Does it ever feel like work?

[LovinChicknFarmn]

Not usually. It does stink when it's freezing outside and I have to go out to close them in for the night and then again in the morning. But, I ALWAYS love collecting eggs and bringing them treats!

 

[Chickety Charcoal]

Not yet, but I have only been doing this since June.

 

[Jesseschickens]

Quote:
who needs music when you have there songs to listen toooo!!!!!

 

[stollenmaker]

Not work... sheer pleasure! Granted, I don't have a huge flock, merely 6 Golden Stars, so tending to the M&M girls is a joy. Note: We brought our girls home in an M&M Candies box... hence the M&M Girls. Their names are 'Tille (Matilda), Molly, Maggie, Margot and Merci and they give us an egg a day each; yes, even during the cold months. I prepare a nice warm bowl of soybeans, rolled oats and a multigrain cereal for them each morning.

Each morning when I let them out I get a nice, hot cup of coffee and head out to see them, along with our little cocker spaniel, Katie. The girls come out one-by-each and assume the submissive posture and collect a nice pet on the head and back. They all say good morning to Katie and then head off to lay eggs or eat the warm gruel. It's a good way to spend a little time with the girls.

No, no work involved here, even with cleaning the coop, as the girls free-range through our yard, as well as the neigbhors yards. Before getting the girls, we talked to our neighbors and came to an agreement that the girls should run free. In return, the girls keep all of us supplied with fresh eggs. It's a win-win situation for all of us. The neighbors love the girls and know their names, and even bring them treats. They also give us gifts from their trips around the globe that have to do with chickens. So very nice.

We are fortunate in that we have neighbors who think chickens should be raised in a 'happy' way, not in electric chicken factories. Our M&M girls are absolute great models of what urban chickens can be. Happy chickens, happy people and a happy cocker spaniel.

Enjoy the New Year with your chickens folks!

 

[terrilhb]

Quote:
who needs music when you have there songs to listen toooo!!!!!

You are right. I keep it low enough that I can hear any noise they make. It is just the only time I get to listen to my Ipod. But I always hear them. How can I not. I have a couple that if I am not paying any attention to them they peck me.

Like Mom we are here. I so love them all.

 

[Chicky Monkey]

I love reading these...alot of them put everything into perspective. Seems like everyone's life is someone else's dream. It all comes down to attitude and perspective. I let my seven girls out of the coop at first daylight...if I'm late, they let me have it verbally. I sprinkle scratch grains into scattered hay in their 'inside' run (used to be two horse stalls) and also in their outside area, weather permitting. I also put out their food and water. Around noon-1 p.m., I let them out into the large area, weather permitting. There, they can still access their smaller area, inside area and coop. At that time, I also put out grated carrots, celery, apples, spinach, tomatoes and/or whole wheat speghetti with tomatos and sauce. At sundown, I put them back into the 'inside area' and coop, and turn on the lights if I need to extend their 'daylight' time. Around 9 p.m. (14-15 hours of daylight), I 'put them to bed'...turn on their nightlights (purple Halloween string lights--pretty), soft music, and make sure they are all on their inside roosts. I shut up the coop, turn out the bright lights and hug them goodnight! It is the least I can do for such beautiful, sweet creatures that give us laughter and one of the most nutritious foods on earth: eggs! The perfect food! Yeah, it's nasty cleaning up after them, which I do everyday. I completely clean everything (put down new paper and pine shavings) once weekly in the winter and at least twice weekly in the summer. But I tell myself that it's a GOOD thing that they are pooping so well and that their poop looks OK! It's a good thing,....it's a good thing....it's a good thing.....

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Married almost 40 years, one son, one daughter, three grandsons, one mini-aussie, two buff orpingtons, two SLW's, three barred rocks in rural area on almost two acres.

 

[Tripp16]

It never feels like work to me! I loove going outside to see the chickens!

 

[nancyinwashpa]

It doesn't feel like too much work, I have 4 pullets and one guinea. Can't tell if guinea likes being in the coop and the yard with the girls. Today he found a gap in the fencing and "flew the coop".
Think he missed his dusting spots in the landscaping. Will mix sand and mulch together and put it in chicken yard to see if that makes him happy. He has been free since he showed up with his girlfriend last spring. She was dinner for a predator, so he moved up to the house in the summer.

Husband of 21yrs, 3 horses, two dogs (rescues), 5 cats (rescued) 4 pullets (sex/link [sp?]) and one funny guinea

 

[nancyinwashpa]

I can't find the post where someone mentioned a poop board? What is that?

 

[kefiren]

Chicken keeping feels like play, except when I have to kill them. But it's back to joy again in the kitchen!

I have been gardening my whole life and keeping chickens for 8 years. Gardening feels like work to me, but necessary work. I think of mucking the barn as gardening! I need more! more! more! manure hay to make things grow! I consider that manure just as important a product as the eggs! People ask me for it, and I'm like... well maybe just this once...but then get your own chickens, bucko!

A new joy in my life is seed keeping. It's sort of like chicken breeding!

I agree with a poster on page one. "Work"-- you say that like it's a bad thing?! I'm ecstatic to have rewarding work.

PS to a previous poster: my carpal is fixed by daily raw, pastured milk. Not everyone's responds, but it is worth a try.
www.realmilk.com

PPS I feel for the people who say they don't enjoy chicken keeping when ill, and to them I say: Get that Vitamin D from the sun, chicken fat, and supplements too! And drink long-simmered chicken carcass broth--daily!!! They don't call it a cure-all for nothin!

Renee