bad or half-baked chicken advice you've received?

[Noobchick]

For me, a bigger problem has been lack of relevent information and over-simplification of chicken keeping. I'm one of those "book reading and researching people" someone mentioned earlier in this thread. What I've quickly learned though is that the (seemingly hundreds of??) books written about chicken keeping are less informational and more trendy. ("Keeping chickens is so popular right now and for good reason!! It's so easy! All you have to do is give them food water and shelter!")

How many times do I need a run down of different breeds, or a diagram of chicken anatomy?? ("This is the beak. These are the wattles."). Can't find a book that gives more than superficial fluff advice.

I also wish those books would stop giving the impression that keeping chickens is like having a feathered version of a cat or a dog. (As was mentioned before, the "coddling" attitude.). Yes, they can be thought of as pets but I've found that it's less pet ownership than animal husbandry, if that makes any sense.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've had less of a problem with specific bad advice and more of a general problem with misguided misrepresentations and oversimplification.

Hmmm… though I have noticed that de-worming is the chicken keeping world's version of Windex and Tussin. ("Sore throat? Tussin. Broke your leg? Take some Tussin. Have a zit? Put some Windex on it. Chickens have weird poop? Deworm them. Losing weight? Deworm them. Broke a wing? Deworm them!")

Thinking, gathering info and running it through a common sense filter is always a good idea.

 

[ambrosia]

So true! I have in-laws that raised chickens 25+ years ago, and they think I'm 'putting too much thought into it'...! Well, if i did things their way, my chickens would be at that big feeder in the sky by now...lol... so I am going on my gut, and putting my chickens somewhere between the cattle and the family dogs. I adore them, enjoy watching them, and love my fresh eggs, so why wouldn't I go through the effort of doing it correctly the first time????

 

[Beekissed]

You're in luck...I am writing a book this winter that will have a no nonsense section on chicken husbandry that cuts through all the superficial and misleading info and give it to you straight. It will be more like how to raise chickens for food, cheaply and without overthinking it and trying to stick to USDuh guidelines on how chickens are to be raised.

Chickens are a simple animal really and it doesn't take rocket scientist level educations to turn out healthy and productive birds.

 

[clucksbc]

Hummh..

each chicken should have there own nesting box..

 

[upcdayz]

I've only been a chicken keeper for a couple of years so I am certainly no expert. Before I got any birds I read all the materials I could find on how to raise them - topics such as housing, vaccinating, feeding, different breeds available and their main purposes, how to raise chicks (indoors or out) and many other aspects of chicken raising. I spoke with folks who currently raise chickens and the "old timers" who've been keeping chickens their entire lives.

What I've discovered is that raising chickens requires a bit of common sense and experience. Mostly common sense. Depending on each individual's purpose for keeping chickens, whether for showing, breeding and selling, eating (eggs or meat,) there are going to be some differences in how they are kept and cared for. Personal preference also plays a role.


The bottom line, then, from what I can ascertain is that:

There are as many opinions on chicken raising as there are chicken owners.
Take everything you read and hear about raising chickens with a grain of salt.
Learn from you OWN experiences with your birds.
Seek the advice of true experts when questions arise, then take that advice with a grain of salt.
Chickens are not human.
Do the best you can to take care of them using COMMON SENSE.
Just like with any other living creatures, sometimes they get sick and die.

That's just my two cents, for what it's worth.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
I think this one comes from the "chickens are ground dwelling birds, not tree dwelling" and if they roost on flat boards, their feathers can cover their feet (and hence the toes by inclusion). If they roost on round, dowel-shaped boards, they grasp with their feet and their toes are not covered with feathers, therefore could get frost bitten.

My chickens LIKE their two-by-four roosts placed flat (wide) side up, much better than broom handles. However, I have a few chickens who roost at night on the porch railing, a nice flat surface, and those CHOOSE to perch on the edges of a planter, grasping that smaller surface - the edge of the planter - with their feet. Instead of with their feet flat on the flat railing.

Now, as to mis-informed advice: you can never have more than one rooster in a flock, otherwise they will kill each other. Oh yah? I have around 11 (or possibly more) roosters in my flock. Only ONE attacked other roosters, not stopping when the other rooster(s) "gave up" by trying to hide in corners and flattening down to the ground. That one rooster, a bantam cochin of all things, still tore into their combs and had to be pulled off the vanquished ones. He's no longer with us or anyone else for that matter. All the other roosters get along just fine; they know who is the Flock Master and where they each rank in "who can chase me away from treats."

 

[Beekissed]

I've always had round roosts and have taken the time to stoop and see if I can visualize any toes sticking out of feathers and have yet to see even one. The feathers don't just lie flat to the chest upon roosting, they tend to fluff out past the feet....just like on any bird on a rounded roost.

They may be ground dwellers but they roost in trees and on roosts and are specifically designed to do so.

 

[Noobchick]

Quote:
Yay!!! Practical advice about determining sex, pre-laying indicators, and disease diagnoses would be awesome. Something more than "coccidiosis is bad".

 

[Desirai]

Some advice I've received recently is that roosters will kill each other and/or the hens in order to be dominant. Also they attack humans or anything threatening.

Like was mentioned before, I have learned from this forum that each rooster (or even hen) can be docile or extremely aggressive.

So now when someone brings up how aggressive roosters are, I politely correct them that roosters have individual personalities..

 

[chickmashnoon]

Worst advice? I have a 16x10 ft run and my sister-in-law's stepfather tried to tell me I could have 50 chickens in there! ugh!