Help convince my mom to get chickens!

[CluckerFamily]

Since you have neighbors that have chickens this would be my plan:
#1 Visit the neighbors with chickens to see their set up (you would be able to see if they are messy), take mom with, talk to the neighbors and ask questions.
#2 If mom still isn't on board, I personally would still want to get my chicken fix. Could you ask those chicken owners if they would hire you to help take care of the chickens (clean the coop) or to babysit the chickens when they are gone?
#3 maybe... if you are in FFA, you could raise the chickens to show them.

Unfortunately, if your mom is like mine, once her mind is made up, there is no changing it.
Hopefully you are close to the age that you would be able to have your own place.

Chickens are great for eggs! Great for entertainment! They eat all my insects! I have just under 2 acres of land with 16 hens and a rooster, I have had chickens for 7 years. The most money you will put into the chickens is the building of the brooder and coop. They are less work than a dog but a little more than a cat. I haven't had any tick issues since getting chickens and they keep my mosquito level down since I live by a marsh area. They also scratch up under my perennials to eat the grubs and pests on the plants.

 

[DigbyDyson]

I understand your frustration I wanted chickens and a pony so desperately I had to wait until I moved out of home and even then she made her displeasure known they were all worth the wait although at the time I felt I would die of disappointment

Hope you are more successful than I was, but if not the future is not that far away good luck

 

[CHlCKEN]

My mom is having a little trouble understanding the reason for getting chickens... can you help convince her?
(She is having trouble with understanding chicken math as well )

@black_cat you taught me your ways, now you can start a class

 

[CHlCKEN]

My mom is having a little trouble understanding the reason for getting chickens... can you help convince her?
(She is having trouble with understanding chicken math as well )

I tagged black_cat to this, they taught me how to convince my parents to get ducks, I haven’t gone that far yet, but so far their method is helping me Get a companion for my guinea pig!

 

[black_cat]

I tagged black_cat to this, they taught me how to convince my parents to get ducks, I haven’t gone that far yet, but so far their method is helping me Get a companion for my guinea pig!

Wait, it's working?!?! XD

 

[black_cat]

First off: DO NOT RENT CHICKENS. DO NOT. It is not at all worth it and for a new chicken owner it is not worth the hassle. If I didn't have friends with chickens I would have believed that it was this hard to take care of them, when it doesn't have to be. It's way too expensive for what it is, and makes having chickens seem SO hard. DO NOT RENT CHICKENS.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Wait, it's working?!?! XD

Well not officially yet, I tested the guinea pig one on my sister who doesn’t want to get another guinea pig, Alonso more than my parents- and it convinced her so I think it will work. I put some suuuuuuuper intense facts in there that I think rlly helped. (Ex: “in Switzerland it is illegal to own just one guinea pig, and is considered animal abuse”) I think I’ve got this one for the Guinea Pig, but I’m going to wait until spring to use it for the ducks bc I want to give it some time.

 

[CHlCKEN]

First off: DO NOT RENT CHICKENS. DO NOT. It is not at all worth it and for a new chicken owner it is not worth the hassle. If I didn't have friends with chickens I would have believed that it was this hard to take care of them, when it doesn't have to be. It's way too expensive for what it is, and makes having chickens seem SO hard. DO NOT RENT CHICKENS.

I’ve never even heard of chicken renting but it doesn’t seem like it’s worth it- in a sense, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy the chickens? That way in case of a casualty...

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

Wait, I have an idea! What if you offered to help the messy neighbor with their chickens! You could go over and ask if its possible for you to clean their coops, and feed and water their chickens for them! Ask if you can do it for free, most likely if they have to pay you they won't hire you. This way your mom can see you are responsible, you can hang out with chickens, and those chickens in the dirty environment can live a better life.

 

[black_cat]

Here's my method:
-googles slides presentations are the WAY TO GO. That way they can't interrupt you with 'but i really think-' you can present all of your information in a logical and planned out way, you can add lots of pictures, pros and cons, all laid out in one place. Make sure to not do that thing where you write all the stuff that you're going to say on the slides-that way people can just read it and you don't need to say anything! Put bullet points, pics, and short sentences on slides, then add complete sentences and information by talking.
-I generally work much better with my parents when I'm emailing them-that way we can't interrupt each other or anything like that. I'll send parents a coop/run idea/option (build plans usually) with some info, they'll send back that they do/don't like it and what they don't like, and vice versa. Works much better than talking for me because we usually end up arguing otherwise.
How I did my slideshow (in order)
-benefits of having chickens
-A picture of a chicken coop I wanted to build/base our build off of, and bullet points explaining the good features of it
-pictures of each breed of chicken I wanted to get, as well as pictures of their eggs. I then explained why I wanted each chicken breed and what the benefits of having that breed are (e.g. "I'd like an easter egger because they lay beautiful eggs, come in all colors, and are very friendly chickens that make good pets and are good with younger kids")
-Bullet points of all the work involved, both to set up the coop and to do daily chicken care. Explain how long each thing takes every day and why you have to do it.
-Costs at the end (so they dont' get distracted by costs at the beginning and just ignore everything else) You might not need to include this, but I am a bit younger than you, I think, and have no income, so I can't pay for chicken supplies continuously without running my savings dry.
-Don't be constantly bugging them. Mine are generally open to ideas, but if every day I'm constantly talking about chickens, they get so tired of it that they are not open to ideas and just want me to stop, making it more likely that they say no. What I do is I bring up the idea, and if they seem open to it, I ask if I can give them a presentation. I usually do most of my stuff on weekends, so they are less stressed and tired from work. After my initial suggestion, I schedule a presentation time with them (it works best on saturday mornings for me) then I wait at least a week before mentioning said thing again/doing presentation. When I'm presenting, I ask them to hold their questions until the end so that I'm done with the whole thing before being bombarded. Don't get into any arguments-try to anticipate questions or concerns they might have and have well prepared answers for those. (e.g. Q: What if the chickens smell bad? A: I will do regular cleanings of the coop and we can get something called Sweet PZD, which is a stall freshener for horses. It is chicken safe and absorbs odor really well.)
-Be willing to compromise. If I didn't want to compromise on anything, I wouldn't have chickens right now. Right now, for our new coop, my dad wants something cost efficient, my mom wants it to look good, and I want it to be easy to maintain and be large enough for 7-8 chickens. I'm having to look outside the box at options I hadn't considered.
-Present facts, not opinions. I don't know about your parents, but mine are very logical. If I pitch something as: The breeds of chicken that we have have short lifespans and will die soon. They will also molt in the fall. More chicks will help keep egg production up and will live longer. They are more likely to listen to that than they are to: Hey! I'd really like this breed of chicken, we should get some more chickens!
For you, because your neighbors have chickens, I'd connect with them first and ask if you'd be able to show your mom their chickens and coop. Showing her and explaining how everything works (and showing her how non messy they are) I think would be a great idea. You could show her the coop, explain what each part is for (e.g. 'this is the coop part, it is where the chickens go to get out of the weather and also where they sleep and where they lay their eggs.') and how you care for/maintain that thing (e.g. This will be filled with bedding, as you can see here. Once a week I"ll push some of the old bedding into the run, and I"ll add new bedding to keep it fresh and non smelly. Every night I'll close this door to help keep the chickens safe from predators, and every morning I'll open it up')