Do you need an intervention?

[Sally PB]

You’ll forget all about it by next year‘s chick order, don’t worry!

I know! DH won't though.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I'm definitely an admitted chicken addict!

Every time a sale at Ideal or Meyers pops up in my email, I have to try to ignore it, or simply delete it or I'll be in trouble with the husband!
We had to expand to 2 coops now, and we'll be working on another one soon I'm sure knowing how it goes around here. But we replace our older birds with younger ones because we breed them. The problem is that I want all of the breeds, and its just not logical when it comes to hatching chicks and selling eggs because I would have to have enough to make a profit.

To further my addiction, I constantly have my incubator running, when I told myself June was the last month and I cleaned it well and put it in storage. Not 3 weeks later, I was hatching eggs again. It's a real addiction! Lol. But now I've gotten "stronger" and I sell the chicks before I even have to put them under the heat plate or care for them. Within 24-48 hours of hatching, all of our chicks are sold and the money goes towards the feed bill that is higher now due to all of my chickens.

I really do believe they need a cure for chicken obsession! I've gotten to the point to where I literally have a wish list on Amazon just for my chickens and treats and nice things to pamper them with. And they're all I ever talk about. And of course I wear cute/funny chicken shirts all of the time as well and have chicken decorations throughout the home. All I can ever think about is what I want to do next to make my chickens happier! Lol

But really, it's an obsession and we need a cure besides cute fluffy chicks.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

I want to hatch 2 different breeds later this year but I only have a 7 egg incubator.
HELP ME

 

[Iluveggers]

I want to hatch 2 different breeds later this year but I only have a 7 egg incubator.
HELP ME

Sounds like you are going to have to hatch back-to-back. There’s plenty of time!

 

[Sally PB]

The stress of the integration is fading. From all I can see, it went really well. The adults mostly leave the pullets alone, the pullets try to stay out of the adults' way.

The adults are starting to molt. I get about 1 egg a day, from 3 hens. One for sure is molting, poor girl, and taking a much deserved break.

My pullets are really pretty. That is what is sustaining me from "needing" more chicks. But TSC is NOT helping! I call the chick cheeping sound I hear "the siren song of cuteness." And oh, they are cute... The little Australorp chicks are the ones that get me going. Little fluffy penguins... One looked right at me, and I had to walk away.

 

[Iluveggers]

The stress of the integration is fading. From all I can see, it went really well. The adults mostly leave the pullets alone, the pullets try to stay out of the adults' way.

The adults are starting to molt. I get about 1 egg a day, from 3 hens. One for sure is molting, poor girl, and taking a much deserved break.

My pullets are really pretty. That is what is sustaining me from "needing" more chicks. But TSC is NOT helping! I call the chick cheeping sound I hear "the siren song of cuteness." And oh, they are cute... The little Australorp chicks are the ones that get me going. Little fluffy penguins... One looked right at me, and I had to walk away.

I keep wondering when TSC will stop having chicks here up north. It starts to snow up my way sometimes as early as Halloween so I doubt they’ll keep them much longer! I won’t have to fight against the urge as much until the Jan hatchery catalogs arrive!

 

[FoxySonia]

Just remember that "more chicks" in this equation does not equal "more fun". On the contrary:

More stress because of overcrowded quarters in winter, more possibility of feather picking and development of other undesirable behaviour. Eventually more susceptibility to diseases, more poop, more fuss, more .... just fill in, the list goes on.

More costs: Higher feed bills, higher electricity bills, double the amont of needed bedding, medication, possible vet treatments etc.

Less daylight and therefore less time for the duties around the chickens = less time for family and friends, less time to spend just enjoying your birds, because of the overload of duties the additionals would cause.


ETA:

Yes! That is what us chicken addicts need to be reminded off every time we feel the desire to get more chicks/chickens. I'm a new chicken mom, got my first batch of juvenile chicks on August 2020, then chicken math got me and now I have 35 juvenile chicks (not counting the 5 bantam cockerels I'm giving away for free but counting the 2-3 I'm selling; this week sold 4 pullets I had wanted to keep, and 3 Silkies that might be cockerels), from the 90 chicks I purchased from 3 different hatcheries. With my 3 adult chickens, I have a total of 38 chickens (1 buff Polish rooster, 2 sl Wyandotte hens, and 35 chicks: 6 ss Appenzeller Spitzhauben pullets, 4 Brabanters (3 female and 1 male), 1 bs Maran p, 1 beardless Salmon Farerolle p, 1 Sultan p, 1 white frizzled and 2 mottled pullets, 7 Old English Game bantams (1 barred and 4 gn females and 2 gn male), 1 buff and 1 golden Sebright pullets, 2 wcb Polish bantam pullets, 1 bq d'Anver p, 3 d'Uccle p (1 gn and 2 mf), 2 buff Brahma bantam p, 4 Silkies (2 splash/paint and 2 black), 1 g Easter Egger bantam p. I have 15 different breeds, but really wanted more, and I'm sad that I sold the white Sikie pullet instead of keeping her, but I should be content with my current selection.

I really don't have the space for more, so have to restrain myself from buying more, so LaFleche's gives a good reminder as to reasons why shouldn't get more chicks/chickens. I live in Queens, NY and don't have a large yard, and I'm not supposed to have roosters but thankfully my neighbors like them. My chickens live in an approximately 30' by 30' piece of land (side yard). They have a 10' by 10' welded wire dog kennel run and a 9' by 6' pen, a 7' by 5' OverEz large chicken coop and 4' by 4' playhouse coop. I could never have this many if all 38 were standard size, but just 16 are standard size and the rest (22) are bantams, but I know they should have and would do better with more space. So far they are getting along, though sometimes the adult rooster pecks the chicks away from the food and water (I provide them several waterers and 2 crumble feeders and 4 large bowls with their mash, so they all get their fill and go to roost each night with a full crop. So beside not having enough space for more chickens, I really can't afford the additional expense. I already spend a small fortune on their feed (Scratch and Peck Organic Chicken Feed - chick and layer, and Grubbly Little Pecks chick/grower crumbles, GrubTerra black soldier fly larvae, vegetables and the occasional fruit, plus preventative meds/treatments (things such as VetRx, dewormer, lice and mite treatment and first aid kit). I've already spent thousands of dollars on their coop, runs/pens, bedding (sand, hemp and aspen wood shavings), equipment (including sand sifters) and supplies. Really can't afford any more chickens/pets, so have/need to keep reminding myself I shouldn't/can't have any more animals. I have herniated discs and iron deficiencyanemia, so that's another reason I should/can't have any more animals. After I sell the 2 cockerels (a hansome cream Brabanter and gn OEGB) and maybe 1gn OEGB pullet, I'll have 35 chickens, that should be enough for me.

Anyone wants a free cockerel or 2? I have 3 buff Sebrights, 1 golden neck d'Uccle and 1 splash laced red Wyandotte bantam cockerels thatneed a new home ASAP. I'm in Corona (Queens), NY 11368. I've been posting ads for them on Craigslist NY, with photos.

 

[FoxySonia]

I always wished that I had Tractor Supply or other feed store near me, but with my weak impulse control, I should consider myself lucky that I don't have those stores near me, or I might really become a chicken hoarder.

 

[The Moonshiner]

What are you all doing to curb the urge? Anyone give in & buy more?

I bought 5 more incubators last Monday.
Hatching you're own curbs the urge to buy.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

My OCD (obsessive chicken disorder) is out of control. Last thing I know I was putting some supermarket eggs in the incubator... Then one of my hen's eggs in too.
Could she still be fertile from a few weeks ago?