so told her so. She hasn't so much as hinted that she's ever been remotely close to a chicken coop or anything. She even some of the posts that were on my side and her really good friend who actually had chickens agreed with me. So I have no idea.


On a side note, we were watching Cajun Pawn Stars and they had one of those little quizzes on the screen. She bet my best friend and I that she had the right answer. She said if she wins the bet, I don't get to have any chickens. She LOST!!! Haha! Mark and I both jumped on it and said it's all on, now. I just won the bet! Haha! To make it all that much sweeter, Mark and I had both said the correct answer.

I don't expect her to follow through on it, though. Not with the way she's been acting. I told her it's ok, because I have a few months before ordering starts, so she has until October to get use to the idea of her losing... LoL. In other words, we're still working on the mutual agreement...

We are all enablers- because we want everyone to share the enjoyment our chooks bring us.

Realistically, chicks do take some work, much more than grown chickens. They spill the water and food. They are kind of noisy. The room you keep them in will get dusty and have tiny fuzz feathers floating around. And it seems the brooder always needs cleaning. If you use the plastic chick waterers, they get shavings in the water and there is always one chick that roosts on top of the water and poos in it. So you do have to clean the brooder almost every day and give them fresh water a couple of times a day. They grow amazingly fast. To keep peace in your house it would probably be best to have a coop and run ready before you get the chicks. That way you can get them out of the brooder and into the coop, before cleaning the brooder gets too annoying.

Don't let this discourage you!!

 

[Mikey D]

Quote: Demo - Water nipples on a small tupperware from day one will eliminate the water fowling problem. Get a small rabbit feeder and that will minimize (not eliminate) the spilled/wasted feed problem. Change out the litter every 4-6 days and you'll have no smell either.

The chicks are a bit of work but it's worth it.

 

[Novaleigh]

LOL! That is probably why she vanished! Shots? Again! ..where to hide...where to hide... Hope Hoppy makes a fantastic recovery

Hoppy went AWOL again last night.

I'm hoping to find her again.

3rd & last Tylan shots in a few minutes...

 

[Novaleigh]

So sorry to hear of your losses Puffy

You have had such a rough couple of months! Hope things get better for you

HI to all! I have been off the computer for awhile and had alot of catching up to do Here. Had alot of tragedy here. Sadly the HEAT has taken a huge toll on us.

ON one day I lost 8 real beautiful young pullets (but no roos) of various breeds, 5 heritage turkey poults, as well as all my eggs my chickens, turkeys and muscovies were sitting on. I also lost 3 of my cavies.

Sorry FUZZYBIRD, all the RP turkey eggs are a bust. ( really, they exploded).

I have lived in AZ for 40 years and have NEVER NEVER EVER lost any of my pets to the heat. Since that horrible day, everything has been stable and no more deaths. I have been using my time away from the computer to try to recover some of what little sanity I had left. Also installed box type fans , which has helped in 2 ways. It keeps the birds cooler and it has been keeping the flies away! The birds really love the breeze! NOTE : Congrats on all the new hatches/chix/babies, Sorry for all the others losses and illnesses and injuries, and WELCOME to all the newbies here. This Heat is MURDER!!!

watch out!

 

[Novaleigh]

All that AZBootsie says is true. We are all enablers here. We all know the sheer joys of having peepers in our lives, and life just isn't the same without them! You will never hear the words "eh, maybe you shouldn't get any chickens" coming from any of our mouths... on the contrary!

We are all enablers- because we want everyone to share the enjoyment our chooks bring us.

Realistically, chicks do take some work, much more than grown chickens. They spill the water and food. They are kind of noisy. The room you keep them in will get dusty and have tiny fuzz feathers floating around. And it seems the brooder always needs cleaning. If you use the plastic chick waterers, they get shavings in the water and there is always one chick that roosts on top of the water and poos in it. So you do have to clean the brooder almost every day and give them fresh water a couple of times a day. They grow amazingly fast. To keep peace in your house it would probably be best to have a coop and run ready before you get the chicks. That way you can get them out of the brooder and into the coop, before cleaning the brooder gets too annoying.

Don't let this discourage you!!

 

[pastrymama]

All that AZBootsie says is true. We are all enablers here. We all know the sheer joys of having peepers in our lives, and life just isn't the same without them! You will never hear the words "eh, maybe you shouldn't get any chickens" coming from any of our mouths... on the contrary!

well, you might hear me say, skip the chickens and get ducks and geese!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously, with how we live on the face of the sun here, why don't more of us have waterfowl? you put out a pool in the shade every day, and hello! no heatstroke. ducks can lay just as well as any sexlinked hen and their eggs are much bigger, they don't have the lice/mite problem as much as chickens do since they are swimming all the time, and yes, they are very social. i just came out of the duckling pen and all 15 started making a racket because i left. and they can't peck you!!!!!!!!