How much time

[ChickenMammX4]

We have 6 chickens and spend on average about 15 minutes a day caring for them. Twice a year we do a complete coop clean-out, once a year a complete run clean-out which takes several hours.

 

[mclanea]

I spend probably 5 minutes in the morning, 2 at night, and 10 minutes throughout the day just checking on them or putting them back in the run or telling them to stop pecking on my office door.

And every Saturday I spend about 15 minutes cleaning out the coop, composting their crap, putting down fresh straw.

Overall very, very easy!

 

[Pats Poultry]

I am beginning to understand that chickens are very self sufficient. I would of thought that they were going to be very needy but not at all. They seem to entertain themselves very well in a course of a day. Also, I have realized that they are smarter than I gave them credit for when we decided to get them. Show them something one or two times and they got it and they are only 9 weeks old. If I would have know this before I would have had chickens way before this.
When I started this thread I guessed I spent about 30 minutes a day tending to them. In the last couple of day I have actually timed the time I spend and it turns out only about 10 minutes a day and most of that is cleaning out the coop every morning. If only my dogs and cat were that easy.

 

[RonP]

I gather eggs once per day, takes about a minute.

Once per week I fill food and water containers which will last for 3 weeks minimum, takes about 10 minutes.

About once per year, I replace the deep bedding, takes about a half hour.

That is about all the necessary time needed.

I have about a dozen birds.

That said, I spend way more time with them as most would enjoying a hobby.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A lot of it will depend on coop size, flock size, how far you have to walk to get there, and how you manage them. In the morning I go down to let them out and make sure they have food and water for the day. Sometimes that’s not much more than a quick look, sometimes it gets more involved. I generally dump their water every other day just to keep it fresh.

I go down in the afternoon and gather eggs plus make sure they have food and water before they go to bed. After dark I go down to lock the pop door.

I scrape my droppings boards maybe once every one to three weeks. With my flock density and such it’s not a day to day thing like some people have. Occasionally I replace nesting material or do other things like that, but time actually required to take care of them isn’t much. I spend more time watching them than taking care of them.

 

[aart]

..... I spend more time watching them than taking care of them.

Indeed, some days it's irresistibly fascinating.