Covid-panic-induced chicken keeping?

[TheMrsBird]

Is anyone excited there will be a "surplus" of partially raised chickens people will (hopefully the right way) want to get rid of?

We have 4 older girls and are wanting to add more, but with 2 cats and 3 young kids, raising chicks doesn't sound like the best idea for us right now.

I'll gladly spend a few dollars on a few month old hen.

If that doesn't work out, our dog crate has been fantastically cat & small child proof (the oldest knows better, the younger isn't able to open it). I lined the sides so the chicks can't escape & the plastic pan at the bottom makes a fantastic clean-up when i change their bedding. I did go with a brooder plate though because the thought of a heat lamp in my 100-year-old, wood-frame, wood-walled, wood-everything house makes me a bit nervous...

 

[kodster]

We've seen this here, too. Tons of new chicken owners on our local Facebook chicken keeping page and our local supplier has been overrun with orders. This is our first batch as well, but years in the making waiting to find a new house with the room to give them a full happy life, just happened to coincide with the current situation. I am foreseeing a lot of pullets up for grabs in the coming months, BUT, at the same time, hoping these people will come through and become good chicken owners. Also hoping this might encourage more municipalities to review their current ordinances and allow responsible chicken keeping.

I'm praying your last sentence comes true. IF the authoritarian states and municipalities are eliminated (meaning, leadership replaced with reasonable people), then this will likely happen, as the new leadership will realize that people are trying to do anything they can to survive through these times. But that's the Satanists who are in control right now in these states.

 

[kodster]

If that doesn't work out, our dog crate has been fantastically cat & small child proof (the oldest knows better, the younger isn't able to open it). I lined the sides so the chicks can't escape & the plastic pan at the bottom makes a fantastic clean-up when i change their bedding. I did go with a brooder plate though because the thought of a heat lamp in my 100-year-old, wood-frame, wood-walled, wood-everything house makes me a bit nervous...

That's what I'm using for my 'brooder' now... the extra large dog crate that my Rottie no longer uses, because he's proven himself to be a good boy sleeping on his orthopedic bed at night, in the living room by himself. Mine is an airline travel crate, so it's all plastic, except for the door, and metal openings near the top on the sides, for air circulation. I've put a reflector in there, ran the cord through the top side opening, and then put one of those ceramic heat bulbs inside the reflector, rather than a 250W red heat lamp. The ceramic generates the heat, at a lower wattage, and no light, just heat. Lots safer because it's similar to the same technology a brooder plate uses, just in a bulb that fits into the reflector. Cheaper than the brooder plate, and most people already have the reflectors, when purchased for use as standard equipment.

I've used this set-up for the last two years now, and it's perfect. The crate is in my guest bedroom, with a baby gate up across the doorway, so I can hear what's going on, but the dog and the two cats stay out. NONE of them try to jump over it, and the extra security of the crate door means if they DO get in the room, the chicks are still protected from their curiosity.

 

[Janer915]

This has been going on for almost 2 months where I live. Like you, my biggest concern is for the animals who might receive substandard care by novices who aren’t really interested in taking care of them once they are no longer cute little chicks but still months away from producing eggs. The other problem locally is that demand seemed to stop just as quickly as it started. I have half a dozen tractor supply store that sell chicks within a 30 min drive radius and all of them were selling out within minutes of each shipment. Now the closest one to me overestimated demand and ordered a huge shipment and they are not moving fast. They are doing a buy 2 get one free, removing previous limits on quantities and requiring people to buy at least 3 at a time (not sure if that was always a rule in place or something they just started).

I‘m waiting for the local classifieds to be filled with people trying to get rid of their pullets and cockerels over the next few months as people realize how much time and money you invest in these creatures. I also worry about an outbreak of chicken diseases since I live in an area that is mostly suburban with smaller yards. Close quarters, improper chicken keeping and exchanging of birds amongst each other as people lose and gain interest but don’t know how to spot disease or to quarantine newly acquired stock could lead to some real problems ☹

Yes but once you get them to this pint it’s easier. They are older and healthy..
I’m seeing the same thing all the TSC are sold out nothing anywhere. From Chicks to bunnies, puppies to kitty’s, pigs to sheep’s.. but I managed to purchase, as a new mom A holland Lop, my baby Chicks, and I’ve got my hogs coming later in the year.
We all must start somewhere and it would be nice if some of you could turn your worries in HELP!
It’s like putting the horse before the cart.
give us a chance. You had yours. Thanks!!!

 

[TheMrsBird]

That's what I'm using for my 'brooder' now... the extra large dog crate that my Rottie no longer uses, because he's proven himself to be a good boy sleeping on his orthopedic bed at night, in the living room by himself. Mine is an airline travel crate, so it's all plastic, except for the door, and metal openings near the top on the sides, for air circulation. I've put a reflector in there, ran the cord through the top side opening, and then put one of those ceramic heat bulbs inside the reflector, rather than a 250W red heat lamp. The ceramic generates the heat, at a lower wattage, and no light, just heat. Lots safer because it's similar to the same technology a brooder plate uses, just in a bulb that fits into the reflector. Cheaper than the brooder plate, and most people already have the reflectors, when purchased for use as standard equipment.

I've used this set-up for the last two years now, and it's perfect. The crate is in my guest bedroom, with a baby gate up across the doorway, so I can hear what's going on, but the dog and the two cats stay out. NONE of them try to jump over it, and the extra security of the crate door means if they DO get in the room, the chicks are still protected from their curiosity.

Ours is for our rottie (mix) pup as well-i say pup, but she's 4 years old now. But her separation anxiety was really bad & her previous owners hadn't crate trained her at all (& had just used it as punishment-so we were never able to get a positive association going)...fortunately, training and aLOT of bitter no chew made her safe to have roaming in the house-mostly...trash is still problematic.

This was her when we got her at 6 months old.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Yes but once you get them to this pint it’s easier. They are older and healthy..
I’m seeing the same thing all the TSC are sold out nothing anywhere. From Chicks to bunnies, puppies to kitty’s, pigs to sheep’s.. but I managed to purchase, as a new mom A holland Lop, my baby Chicks, and I’ve got my hogs coming later in the year.
We all must start somewhere and it would be nice if some of you could turn your worries in HELP!
It’s like putting the horse before the cart.
give us a chance. You had yours. Thanks!!!

don’t worry. You’ll find as you navigate this site and get accustomed to it that we are being helpful. Even if not everyone loves another person’s opinion, we are a helpful bunch and we all care deeply for the ethical care of animals. You’ll be fine and we will be here to help. We all make mistakes, though and you’re going to have to take your lumps sometimes. we all do and we all grow.

 

[kodster]

Ours is for our rottie (mix) pup as well-i say pup, but she's 4 years old now. But her separation anxiety was really bad & her previous owners hadn't crate trained her at all (& had just used it as punishment-so we were never able to get a positive association going)...fortunately, training and aLOT of bitter no chew made her safe to have roaming in the house-mostly...trash is still problematic.

This was her when we got her at 6 months old.

Mine just turned 10 years old. 1st one of the breed that I have raised into the double-digits! I've had, bred, and raised Rotties since 1986, but never have been able to keep one alive long enough to make it there, as they've died from cancer, vet screw-ups, or trauma (getting run over by a train when she escaped our yard, or her father, getting hit by a tractor-trailer, at the same time... train tracks ran parallel to the highway... father shorted out the electric fence we had set up on our rural property to keep everyone contained in, and they all escaped). Brute has always been in a crate since he was at his breeder (I had to start all over, but he's the only one I have, and I haven't bred him, even though he is still intact... he's been such a good boy that I haven't had to worry about him running off with a female in heat nearby... Hubby and I, and our 2 cats, are his pack, as far as he is concerned!) In fact, the first 7 years of his life, he was used to being in the crate all the time when we weren't home, or at night. So, one day, I decided I would let him stay out while we ran to town to run some errands, and see how he would do. He was perfect! So, from then on, we stopped using the crate so much, and then it got to the point, the crate was just sitting there, not being used at all. So, I came up with the idea of using it for a brooder, and from there, the rest is history. BUT he does get concerned when the chicks are being attended to, as he thinks I'm harming them, and he starts to growl and whine. His herding, protective instincts kick in. I have to reassure him that I'm not harming them. LOL Or maybe he thinks they're harming me?

 

[Goblin Cock]

So I am one of the aforementioned pandemic influenced chick buyers. I have 5, 6wk olds. I will admit that my lack of knowledge has since struck me as shamefull.That said, seeing, caring for, and learning about the chickens during this time of stay at home isolation has given me a center focus and kept me sane! It has also provided my 2 kids w/ many daily smiles. I do however realize that the chickens are a much bigger respsonsibilty than i ever previously imagined and ive also discovered that hardware cloth is painfully unforgiving! Overall, im grateful to the BYC community and glad to have this awesome resource of insight. thanx yall!

 

[Jan Croot]

We have a huge mixed flock

That "crazy chicken lady down the road" has become everyone's best buddy.

 

[Jan Croot]

Just wait until the cases of tummy troubles from bad butchering pop up.

And then it won't be just unwanted cats that get dumped in farm areas, but unwanted chickens as well.