Covid-panic-induced chicken keeping?

[LizzzyJo]

I am not sure if I am right, but I’ve begun to see an increase in the number of people buying chicks who are woefully unprepared to care for chickens in the long run. They seem to be worried about not having access to eggs or meat for a few weeks so they make a huge monetary investment and buy animals when they don’t actually want to take on the massive lifestyle change of chicken keeping.
This is a years-long investment and they’re doing it for a few weeks of worry? I worry for the level of care the animals are receiving based on the reason for their purchase.

 

[azygous]

Yes, there are people who have been stampeded by fear into acquiring chicks. I spoke to TSC about this when I picked up my newest chicks. Their chick shipments are sold out in just a few hours of the chicks coming in. Chicks, it appears, is the new toilet paper. TSC has extended Chick Days to the end of May because of the high demand.

I have a confession to make. I got started keeping chickens just prior to the '08 financial crash. I saw what was coming at us and decided I needed chickens for protein should the supply chains be disrupted. I was about as ignorant as most of these new Covid 19 panicked chick buyers. Beyond knowing chickens needed a coop and some feed, I was clueless. But I learned. And I got hopelessly hooked on chickens.

Somehow, most of these new chicken keepers will manage to muddle through and to learn something, too.

 

[TheChicken-nator]

I just moved and I think the reason why we got chickens was because of this, but I have also cared for chickens for many years and we have two acres for them to roam. We have a huge mixed flock but we did get most of them when our state closed down schools. We now have ducks and turkeys that live with the chickens in a big flock. And our flock is doubling in ducks this month

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

Yes. My local TSC sells out within a few hours. I did get four new chicks right before Easter, but I have raised poultry for a while and know how to do it.

 

[Finnie]

Chicks, it appears, is the new toilet paper

Somehow, most of these new chicken keepers will manage to muddle through and to learn something, too.

Yup, just like we all did when we were new. Just lots more newbies at once this year.

 

[April0617]

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.

 

[tmf321]

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

 

[LizzzyJo]

I love the idea of more people keeping chickens - and I certainly hope they learn quickly. I just want the chicks to be treated ethically and not have a ‘dyed chicks for Easter presents’ situation.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I have a confession to make. I got started keeping chickens just prior to the '08 financial crash.

This actually makes me feel much better. I am so sorry for your trouble, but the fact that you started for similar reasons and came out the other end as a loving chicken keeper gives me hope

 

[My2butterflies]

I’ll admit we jumped in sooner then planned do to the current events going on.
We didn’t plan to get chickens till next year. I’ll be scrambling a little to get their coop ready, but nothing major. If I hadn’t already planned to get chickens then I doubt we would have gotten them, pandemic or not.
I just didn’t want to risk not having any available next year or having to pay crazy prices if the economy tanks.