How did you convince your spouses/ roommates?

[embkm]

I read an article in the paper about a chicken auction close by. I just mentioned the idea to DH. He just grunted and ignored me. (he knows by now that it takes me months of research before I commit to anything other than puppies LOL).

I found a puppy on the side of the road (we already have 2 large dogs and at the time 5 cats). He made me find her a new home. I was bummed and started talking about buying a toy poodle puppy. He said, "What happened to the chicken idea? At least they'd be useful."

We visited the auction. I talked to people. I researched. I drove myself crazy. After 3 months, DH asks, "So when am I getting fresh eggs? And I already have a spot picked out for the pen." Following week, I had chickens.

 

[cockadoodle]

I started casually mentioning the idea of having a few chickens, I think it was about 2 months ago. My wife thought it was amusing, and is kind of an ex-hippy. She is very into being self sufficient when it comes to our food. She loves gardening, etc... After talking about how funny / cool it would be to have some, while pretending I really wasn't serious about it at all, I started doing research, here, and elsewhere. Armed with knowledge of the regulations, pros / cons, predators, egg production, coop design and construction, etc, not to mention how valuable it would be for our daughter to experience this, I had her read a few articles on various urban chicken sites. My father was raised on a 50,000 size chicken farm, so he had quite a bit of input as well (most of it negative unfortunately), but by this point, my wife was already firmly onboard. Their are a lot of people out there that really don't know what they are talking about when they speak of reasons to not have chickens. I'm amazed by how many people think you need a rooster to have eggs still, how many people believe chickens are going to bring diesease and death to the neighborhood, etc... If you are hearing offbase arguements like those, they are really easy to deflate with facts. However, some people might just be against the idea for less tangible reasons. Those are the harder ones to convince. At the end of the day you may have to ask for forgiveness vs. permission. Once the chicks are in hand, I can't think of anyone (even my father) that could resist. I have 4 chicks now in the brooder and the entertainment value alone has eliminated all of the potential cons I have had to discuss with my wife during the previous couple months. To make a long story short, the best approach for me was to approach chicken ownership slowly, intelligently and don't let the other person necessairly know how serious you are about it. Over time they will be convinced on their own, and that's the win / win for everyone. Persistence will pay off. Good luck

~Mark

 

[chickenkate]

AAAAGGGHHHH! They are such a sadist! You can't convince them of ANYTHING!!! BUT I will not give up! once I went on hunger strike for two days!

 

[rooster0209]

The second summer we were married, the wood ticks here bad. (doxie has 36 crawling on her after chasing rabbits) I asked about having Guinea's. DH said "I gave the coop away last summer thinking there would never be chickens on the farm again. I guess we can use a corner of the hog house"

So I got Guinea's that year. They were so easy & carefree to raise that I decided on chickens. DH said to ask some friends of ours if I could buy some eggs & we would buy a 'bator. They gave me a whole bunch of fresh eggs and wouldnt take any $$.

I was hooked.
This year we expanded the coop all they way down one side of the hog house. I have 36 chicks on order from MMM. DH says its a pretty inexpensive hobby and I could be doing alot worse things w/my time

 

[FlashPointFarm]

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

 

[Kristy in WA]

Quote:
Ok, that is too funny! LOL! If my husband told me that, I'd choose the chickens too! Kristy

 

[Kristy in WA]

Quote:
LOL!!! Too funny!! Kristy

 

[Mahonri]

My wife is beginning to understand that THIS IS my mid-life crisis and that it probably isn't going to end.

It hasn't been a year yet and she hears me planning more pens... and she isn't happy about it but she is being very supportive. (She is a celestial person)...I'm working on it.

 

[MissPrissy]

I am not a child. I don't need to ask for permission. I do ask for opinions and thoughts and take those into consideration before jumping off into things.

 

[big greg barker]

My S.O. made a comment one day that she might like to have chickens for fun. I had the coop up before she could change her mind........
She thought that maybe 6 would be nice. We have 20, with another 50 coming in May.............
Once your S.O. gets the bug, (and he will) you, too, will need intervention..........
" Hi, I'm Greg, and I'm a chicken addict.........."