Chicken Confessional: I'm a little scared!

[ForFlocksSake]

Im also a first timer. Grew up in the suburbs and never had anything more than cats and dogs.

Im 8 months into it now and let me tell you, it's really not hard at all. Even better- it's the most relaxing and rewarding hobby ive ever had. I never dreamed I would love chicken keeping as much as I do.

You got this. It's really not rocket science. Promise. Ask a million questions here and take advantage of all the wonderful experts and friends on this forum.

 

[Victoria Peckham]

I hear you! I was too afraid to try for many years. We moved into a house with a bigger yard 9 years ago and I didn’t find the nerve until new fantastic neighbors moved in next door and also wanted hens. We are sharing responsibilities, costs, and, soon, eggs. However, I raised the chicks in a tent in our living room and I’m extremely attached, so I haven’t been willing to share much of the responsibility yet! They just started laying, so I haven’t even shared any eggs yet Honestly, even cracking and eating that first egg was a little emotionally difficult!
You’ve got this!! Can’t wait to hear more about your journey and see pics of your girls!
Here is Raspberry, named by the neighbors’ kiddo, standing on my lap, checking out my new glasses

 

[Jakemedic]

Your story is what I'm trying so hard to picture as my own! Just getting into it and providing care and love to get eggs and chicken-love in return. I'm going to hold this image in my heart when I get stressed. Thank you!

No, quite the opposite, thank you for bringing your kindness and hope here. Chickens are hearty critters, and incredibly funny too! Here is a recent picture of our gals, they are so enjoyable. The one at the bottom of the photo is Prissy. She wants to jump up, stick her head in the sunflower seeds and not have to scratch for them. They don’t get many, but she wants her fair share. The rest of her “cell mates” are content to scratching to get that special treat.

 

[Jakemedic]

I hear you! I was too afraid to try for many years. We moved into a house with a bigger yard 9 years ago and I didn’t find the nerve until new fantastic neighbors moved in next door and also wanted hens. We are sharing responsibilities, costs, and, soon, eggs. However, I raised the chicks in a tent in our living room and I’m extremely attached, so I haven’t been willing to share much of the responsibility yet! They just started laying, so I haven’t even shared any eggs yet Honestly, even cracking and eating that first egg was a little emotionally difficult!
You’ve got this!! Can’t wait to hear more about your journey and see pics of your girls!
Here is Raspberry, named by the neighbors’ kiddo, standing on my lap, checking out my new glasses
View attachment 3750894

She is adorable! Strange how they notice something is different!

 

[McChooky]

My chickens give me more room to do my chores when I wear my bright yellow chicken boots lol They're smarter than we give them credit

 

[McChooky]

I hear you! I was too afraid to try for many years. We moved into a house with a bigger yard 9 years ago and I didn’t find the nerve until new fantastic neighbors moved in next door and also wanted hens. We are sharing responsibilities, costs, and, soon, eggs. However, I raised the chicks in a tent in our living room and I’m extremely attached, so I haven’t been willing to share much of the responsibility yet! They just started laying, so I haven’t even shared any eggs yet Honestly, even cracking and eating that first egg was a little emotionally difficult!
You’ve got this!! Can’t wait to hear more about your journey and see pics of your girls!
Here is Raspberry, named by the neighbors’ kiddo, standing on my lap, checking out my new glasses
View attachment 3750894

She's adorable!

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I’m on my 5th year of chicken keeping. I wanted chickens from day 1 of moving into my house in the country (having always lived in an apartment or townhouse). It took a few years to be prepared, and then we got chickens. I’ve always loved birds- had cockatiels, finches, etc… over the years and love wild birds. But even as a bird lover, I am amazed at how special and unique each of my now 40-some odd chickens are! The amount of happiness they bring me was entirely unexpected. I knew I’d love them- I just never never knew how much I’d love them.

That being said, your worries are not unfounded. There have been, and will be, bad days. Even a couple bad weeks that had me doubting my ability to be a chicken mama. It comes down to balance. In my experience, the good outweighs the bad- it WAY outweighs the bad.

I’ve grown with my chickens. I started with 5 pet birds, and now have reached a point where I am able to dispatch and process my birds. If you’d asked me a few years ago- I’d never eat one of my chickens. But now I can raise a bird, love and care for a bird, and by prioritizing the health and safety of the whole flock, dispatch a bird humanely without letting that life go to waste. I don’t enjoy it- but I find more peace in doing it myself than leaving it up to someone else.

I’m not saying you will or need to get to that point. I’m just saying that owning chickens will surprise you.

And if you don’t enjoy them, I doubt you’ll have problems finding new homes for them. In my area we have a company called Rent-a-Coop which does exactly what it sounds like. You may have an option like that if you’re still unsure.

Overall, it’s okay to be worried. It’s okay to be anxious. It’s okay to overthink everything. I still do, and I still use and value the support of this forum and it’s amazing members.

I wish you best of luck in your chicken endeavors, and hope you’ll share your chicken journey with us!

 

[castillo_de_luz]

You've done your homework and have support. Now it's just a matter of figuring out if you enjoy keeping chickens or not, and that you will have to judge for yourself.

Yes, things can go wrong. But they can go wrong with any kind of animal. Pet fish die, some cats turn out to be vicious, and dogs can run away. The best we can do is to take all the precautions we can and apply due diligence, and you're doing that.

If you are getting pullets, I assume they are old enough to go outside. So focus on predator proofing their coop/run, making it easy to clean, and knowing the right feed to give them and when. Those are the main things.

Honestly, once their poop dries, it's not too unpleasant to deal with. You might want to do some reading on poop boards and the deep litter method, which makes great compost over time.

Best of luck!

You're right -- plenty of unfortunately things happen with any pet! That parakeet I mentioned went from fairly normal and sweet to a crazy attack bird in the space of maybe 2 years... which might be why I never tried that particular pet again!

Predator-proofing and critter-proofing are my main goals. The coop I have is easy enough to clean (and yay, compost!) so I think it'll just be a factor of adjusting to new routines and responsibilities. I hope

 

[castillo_de_luz]

I’m on my 5th year of chicken keeping. I wanted chickens from day 1 of moving into my house in the country (having always lived in an apartment or townhouse). It took a few years to be prepared, and then we got chickens. I’ve always loved birds- had cockatiels, finches, etc… over the years and love wild birds. But even as a bird lover, I am amazed at how special and unique each of my now 40-some odd chickens are! The amount of happiness they bring me was entirely unexpected. I knew I’d love them- I just never never knew how much I’d love them.

That being said, your worries are not unfounded. There have been, and will be, bad days. Even a couple bad weeks that had me doubting my ability to be a chicken mama. It comes down to balance. In my experience, the good outweighs the bad- it WAY outweighs the bad.

I’ve grown with my chickens. I started with 5 pet birds, and now have reached a point where I am able to dispatch and process my birds. If you’d asked me a few years ago- I’d never eat one of my chickens. But now I can raise a bird, love and care for a bird, and by prioritizing the health and safety of the whole flock, dispatch a bird humanely without letting that life go to waste. I don’t enjoy it- but I find more peace in doing it myself than leaving it up to someone else.

I’m not saying you will or need to get to that point. I’m just saying that owning chickens will surprise you.

And if you don’t enjoy them, I doubt you’ll have problems finding new homes for them. In my area we have a company called Rent-a-Coop which does exactly what it sounds like. You may have an option like that if you’re still unsure.

Overall, it’s okay to be worried. It’s okay to be anxious. It’s okay to overthink everything. I still do, and I still use and value the support of this forum and it’s amazing members.

I wish you best of luck in your chicken endeavors, and hope you’ll share your chicken journey with us!

WOW 40 birds!! I can only imagine.

I really hope I enjoy them, but you're of course right that if I don't, there are options. Learning to raise, love, and then humanely end a pet's life isn't 100% foreign to me now since I had to make that call for my beloved cat last year. Obviously I didn't do that with my own two hands though, so maybe that's where I feel the difference the most. Guess I won't really know how I'll feel until the situation comes up.

It's good to know my anxiety isn't entirely for nothing, and it's shared to some extent by others.

 

[castillo_de_luz]

It is totally understandable that you're nervous! I had never seen a chicken (except at the petting zoo) until I was thirteen...if you knew all the mistakes we made with our first four chickens...I won't go into details unless you want me to, but suffice it to say we killed two of them inadvertently within two years and a third one died shortly after. You're definitely way more prepared than we ever were and certainly not nuts !
Congratulations on the Dominiques! I have always wanted one but it hasn't happened yet.
Try not to worry about all the things that might not happen...I mean they could, but out of all the thousands of people who keep chickens most of them have healthy and happy flocks, as long as they care for them properly (everyone on BYC will be glad to help!). I too am terrified of one day waking up to a weasel or raccoon infiltration...but I've done the best I could to prevent it and I just have to trust that they'll be safe. I pray every night that they will be protected and so far they are all alive every morning, even though I've forgotten to lock the door now and then.
Hope this helps a little...everyone else has great advice as well! (And if you find you need to get rid of them...I was trying to rehome a rooster and ended up buying more hens instead!)

Pictures are of my second group of chicks - in a hotel room!

Look at those fluffs! How did you end up in a hotel with them?!

You bring up a good point: BYC is not the entire chicken-keeping world, so a good portion of what gets posted here are the problems and horror stories looking for help. Naturally I see it, and while it's excellent for preparedness, it's easy to forget that it's a small percentage of actual chicken experiences. Thank you for that reminder!