Can you indulge a newbie?

[gkeesling]

I have 20 hens and they are confined to a pen. In the winter it takes more time than during the summer - mainly because of the water. I don't keep as much water in the run in the winter because my heated waterer is only 3 gallons. In the summer I have a 5 gallon home made waterer and a 3 gallon plastc waterer that I got from Tractor Supply.
Basically I will check, and fill if needed the water in the evenings. Also, I try to be sure the feeder is filled in the evenings as well. I have to leave for work by 6:30 or 7:00 in the mornings so I don't want to do much but check on them to be sure all is ok. I normally check for eggs when i get home from work. Sometimes I will throw treats out in the run when I go out in the morning and/or evening. We save stuff from our kitchen that we normally would throw in the garbage. I've been amazed, since having chickens, what all those little buggars will eat. After I got my set up all the way I wanted it, I probably spend 10 - 15 min./day with chicken chores.

 

[TM Chickens]

Get up in the morning, let them out, fill waterers, toss in a handful of scratch if it's cold, check feeders.
About noon clean the poop board, check waterers, gather eggs
At night head count and close door.
One a week clean waterers.
Twice a year we clean the entire coop and change bedding.

 

[chicknjane]

OMG, my chickens are so much easier to care for then my dogs, cats, kids and husband. If I only knew, I would have started with chickens first.

I take them fresh water 2X a day and make sure their feeders are full. Daily time spent on chicken chores is minimal. Of course, there are the other chores such as turning the bedding with the deep liter method, cleaning the coops, washing the waterers and feeders at least 2x a week. The only chore that takes considerable time is the cleaning of the coop and you can get away with doing that once or twice a year.

Good luck,
Marcy

 

[patandchickens]

In the past, when I had just 3 hens kept in a chicken-tractor on the lawn:

-- open popdoor at dawn to let them into pen portion of tractor (2 min)
-- when DH got home after work, move tractor, refill food/water as needed, and collect eggs (~10 min)
-- close popdoor at dusk (2 min)

plus once or twice a week I would clean the house portion of the tractor, ~ 10 min.


Currently, with um something like 2 dozen chickens and a pair of turkeys, in 3 separate pens (same building) at the moment, it's more like:

-- wander out around breakfast to clean droppings boards, open popdoors, and make sure nobody's flat-out of water or feed (3-8 min)
-- when DH gets home, refill any feeders/waterers that are low, collect eggs (3 min. or so)
-- at dusk, close popdoors (2 min, longer if turkeys are being buttheads)

plus once every week or so I inspect chickens on the roost at dusk, to look for mites or other problems (5 min?); every couple weeks I
spot-clean especially pooey areas incl under the one roost that still lacks a droppings board, and add new bedding as needed (5-15 min)


Neither of these count the sometimes quite LARGE amount of time spent just watching the chickens recreationally

You can set things up so you spend even less time than the above; or of course you can set things up (or choose to manage them) so that you spend much *more* time, nonrecreationally, with the chickens; it just depends what you want. Really they are only very slightly more work than a row of lettuce plants, and much more entertaining

Pat

 

[milestoog]

With the exception of weekly and bi-weekly chores it is normally all the same.

Morning

Check food, give fresh water, make sure everyone is in good health, collect eggs. 10 minutes

Evening

Winter: make sure everyone is inside, normally dark when I get home, check food and water, collect eggs. 10 minutes


Summer: Mostly the same, I do like to let them out of the pen for a bit when there is time.

Weekly: clean pen, 12x12 area, rake, shovel, remove.... 20 Minutes.

Bi-weekly: Clean chicken house, replace wood shavings, clean water and food containers... normally the timing is about right. 30-45 minutes

As often as possible, get a cold one, pull up a chair, watch chicken entertainment ! This takes a bit of time, but worth it.

 

[AZKat]

In the morning, my six year old opens the coop as soon as he gets dressed. Its a small chore to teach him responsibility, and I'm busy with other stuff first thing in the morning. Later in the morning, I go out, check for eggs, give them some treats and check the waterer and feed levels. In the afternoon, I check for eggs again. At night, I count heads and shut the coop door, although recently my oldest son has been doing that as well. On a daily basis, my family spends about fifteen minutes total on chicken chores, now that they are in the coop. It was more work when they were in the brooder, since it had to be cleaned daily, and water and food refilled at least twice a day.
Twice a week I take the dirty straw out of the coop and put down clean straw, which takes about fifteen minutes. Every couple of months, I take all of the straw out of the coop, sweep and hose everything down, my coop is a converted concrete shed, so cleaning is a breeze. This takes about an hour, a little less if I have help.
Over all, I'd say that chickens are less work than a dog or a cat, taking care of them is more like taking care of fish.

 

[mamaKate]

Morning: Fresh water, check feed, open coop doors.
Afternoon:clean poop boards, re-do water if it's frozen.
Evening: Lock BO coop, peel BO roo and his RIR wife off the top of the coop and lock them in.
That's the routine stuff. Somehow they seem to take at least an hour or two every day but that's pretty much voluntary.

 

[BigSkyChickens]

Welcome to BYC!
Typical Chicken Day for me and my three chickens (winter):

MORNING:
6:45 a.m. Automatic chicken door goes up.
6:50 a.m. Take the feed buckets out (stored at night in my house in plastic bags)
6:55 a.m. Rinse & refill galvanized waterers
7:10 a.m. Scoop poop from under the roost
7:15 a.m. Visually check everyone for bright eyes, clear nostrils, clean feet and general liveliness.
EVENING:
6:15 p.m. Automatic chicken door goes down (I'm still at work).
6:30 p.m. Collect egg(s), do a head count, sing "Goodnight Ladies"
6:35 p.m. Collect feed buckets to take inside, padlock people-door and the gate to the run.
6:40 p.m. Take feed buckets inside and store in plastic bags in the kitchen
6:45 p.m. Exclaim proudly to no one in particular: "My chicks are all locked up for the night!"

Then there are weekly chores which take about 1 hour: Wash feeders and waterers. Wipe poop off perch-ladder in coop. Rake the run and put the poop in compost pile.

I pick them up at least once a week during the winter, and every day during the summer, so they don't get wild & flighty or forget who the "Head Hen" is.

 

[TM Chickens]

Quote:
Oooh, nice!

 

[2DogsFarm]

Soooooooo easy to care for & you get back your time in Amusement Value.

I'm only a "veteran" of some 8 months - got my pullets last June - and this board has saved my bacon ('n eggs?) more than once!

I work & have a horse & barncat to look after too, so chickens get fed a breakfast treat of oatmeal with plain yogurt every morning. Then I refill waterer, make sure feeder is full of pellets, check to see if grit & oyster shell need refills. Scoop poop from shavings & clean droppings boards.
Open door from coop to yard, give everyone a pat and leave for the barn.
Total time: about 15 minutes

When I get home from work, chickens get another treat of some veggies or fruit, repeat check of feed & water, gather eggs and close the coop up for the night.

If it was nicer weather I might let them freerange for a bit in my yard (both morning & evening), but it's dark so early now most days they have already put themselves to bed (on the roost) by the time I get home.