JUST DO IT!!!!!!!
Birdbrained Idea OR Worthwhile Endeavor?
- Thread starter EggHappy
- Start date
Quote:
Me too!
It took me years and look at all the fun I missed. Good food, good shelter...good stock. Then thank god for your own good health. What more do you need.
And oh, learn to pay attention. 90% of raising any animal is observation.
Me too!
It took me years and look at all the fun I missed. Good food, good shelter...good stock. Then thank god for your own good health. What more do you need.
Last edited:
Remember, people mostly post when they are having problems, to help find the solutions. I actually did think about posting a "Help, my hen only lays normal eggs" thread the other day because after reading about fart eggs, double yokers, membrane-covered eggs, soft-shelled eggs, finding rubber bands inside eggs, weird shaped eggs, poop-covered eggs, yolkless eggs etc., etc., it is almost an anti-climax to have a hen lay a nice, clean, hard-shelled normal sized egg day after day...
I'd say go for it. They are good for endless hours of entertainment and don't have to cost you a lot. If this is a hobby and you WANT to spend a lot on it, go for it. There are plenty of more expensive hobbies. But if you want them to save you money on your feed bill or even pay for themselves, it IS possible. Check out my BYC page for a few tips on doing it on the cheap. You can build a coop from recycled materials, make feeder/waterer from recycled materials, supplement their feed with kitchen scraps you would throw away otherwise and so on, to reduce the cost of keeping them. My total outlay, including feed, is not that much. And, now that I have two laying hens, I have enough eggs to feed my family. When the four younger ones start to lay, I hope to be able to sell 3-4 dozen eggs a month - just enough to pay for their feed, so that the eggs we eat are "free".
I'd say go for it. They are good for endless hours of entertainment and don't have to cost you a lot. If this is a hobby and you WANT to spend a lot on it, go for it. There are plenty of more expensive hobbies. But if you want them to save you money on your feed bill or even pay for themselves, it IS possible. Check out my BYC page for a few tips on doing it on the cheap. You can build a coop from recycled materials, make feeder/waterer from recycled materials, supplement their feed with kitchen scraps you would throw away otherwise and so on, to reduce the cost of keeping them. My total outlay, including feed, is not that much. And, now that I have two laying hens, I have enough eggs to feed my family. When the four younger ones start to lay, I hope to be able to sell 3-4 dozen eggs a month - just enough to pay for their feed, so that the eggs we eat are "free".
You can go for the natural way.
That's what I do. If they get sick they die and end up on the compost pile.
The circle of life . We all live and we all die.
keep in mind that if you will have a hard time to separate with your birds it is maybe a good idea to think about it twice because if you start with chickens , one will die of some thing.
I use my chickens for meat and eggs so I want to keep them all natural.
If it is clear up front what your purpose is with the chickens it will be a lot easier to handle when it happens. But think what you want to do if one get sick or die or you have to re home some.
good luck. What ever you choose it has to be something that you are comfortable with because you are the one that will take care of the chicken if something happens.
Maybe you can start small or baby sit a few chickens in your backyard. If this doesn't work out you think it would, there are always people that want free chickens.
That's what I do. If they get sick they die and end up on the compost pile.
The circle of life . We all live and we all die.
keep in mind that if you will have a hard time to separate with your birds it is maybe a good idea to think about it twice because if you start with chickens , one will die of some thing.
I use my chickens for meat and eggs so I want to keep them all natural.
If it is clear up front what your purpose is with the chickens it will be a lot easier to handle when it happens. But think what you want to do if one get sick or die or you have to re home some.
good luck. What ever you choose it has to be something that you are comfortable with because you are the one that will take care of the chicken if something happens.
Maybe you can start small or baby sit a few chickens in your backyard. If this doesn't work out you think it would, there are always people that want free chickens.
I myself researched and thought I knew enough.
Then I found this site. WOW!!!! I had no Idea. but I still wanted chickens.... I Think with all the advice I have gotten from fellow BYC'ers I can do it. I orderd a few eggs, put them in the bator, and now I have already orderd 20 more eggs. LOL Just the excitement of knowing I am an expecting PaPa. lol I can't wait!!! I am so excited!!!!! I keep checking the temp every time I walk by the bator and even purchased a wireless thermo/hygrometer ($25 at lowes) so I can keep it with me all over the house. I think I need Help! (or at least My wife thinks so) I added more eggs yesterday for a staggerd hatch and couldn't sleep because the temp dropped with the new, room temp eggs. I was Up till 1am. I kept adjusting the temp untill it stablized. then got up at 4am just to make sure. I wish I could carry my bator to work so I could keep watch.
I think I got it bad!
Go for it! There is plenty of help if needed. I even found threads of chicky surgery here. Very helpful. I hope I don't need it but I know there is plenty of help available if needed. Thank You All BYC'ers!!!!!!!
Good luck and God Bless!
Just do It!!!
Then I found this site. WOW!!!! I had no Idea. but I still wanted chickens.... I Think with all the advice I have gotten from fellow BYC'ers I can do it. I orderd a few eggs, put them in the bator, and now I have already orderd 20 more eggs. LOL Just the excitement of knowing I am an expecting PaPa. lol I can't wait!!! I am so excited!!!!! I keep checking the temp every time I walk by the bator and even purchased a wireless thermo/hygrometer ($25 at lowes) so I can keep it with me all over the house. I think I need Help! (or at least My wife thinks so) I added more eggs yesterday for a staggerd hatch and couldn't sleep because the temp dropped with the new, room temp eggs. I was Up till 1am. I kept adjusting the temp untill it stablized. then got up at 4am just to make sure. I wish I could carry my bator to work so I could keep watch.
I think I got it bad!
Go for it! There is plenty of help if needed. I even found threads of chicky surgery here. Very helpful. I hope I don't need it but I know there is plenty of help available if needed. Thank You All BYC'ers!!!!!!!
Good luck and God Bless!
Just do It!!!
Go for it. I was a city boy born and raised , 4 yrs ago I got my dream far away from civillization as possible. I started with a few hens for eggs , now it's become a full time hobby. And the flock keeps growing. If I can do it than so can anyone. P.S. alot of people hit it on the head with cleaning the coops and proper nutrition. The www helps also! Good luck
Well obviously everyone on this forum thinks keeping chickens is worthwhile...
Seriously, I think you should do it (unless you have some vision of making a monetary profit, in which case either do your research realllll thoroughly and pick what you do with great care, or do something else altogether).
If you do not put money into housing, and are otherwise sensible in your expenditures, you can potentially beat the price of upmarket (brown, free range, organic, whatever) commercial eggs. If you have enough sources of 'free' nutritionally-balanced foods and store-boughten eggs are not insanely cheap in your area, you can potentially do almost as well as plain ol' cheapie eggs from the supermarket. Since you will know where your eggs came from, and they will be FRESH, and (assuming you assure a supply of fresh greens/veggies for the hens) extra nutritious for you, PLUS you get the entertainment and hobby value of the chickens themselves... to my way of thinking that makes it "profitable" to keep a few layers
If you have to build somewhere for them to live, the more stuff you buy full-price new (instead of scrounging and repurposing) the more it adds to the cost of your eggs. OTOH you do end up with a structure that in many cases has value in and of itself e.g. as a garden shed. So it depends how you choose to do your mental bookkeeping...
And in many cases, the coop at least can be built for nearly free if you are a good scrounger (the run may cost some money unless you live in an area where it is easy to scrounge free or discounted predatorproof wire mesh)
Don't be put off by it seeming difficult. I procrastinated for *years* under the illusion that chickens were Work and baby chicks were difficult and fragile. Hah. Obviously you need to learn what to do (and not do) to minimize the chance of problems, and all living creatures are mortal, but really I would say chickens are easier than a lot of veg garden plants
and baby chicks are really amazingly robust and non-time-consuming (unless you count time spent *watching* them
)
So I'd say, again unless you are entertaining visions of doing this as a moneymaking scheme, GO FOR IT
Get some chickens
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
Seriously, I think you should do it (unless you have some vision of making a monetary profit, in which case either do your research realllll thoroughly and pick what you do with great care, or do something else altogether).
If you do not put money into housing, and are otherwise sensible in your expenditures, you can potentially beat the price of upmarket (brown, free range, organic, whatever) commercial eggs. If you have enough sources of 'free' nutritionally-balanced foods and store-boughten eggs are not insanely cheap in your area, you can potentially do almost as well as plain ol' cheapie eggs from the supermarket. Since you will know where your eggs came from, and they will be FRESH, and (assuming you assure a supply of fresh greens/veggies for the hens) extra nutritious for you, PLUS you get the entertainment and hobby value of the chickens themselves... to my way of thinking that makes it "profitable" to keep a few layers
If you have to build somewhere for them to live, the more stuff you buy full-price new (instead of scrounging and repurposing) the more it adds to the cost of your eggs. OTOH you do end up with a structure that in many cases has value in and of itself e.g. as a garden shed. So it depends how you choose to do your mental bookkeeping...
Don't be put off by it seeming difficult. I procrastinated for *years* under the illusion that chickens were Work and baby chicks were difficult and fragile. Hah. Obviously you need to learn what to do (and not do) to minimize the chance of problems, and all living creatures are mortal, but really I would say chickens are easier than a lot of veg garden plants
So I'd say, again unless you are entertaining visions of doing this as a moneymaking scheme, GO FOR IT
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
Perhaps you don't realize it yet, but you already have a huge advantage, called 'new ground'. Presumably you would be building where chickens have not been before, or where they had not been for a long time. With a little care and attention you can have a flock that is largely disease free, simply by starting slow and learning as you go. If you choose day-olds from a healthy source and handle them immediately, you will have affectionate birds who will love being picked up and tended. Your coop, whatever you use for building materials, will be pristine and you will be able to keep it that way. Start with a number of birds that you feel will satisfy your needs and stay with that number for a few years, keeping them healthy and gaining skills. You're in for an adventure, much joy, and eggs that taste as good as they are for you...
You do realize we are ALL a bunch of Enablers on here... You have to think that with the huge amount of folks on here you are going to hear lots of horror stories.. I think that mostly that is due to those seem to get more attention sometimes... Personally I say go for it .. I love my chickens, ducks ,and quails and cant wait to get my first hatch...
- Thread starter
- #20
Whoa...THANK YOU all...for the advice and for the encouragement! I think it's like anything new, just needed some words of wisdom and a nudge...thanks!
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
-
-
Can I get some help from someone with careless neighbours who own dogs.- Started by RiDaGeckoGuy
- Replies: 102
-
-
