I'm getting negative feedback about getting chickens!

[flakey chick]

We let our neighbors know before hand and they were positive. The first family was excited that there would be chicken manure! Another guy wanted his family to have chickens, but was afraid that one of their 5 dogs would get ahold of one. He and his kids have been wonderful to look after the chickens when we were away.

-They are much less effort than a cat or dog
-When they stink it is not as smelly as my husband's farts.
-We haven't had mice in our coop. We have had mice in our carport and even one in our house.
-Although we have a lot of predators here, we have only had trouble with loose dogs.

 

[chkinut]

we had 30+ chickens for years when i was a kid/teen. we never had any problems, except for mice in the barn and we got an outside cat which took care of that. we DID have a mean RIR roo, but no other roo or hen was mean. i tamed about 5 - 6 of the whole flock (pets). the rest of the flock wasn't mean, i never got pecked while collecting eggs. they had no diseases or anything. we totally enjoyed our flock. i'm FINALLY....after all these years.....getting a small handful of chicks and hatching eggs (2 chicks - BSL/14 silkie bantam hatching eggs....which i will give away most of them to my friend who can keep more chickens than i can). i'm going to plan on keeping 3 of the silkies. anyway....chickens are a joy! hubby is supportive of this too. however, today he said "so-and-so told me at work that he knew a guy that died from some 'chicken disease'". so i suppose hubby's work-mates are starting to tell him horror stories!

it's ridiculus! chickens are awesome! and it's like everyone's been saying, just keep em' clean and loved and well looked after and you'll be fine!

 

[Slinkytoys]

I love Rome NY

Heck with the chicken naysayers. You take everything one step at a time, if there are problems you deal with them. Otherwise you enjoy your hens and their eggs. Simple. Am sooooo tired of people who think they know what YOU should do. How do they know what works for YOU????
Slinky

 

[peachlover]

Quote:
You are so right on the mark with this one. People that are negative about the subject can not fathom taking on such project, and are jealous of someone that has gumption to take it on. I can tell you it is worth it. Jump on in it is great.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Yeah that.

The chickens don't require walking, or fetching, or training, they ARE less work than my dogs.
My 10 birds smell less than my neighbor's 2 dogs. I won't mention hubby. lol
We MIGHT have a rat messing with our eggs, but with our 2 indoor/outdoor cats we don't have a rodent *problem* in fact we have much less pest problems than my MIL who constantly gets mice and roaches.
AS a bonus, we don't have ticks, or crickets, or slugs, or roaches, or anything else that people like to poison their houses/yards against ... except ants (some chickens eat ants, mine don't seem to....)
There are predators all around all the time, people just don't SEE them. They are already out there, regardless of whether or not you have chickens.
I don't have to fertilize my yard because I have little walking fertilizers who do it for me!!! lol

 

[andalusn]

In a nut shell they have "no clue" so ignore them. The experience is yours alone and there are plenty of posts by new owners here that show how much they enjoy their new hobby. The voiice of many owners should outway the few negative thoughts. I live on acerage so the barn had rats and mice long before I decided to add the chickens. I have not had any rodent issues from day one in the coop area & that's been over a year ago. I spend more time each day taking care of my horses than the chickens require and I have two groups for a total of 13. Cleaning is easy, I never get more than 2 or 3 forks of manure from under the roosts.

Enjoy and before you know it you too will be sporting a experienced chicken owner badge

 

[PeepsInc]

Just a thought. For $1550 you could buy $1000 worth of materials,& give an out of work carpenter something to do for the other $550. You could have a nice LARGE coop built for that kind of money......Just a thought.

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

Quote:
ALlow me to start by saying I didn't read all the post here but I would liek to give you some advise and information if ithas been said then I feel it has to be said again

1) The cost of the coop is $1550. + tax & free shipping because it's within 100 miles of my home. It's 6x8 comes fully assembled with all the bells and whistles already in place so no modifications need be done except the two windows come with reg house screen

A) First off you could have built it for less and it better have free shipping for that price as for the screen use the hardware cloth from lowes or home depot

2) Chickens stink!
A) No they don't, but if you let their poo build up it will

3)Not worth the upkeep and expense
A) well maybe not up front but in the long run of the big picture they are because you know what is going into them (No hormones or sterroids things like that) so isn't that better for you besides you know how fresh the eggs are so that alone is worth the upkeep on them.

4) They draw rats!
A)Well if you live in the country you more then likely have feild mice and wow what do you know if they get in the coop or run the chickens will track them done and eat them so no more rats......

5) You'll have every chicken eating varmint for miles infesting your yard.
A) None that has not been there already This is why we protect them with coops and runs

6)Ya gotta kill'um and eat'um after they stop laying
A) this is your choice but just like I told my wife when they are done laying they are dinner none of them are gonna eat for free not laying sorry times up ya gotta go

7)They peck the hell out of ya when you try and get their eggs
A) depends on breed mostly it's just when they are broody (sitting on the eggs to hatch them out)

8) You'll be tied to the house,
A) not true you just need a friend or family member that can come over and let them out and lock them in at night plus fill food and water

9)One person told him that when egg shells get soft you have to feed them oyster shells... real, whole shells. He was like, we have to buy oysters now too?!
A) Not real whole one's they are ground up they just add the extra calicum they need heck if you wash and dry then crumble up the egg shells that you eat into their food that is all they would need but most of the time they shouldn't get soft if you are feeding them right with lots of treats.


10)His biggest concern is the smell
A) tell him to relax as long as the poo is picked up you shouldn't notice to much of a smell but to help with that pick up some D.E. it dries up the poo alot fast plus you can also feed it to them and it will keep the flies down and the bugs at night if you hang a work light in the coop in the summer the chickens will eat the bugs that come into the coop instant protein so more eggs and a free treat for them.

I hope this will help you out with the things that people are saying and just remeber the one's who are saying it and don't give them any eggs or charge them double for them lol tell them they are home grown ORGANIC eggs that's why they cost so much

That will shut them up. Good luck to you

 

[CathyRN]

I agree with all above, don't listen to them. I'm a new chicken owner, just got chicks about a week 1/2 ago. I was a city girl in NJ and now live the country life in TN. My family was shocked when I told them I was getting chickens. Friends said the same. My husband freaked out. Now my husband is the Peep Daddy and loves his chicks.

Imagine, a grown man holding and talking to his "little girls"....omg...and the neighbors can't get enough of them and are so excited for the eggs now.....you'll see, EVERYONE will come around !

I got my coop from chicken stagecoach tractors and its great, sounds alot like yours....you will be very happy. When you get more confident you can construct your own coop. Don't listen to anyone but yourself, and your heart......you WILL love your chickens and it will be an incredible experience for your kids and family....Enjoy and go for it! and....we here on the backyard chicken forum outnumber all of the people you know.

So let all those negative people know they are seriously out numbered by 50,000 people who say go for it. Have fun !! and post your pics !!

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Family and friends have told me the same. These are also the same folks who have been negative about my horses, dogs, and cats for years. THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND. I just smile and pay no attention to them.

In our area, the high school shop class will build sheds or chicken coops if plans are provided and materials are pre-paid. Our 6x8 coop cost us $500. It has cedar siding on the outside.