New member considering a few hens

Date sort Score sort
Bethann381

Bethann381

Hatching
5 Years
Sep 24, 2014
2
0
9
Hi!
I don't have any chickens yet but wanted to get a few in the spring. Are they hard to maintain? Are they often sick or have issues?
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

You have come to the right place for owning chickens!
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Chickens do not get sick easily if taken good care of. If they live in well ventilated and appropriate housing, have water and proper food, have room to run around and flap their wings, can perch and nest and dirt bathe they will be happy and not prone to disease.

Chickens are not very hard to maintain and care for. Here are some things to consider though:

Space- You need to make sure that you have a good, stable place that you keep your birds in, which is safe and secure. Chickens don’t need tons of space but they do need enough room so that they can easily flap their wings, run around, dig in the dirt, lay their eggs, eat, drink and sleep without over-crowding. Each chicken needs about 8-10 square feet per bird in their living quarters if they are confined. (If they free range then they only need about 6 square feet per bird.) More is always much better.

Nighbors-Talking with your neighbors is also very important if you live in the city. Some people just don’t like having chickens wander over into their yard, pecking around and leaving their droppings for people to step on. If your neighbors are like this, you will have to fence your chickens in a run. If your neighbors are concerned about other factors such as smell, noise or even sight then you will have to thoroughly explain how you plan to keep your chickens. Tell you neighbors that you are only going to keep hens and not roosters. Tell them that you will stay on top of your chores so there won’t be much smell. If they are concerned about seeing the chickens then you’ll have to build your coop out of common sight. (Behind the garage or in the backyard.) You can decorate it with designs, flowers and bushes to make it more appealing. Sometimes neighbors don’t like chickens because they had a bad experience with chickens when they were young. If you plan to keep friendly breeds, be sure to allow your neighbors to hold and pet each one so they can actually see how docile some chickens can be.

Time- Chickens really only require ten to twenty minutes of your time a day. A responsible chicken keeper spend enough time to feed, water, collect eggs, spot clean and bond with your flock.

Here are some good links to check out also.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/getting-started-raising-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...s-in-your-city-the-basics-of-raising-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

Best of luck to you!
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Looks like Mountain Peeps has said it all here so I will just welcome you to our flock!

Good luck on this new chicken journey!
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Mountain Peeps has answered your questions very thoroughly and given you some great links so I'll just say, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting your chickens.
 
Welcome to BYC!

You will find a lot of good information here. Keep on asking questions and you will get many good answers.

You may also want to read the FAQ below.

Nothing worthwhile in in life is easy but if millions of people of all sorts of intelligence levels around the world in all sorts of conditions can successfully raise chickens, how hard can it be?
 

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