Disagreements over chickens

[GoodGuinea]

I was raised in the suburbs. We had numerous pets in the house over the years, and they were much loved. My husband was raised on a small working ranch, and animal-keeping was strictly practical. Together now, we live in a semi-rural area, and we own a dog, chickens, and guinea fowl. We're on the same page where the dog is concerned, but we have occasional disagreements about how to manage the birds.

It sounds silly, but does anyone else ever clash with their significant other(s) over poultry?

 

[RojoMarz]

Assuming one side is thinking production/meat birds yet the other is thinking pets.

DH and I may be closer in mindset than the above, but he is more willing/able to cull when production slows, than I am. I have acknowledged that our chickens are not pets and will not live their lives as old maids in our hen house.

Have to find a middle ground or compromise.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I imagine the details would matter a lot in this instance, what would you say is your biggest disagreement? Since you mentioned management is it like over their housing or feeding? the raising of them? I agree with RojoMarz though it's usually best to find a middle ground or compromise

 

[Flockincrazy]

I was raised in the suburbs. We had numerous pets in the house over the years, and they were much loved. My husband was raised on a small working ranch, and animal-keeping was strictly practical. Together now, we live in a semi-rural area, and we own a dog, chickens, and guinea fowl. We're on the same page where the dog is concerned, but we have occasional disagreements about how to manage the birds.

It sounds silly, but does anyone else ever clash with their significant other(s) over poultry?

My husband and i are both country but they never had chickens when he was growing up and they never had animals in the house so we clash all the time because since we became a we i rescued 2beagles (live inside) 4cats (1inside 3outside) 47chickens 9rescued roosters 8ducks 6turkeys 3bunnies 147quail and now 24chicks in the brooder oh and 60quail eggs in the incubater and 8chicken eggs in the other incubater he said im out of control my response was "you bought the chicks and Allyssa (our daughter) ordered the quail eggs without permission so its not all my fault " he just laughs and says "what ever makes you happy" but he still whines about it

 

[reddogmaster2]

I was raised in the suburbs. We had numerous pets in the house over the years, and they were much loved. My husband was raised on a small working ranch, and animal-keeping was strictly practical. Together now, we live in a semi-rural area, and we own a dog, chickens, and guinea fowl. We're on the same page where the dog is concerned, but we have occasional disagreements about how to manage the birds.

It sounds silly, but does anyone else ever clash with their significant other(s) over poultry?

Welcome!

(My original response was edited by the moderators. Humor Recognition seems to be a rare commodity!)

 

[ShrekDawg]

My husband and i are both country but they never had chickens when he was growing up and they never had animals in the house so we clash all the time because since we became a we i rescued 2beagles (live inside) 4cats (1inside 3outside) 47chickens 9rescued roosters 8ducks 6turkeys 3bunnies 147quail and now 24chicks in the brooder oh and 60quail eggs in the incubater and 8chicken eggs in the other incubater he said im out of control my response was "you bought the chicks and Allyssa (our daughter) ordered the quail eggs without permission so its not all my fault " he just laughs and says "what ever makes you happy" but he still whines about it

Holy mackerel that’s a lot of animals!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Nope. The farm animals are mostly "mine" but there's two other people in my household. All major choices are run past everyone every time and since I know the most the choices are mostly made by me.
If something could be disruptive it's talked about (why we should do it, why we shouldn't etc.). Then we come to a consensus. Like I want to set 2 dozen eggs right now under our broody hens. G thinks that's a lot of chicks but understands why we want so many. D thinks that may be too many for the hens to cover properly, but I also know there's always some duds, so if we set 2 dozen we won't get 2 dozen chicks by the end of it anyhow. So we're thinking about the right number to set but we're still collecting eggs so we have time.

In fact D just came up to me while I was typing this and suggested we set a full dozen under a specific hen and is currently telling me his feelings about which chicken we should set them under and why. And I like his reasoning so they'll go under the one he chose.
When we disagree we listen to each others reasons why, think about what's most practical and make actionable choices. But it helps that we're on the same page about why we have the chickens and we have a healthy respect for one anothers experience levels. I trust them not to bring up things that are frivolous, they trust me not to put a burden on them. It works out.

I feel like respect for your partner and the way they feel is the most critical thing you can have in a relationship where both parties are genuinely happy.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Holy mackerel that’s a lot of animals!

Thats not even all of them we have 6leopard frogs, 4 Russian tortoise's, 8mice, 2gecko, 15crayfish and about 20fish and they are all inside to

 

[HeatherKellyB]

YES! I live this every single day. Apparently I am "what's wrong with chickens and keeping chickens nowadays". Things can get pretty heated around here. I don't participate in the disagreements any longer because I can't change his mind and I won't change mine. It's not easy, at all, but I love my chickens.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

My husband and i are both country but they never had chickens when he was growing up and they never had animals in the house so we clash all the time because since we became a we i rescued 2beagles (live inside) 4cats (1inside 3outside) 47chickens 9rescued roosters 8ducks 6turkeys 3bunnies 147quail and now 24chicks in the brooder oh and 60quail eggs in the incubater and 8chicken eggs in the other incubater he said im out of control my response was "you bought the chicks and Allyssa (our daughter) ordered the quail eggs without permission so its not all my fault " he just laughs and says "what ever makes you happy" but he still whines about it

Just last night I heard, "I didn't know you were going to go a**hole crazy with chickens"
The chicken math is real!

***What is a**hole crazy? First time I've heard that one but I assumed I'm becoming a crazy chicken lady.