Does it get easier?

[Beaker99]

I'm new to chickens but I have friends with farms. I thought I knew what this would entail. I thought these guys would be low maintenance.
Not a chance.
It's been trouble at every turn.
Then when you try to fix it and you research anything, there are different answers everywhere. I'm second guessing everything.
sigh. Rant over.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm sorry you're having a rough time. Are you getting your info from 'Chicken blogs' or here? Chickens can be very low maintenance, once you get a system down.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It does get easier as you learn what works for you and what doesn't work.

The biggest thing to remember with the poultry keeping is there's so many ways to do stuff. What's right for me may not be right for you. You have to find what works best for you. Than it's fairly easy.

Also learning about chicken behaviors can help. Sorry you are having a rough go at it. My first flock was a mess for me. No clue what I was doing. Now it's pretty easy for me.

The best part of the hobby is there is so much to learn. I enjoy that part. This site is full of information, but not all will fit your situation.

 

[aart]

The first year of chickeneering is like getting a sip of water out of a fire hose.
Hang in there.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I understand your frustration, both on the different advice you get and how much work is required. Some of us keep a handful of hens in a tiny coop and run in the back yard, others keep a larger flock with hens, roosters, and chicks basically free ranging. Many are somewhere in between. What works for one of these likely won't work for the other. Your challenge is to try to figure out whether the suggestion you read is for your situation. Sometimes that is impossible to do because people don't tell you anything about their set-up.

How you are set up is going to have a lot to do with how much work is involved and how many behavior problems you might have. In general the less space you have the more behavioral problems you will have, the harder you have to work, and the less flexibility you have to deal with issues. I don't know how you are set up but I'd guess it is different than your friends on the farm.

Something else I see on here is that people have different expectations. They see a behavior and think it's a problem when it is not. That comes with experience and asking questions on here.

If you can let us know your set-up and what your frustrations are we may be able to offer specific advice. As you gain experience it should get easier or you may decide keeping chickens isn't for you.

 

[Beaker99]

I have a mobile coop and fence so the chickens can be kept in grass. We move them every two days. It's a pain but we're lucky the landlord allowed this at all.
Birds are only 3 months old. Already had an impacted crop. Now it's sour. I've been treating for 12 days and I don't see much of a difference.
Now I make sure to cut the grass before I move them. Check for foreign items hiding in the grass. But last night we saw one pull something out of the ground that was blue and eat it. Now I'm fearing that one will have a crop issue.
My spouse thinks I fret too much over all this, but I have a responsibility to them.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

If you can let us know your set-up and what your frustrations are we may be able to offer specific advice. As you gain experience it should get easier or you may decide keeping chickens isn't for you.

Yes, please do show us some photos of your birds and your setup and tell us what has been troubling you and we can help sort it out.

The biggest thing to remember with the poultry keeping is there's so many ways to do stuff. What's right for me may not be right for you. You have to find what works best for you. Than it's fairly easy.

Exactly. People have different situations and different personal styles so different methods are all effective.

Also, chickens are tough, adaptable animals who can thrive in different situations as long as you've got the basics of space, ventilation, and nutrition worked out.

 

[Beaker99]

This is the only pic I can find of my setup. We have a new, bigger feeder and waterer that are off the ground.

 

[Chickassan]

I feel like asking if it gets easier is a loaded question because once you get one thing down to a science you'll be forced to deal with something that never even crossed your mind and then you have to learn how best to remedy that.
You'll never 100% have it down.
What you can do is just not stress over it, learn from the experiences.
Try not to repeat any mistakes and enjoy successes even if they're tiny .
Don't forget you're supposed to be enjoying this.

 

[Beaker99]

I feel like asking if it gets easier is a loaded question because once you get one thing down to a science you'll be forced to deal with something that never even crossed your mind and then you have to learn how best to remedy that.
You'll never 100% have it down.
What you can do is just not stress over it, learn from the experiences.
Try not to repeat any mistakes and enjoy successes even if they're tiny .
Don't forget you're supposed to be enjoying this.

Indeed.