Does anyone regret getting chickens?

[turtlynne]

OMG! Don't for a second compare raising pets to "industrial" chicken farming ... whoever said they have personalities was so right and how could they NOT when they have names and treat preferences and try to grab the treat bowl out of your hand and are oblivious to the looney Jack Russell who wants them SOOO bad and the 'roo is so handsome and sweet to his girl and the eggs are SOOO beautiful and the possibility of chicks is so anticipationally(is that a word?) delightful and the coop/run keeps expanding and even when the JR did nip one girl's tail we ALL survived and the backyard chicken FORUM is SOOO fun to visit and...and...and...did some one say we are addicts? then 'pour' me(hatch me?) another one! I won't try to convince you one way or the other but you probably get my drift...

 

[2txmedics]

Im new to chickens as of 11mos....since then I org. bought 16 pullets or so I thought, I ended up with 7 pullets rest roos, the guy didnt know what he was doing. I have broken up fights between roos, Ive seen eggs actually laid, Ive talked to these girls on my bad days, and have spent many hours just with them to clear my head or just relax on a good day. I have cleaned poop, scraped, shoveled, dusted to treat for mites, cleaned coops, handled sick babies, Ive even hatched eggs, had to put down 2 babies, sold my extra roos, rushed out in heavy deep water rains to save my floating chickens in runs.......

DO I REGRET IT?....no, not at all, there maybe a day that I feel like I really dont want to do this, and I go out there,....and after being out there maybe 10mins....Im in love all over again!!!! I have a 15yr daug. that is all about the modern world,...texting, computers, the latest fashions etc....no way would she ever ever EVER...deal with chickens they are dirty and no WAY MOM WILL I EAT THERE EGGS!!!! Now...she doesnt mess with the chickens but she will say awwwh, lets get this one its pretty...and she will sit with me and watch me deal with them...*family time, back to nature*.....she will even eat there eggs!!! we went to Ihop, a treat for us...and she ordered eggs and HATED THEM! She says our girls lay better eggs....

NO I LOVE MY BABIES I WISH I HAD MORE TIME....

 

[DaughterOfEve]

If I have a few extra dollars I would spend them all so we could get more chickens!!!

 

[Sissy]

NO NO never.. The more that I have the
more Im in love they each
have there own personalitys.
and when they run to greet you.
how can anyone resist.

 

[DIMBY]

Only regret is that I didn't do this years ago - especially when my mother in law was still alive. We would have had so much fun doing this together!

 

[CTChickenMom]

Quote:
Be sure to bury the wire for your run underground a foot so predators can't tunnel under. Leave no space open, not even a couple inches as mink and weasels can squeeze through the smallest spaces.

 

[Keri78]

Here's my thoughts...

the smell in hot Georgia summers:

I use laminate stick tiles(cheapy box of them from HomeDepot!) to cover the floor and the roosting area! Clean up is a sinch! not stinky at all I wipe them clean at least every other day! No Biggy!

* dealing with all the ways they die - sickness, predators, accidents, killing each other:
Lost two this year to predators..sad...but part of life...we live in the woods and they free range and we have hawks...need I say more?

* chicken mites:
never been an issue but I think it would be easy to fix

* pasty chicken butts and all things related to poop:
only had one pasty butt when he was a baby ...just wiped him clean once and that was the end of his issues...poop is not a big deal..like I said above

* trying to find someone to care for them when we are out of town, or would we never get to leave town again:

I have a neighbor that keeps an eye on them when we leave on vaca and I tell her she can keep all the eggs!(bonus!) When we're away I leave their chickie door open for my free range egg layer flock so they come in and out of the barn as they please..it's a risk but it's better than someone having to let them in and out twice a day...I guess you could always just keep them locked up for the week if you weren't willing to risk it(that's what I do with my banties) I have a big black rubber buckets (tractor supply) one for water and one for feed. I fill them up once a week...so they are VERY self sufficient..kinda like having a cat....a little extra food and water and their cool!

* Initial setup cost (mostly the time and money to build a coop that would not be an eyesore):
This depends on what you like but there are alot of nice rabbit huthes that could be easily converted to a nice banty coop! Or a nice cute little dog house with and attached run is cute too!


Our backyard is almost 1/2 acre, but it is pretty full already with a small orchard, a shed, several raised beds for vegetables, compost bins, etc. The space that we would have for a coop and run is around 400 square feet. I started out thinking I would get 4 or 5 chicks, then I got all excited and thought that was enough room for a dozen or so...and now I am starting to wonder if I should just forget the whole thing:
I started out wanted the same 4 chickens!!!(LOL) I ended up ordering 14!!! Now I just hatched out 4 more and have 7 more coming this week!!! Can yo say addicting!!!(LOL) I would say start small! Since space is limited...and they are going to be in a neighborhood..I would highly suggest ONLY buying hens!!! This will help you avoid some problems! If you must(and your nieghbors don't mind crowing??? they can be noisy!!! but if you have to go with one roo(make it a banty for sure!) I would actually recommend all banties to start with ...silkies are GREAT layers and they are super sweet!!! I love my frizzle cochins too!!!(but they aren't great layers!) Or you could do a couple big girls and a couple banties? Start small...this way if you want to add a few new ones next season you can! It's TONS of fun and they are REALLY easy pets to have! I think you'll enjoy it...very easy to keep it you have the right set up and just keep it simple!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Last winter I did not have chickens. I would sleep in & not go outside for days on end because it was too cold. This winter I have chickens so I have to get up and take care of them in the morning. I go out to the coop at least 4 to 5 times a day, so I am not hibernating like I used to. Plus the added bonus of BYC. Do I regret it... Not one bit! I love it!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I got chickens two years ago (had never seen a chicken(except on tv) and NEVER touched a chicken EVER) I was in love with getting farm fresh eggs ONLY. I didn't expect to fall in love with each and every one of them.
Yes, I had to go out in our freezing cold winters every day to feed and water
yes, I had to pay MUCH money every month to keep my coops heated (we are FAR from rich)
Yes, I had to spend a lot of money on keeping our water thawed for our babies
Yes, I had to get rid of northern fowl mites SEVERAL times on 40 plus chickens
yes, I have to clean out five coops
Yes, sometimes I even have to fix doors.
Yes, we have spent WAY more on our chickens then we have every gotten back and I know that will continue
Yes, I did just order a VERY expensive incubator yesterday that we prob shouldn't have ordered

BUT:

What I find is that it relaxes me more then anything in this world, It makes me happy to be with them and take care of them, (If you feel like it's a chore and you dread doing it then that's not a good sign). The way they look at you can melt any heart, chicken TV is THE BEST, when your sitting in your chair and your chicken comes and jumps in your lap to sit and watch the goings on in my yard that is a great thing (too me). When they follow you around the yard and have their little chats with you, and best of all you can't beat those baby "Bob's" right!?

You have to figure out if all the hard work is going to be worth it. I was afraid too, that chicken keeping would "get old" but its been two years (two VERY cold winters) and I still love them and would never change anything I have done

The few deaths I had to endure were sad and the two culls we had to take care of was even worse but its something that comes with chickens. I would say to try out just a few (before you spend money on coops etc... and if you still feel the same way after a month it prob isn't for you. You will be able to find someone to buy your chickens. Sure doesn't hurt to try

Good luck to you and I hope it works out. Keep us informed on how it goes

 

[snowhorse]

The only thing I regret is being labeled the "crazy chicken lady" by co workers, friends and family

I kid, I could care less what they call me. I love it!


I really have no regrets. I love the work and care, no matter how cold or hot the weather.

Life and death is apart of your life no matter what, so dealing with that hasn't been difficult. And I have even ventured into meat birds. It's always difficult to lose one you are attached too, but the memories are great and the stories are even better! I have not lost any to predators yet (knock on wood) but do have a small pack of coyotes that keep wandering into the yard. Luckily it is hunting season for them here until fall, and you don't need a license if they are a threat, which they are becoming as they are getting closer and closer to all our animals. I hate to destroy something that beautiful, but they have become extremely over populated and danergous.

I don't think the smell is really all that bad, and we get very humid where I am. I have wooden floors and everything. I just clean it all out every month and a half to 2 months. At least you pretty much have only warm weather to deal with, frozen water and frost bite is no fun, so I would think it would be easier where you don't have the harsh winter I do.

I have had mites on numerous occasions. I have 20 some odd hens, and it takes me maybe 30 to 45 minutes. Its not a big deal really.

Pasty butts are a pain, but they do clean up just fine with some TLC, which when you first get them they need all the TLC they can get anyways as babies. As far as other poopy problems, there is a good site for the different arrays of normal poops, which I think is in the emergency section of this forum, and I believe it is a sticky. It has great pictures of all the normal and un normal poops. And trust me I had no idea how many different form of poop one animal could have!

Finding someone to take care of them- You could always post on craigslist or on this forum maybe for someone close to you. I live in an area where I know most of the people with farms and they are not a big deal to find care for. Food, water and egg collections and opening and shutting the door, really pretty simple if you think about it. Your not going to ask someone to clean up and do maintenance and you could always offer up free eggs for it

I will warn you tho, it has a tendency to consume you and you'll be hatching your own before you know it!