I started wanting 2-3 chickens

[HiDelight]

I started with the idea that I could have just a few chickens and suddenly I have 11 full grown hens? how did this happen?

seriously I have to stop! but they are so wonderful and actually easy to care for ..

in the morning I go down to the coop open the door and let them go into their pen to eat scratch peck ..until my husband goes into the shop then since his shop has a door that goes into the chicken yard (a huge yard surrounded by trees and a seven foot fence) he lets them out to wander

they all march out and find places to dust bath peck and scratch and give him reason to stop work and just stare at them!

about 3-4 pm on their own they line up and march right back into thier pen then when the sun goes down they march into the coop and find thier spots on the perches (except the Duchess of Orpington who resides in a nest box at night)

the only "work" we do is put fresh feed out..toss scratch or kitchen left overs out during the day and cover the food and close the door to the coop it at night ..then flip the litter around in the coop every other day (I am trying the deep liter method)

they just seem so content in their surroundings and give us so much peace

we have had a horrific year I can not even tell you how bad things have been because it is too horrible to form words..but things are improving and we are seeing more and more joy in every moment now

chickens do bring you joy, and fertilizer and very yummy eggs!

but 11 chickens? is this too much for a semi urban back yard I wonder? the coop is fairly small but they seem to each have found a space and only are in it to sleep ..we only had two nest boxes built and put in ..because we never intended to have this many in our flock! We are adding more nest boxes on Thursday ..right now just a few weeks into this I feel like things are ok they seem very happy!

I have several breeds and have humanized them all

could this be a problem? I am chicken addicted? is there a 12 step program for this?

or am I ok? am I "managing" ok this seems so easy I feel like maybe I am missing something!

 

[pattypenny]

you soon will want more chickens if you are like most people. I had so many that I sold 20 last week and I am wanting more now. It never stops. You will see a new breed and think I would likes some of them and away you go.
The day after I sold the 20 birds I brought home 6 guineas. Now I have 14 chickens and 6 guineas and the fever for more birds is on me. I look at the hatchery sites and think, Oh wouldn't that breed be nice.

 

[HiDelight]

thanks for the validation (I think) so this is a disease?

it is true I started with craigslist met two wonderful guys who had the healthiest cleanest places with the most beautiful chickens!

I was born and raised in RI so of course I had to have a RI Red! but then he had that lonely looking and beautiful fat Buff Orpington and the Barred Rocks were so beautiful and Plymouth was not that far from where I grew up ..and then there was that Ameraucana and well since I have that one I should get the Araucana so I can compare and understand ...but then of course I want some eggs and there are those two Leghorns ...sigh the Barred Rock cross

am I imagining this or really is this as easy as it appears so far? they really manage themselves and our work is so minimal so far ...compared to our needy dogs and taking care of each other ..when we were raising kids and managing friends...Chickens just seem to manage themselves! we provide food shelter and they seem to do the rest! and give back so much more than they take to be honest!

the dust baths are hysterical btw I never knew they flipped completely over ..my husband actually called me at work mid day to tell me one was feet up in the air wiggling around in a 6 inch hole they had just made..he was cracking up ..it felt so good to hear him laugh

anyway I just wanted to make sure I did not have too many for a backyard setting and hopefully this coop is not too small ..since it has been cold here they are snuggled up and seem toasty being close

 

[chickenfever]

Honestly, you probably will encounter problems with your chickens eventually, it's not always a bed of roses. I have had a hard couple of weeks lately. (Ended up losing 2 hens and a roo) One from predator, one from picking.


BUT, they are mostly a joy. I love looking out the window and watching my flock, it just gives me a peace. That's why we are all so addicted right?

So, enjoy! You can deal with any problems as they come along. And if you ever need help, there are alot of people on here willing to give good advice.

 

[cmom]

I am hopelessly addicted to my birds. Shortly I'll be ordering 50 ISA Brown chicks to add to my flock but I have several acres.

 

[Gonzo the Great]

Statistics state that for every human in the world, there are four chickens. You are ahead of the curve.

 

[first time farmer]

I started with 2 bantams than the county 4-h educator (i am in 4-h) offered to give me 2 more. When they brought me the hens he said he had 3 in his truck and asked if i wanted the third one and i could not say no. Now i have 8 new babies coming at the end of the month lol

 

[HiDelight]

thank you so much for responding! you guys are great! are you in an urban or urbanish setting, country? we are in a fairly large town that likes to remain "urban feeling" we live on the water .. we do not have a lot of ordinances or restrictions for fencing and my neighbors besides being the nicest on the planet are all older, retired and honestly can not hear.....so no one cares at all about me having this flock ..so that is nice ...

I can not wait for my meter reader to come into the yard and see what is up? he is such a nice guy and really loves animals (we have two pit bulls and he always brings them beef jerky as a treat) ...several folks in town have chickens....either just wandering around in their yards or in coops only ... but then I read the whole bio scary thread and now I am thinking how on earth would I or could I say "will you wear coop boots please when you go read the meter? " would you guys do that?

and do I have to buy coop boots for our 3 year old who loves to come visit and his mama? ..I will but darn I never thought about that! so maybe I need to hit the thrift store looking for various rubber boots bleach them and then put them where we can grab them for visitors? I do wear the same pair for coop visits ..but the chickens are going to go into the tractors as soon as we are done making them ..will they be at risk because we have feeding stations for the wild birds? OMG OMG OMG will they get sickness and death? LOL!!! my calm is growing into worry!

this board is fantastic but it is also making me a little paranoid when I get into all the scary stuff I am thinking should I wear bio gear and should I sleep in the coop???

my dear husband has already installed a light alarm system (he is an electronics geek) and now is working on a camera system

then we had a hawk circling yesterday and now we are talking about putting landscape netting over their yard today ...so I am reading all the hawk threads and for sure the landscape netting is a good idea ...then there is that owl ....and what about rats? we have been obsessive about keeping the feed safe and covered and only tossing what they eat out


I can see an advantage to having all of the same kind of chicken maybe I would not humanize them so much and if I lost one it would not be distinctly different and cause so much sorrow!

so here I am completely paranoid ..totally in love and can not wait to pick up my "last four" chickens today

 

[cheeps]

We started out with 6 chicks, they were supposed to be the ONLY chicks. My problem was my fiancee...he was so mad when I brought them home. Now he's head over heels for chickens, just like me! That's why we keep getting more and more and more!

I too am in a "small" country setting. We're on 1.5 acres with a nice little old lady on one side (who loves my eggs) and 2 acres of woods on the other side. My girls go out to play in the afternoon when we get home, and around five they're pecking at the door to the gate to go to bed.

My chickens give us joy, entertainment, eggs, and great poo for the garden! They're as much a part of the family as the doggies.

 

[HiDelight]

awwww I love your avatar

one of my dogs is absolutely fine with the hens he goes out with me every day and we have this ritual of I get the food and he sits cocking his head wagging his tail and watching them all march out to eat ..I can hardly wait for the sun to come up everyday to watch my parade of chickens!

the other is not allowed to even listen to them at the window yet she comes literally out of her skin at the idea of ambulatory food!!!