New to chickens

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ValD

ValD

In the Brooder
7 Years
Feb 20, 2012
12
2
26
Hi ,
I live in Corona, Ca and we are planning to have 2 hens in our backyard. We are in the process of building the coop but I am starting to get cold feet.
We are not suppose to have chickens and now I am afraid of the noise, the smell etc.
Do they get diseases? How much care do they need every day? And how much noise can 2 chickens make? Also, some friend told me they are really dirty and nasty...
I read this forum and everybody loves their chicken so now am I am torn.

Help!
 
They require very little care on a daily basis, and actually can be left for a day or two with planning, although it's always a good idea to chick on animals daily if possible, of course. There is no reason they should smell, with planning. Hens will squawk an "egg song," usually, but in general are quiet, and some breeds are quieter than others. Yes, they can get diseases, although there is little danger to humans, again with a little knowledge and common sense. If you purchase from a reputable source, you could have chickens for 20 or 30 years and never see a disease. I've had them off and on all my life and never have, other than one insignificant virus (fowl pox.)

That said, I would never recommend getting them where they are illegal -- although people certainly do it, especially if their neighbors are agreeable. In our Local Chicken Laws and Ordinances, you will find a lot of material about the arguments for allowing chickens, and stories of people who have gotten their law changed. There is a real movement out there toward this. A few short generations ago, the government was encouraging everyone to keep a few chickens. In Michigan, there is a state right to farm law which overrides local laws against keeping chickens.

I would encourage you to try to get your law changed.
 
Welcome from Louisiana!!
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ValD said:
Hi ,
I live in Corona, Ca and we are planning to have 2 hens in our backyard. We are in the process of building the coop but I am starting to get cold feet.
We are not suppose to have chickens and now I am afraid of the noise, the smell etc.
Do they get diseases? How much care do they need every day? And how much noise can 2 chickens make? Also, some friend told me they are really dirty and nasty...
I read this forum and everybody loves their chicken so now am I am torn.

Help!
Click to expand...

Do they get diseases?

Chickens will get diseases. I've had many chickens over the years, and they do get sick occasionally. Sometimes you will loose a couple.

How much care do they need everyday?

If you live in the country, you will discover that your flock doesn't need that much care (except in winter). Mine take care of themselves all day long. All I have to do is let them out in the morning, give them some food, and let them in the coop at night. They take care of their own watering (I have a rubber waterer that they drink from). They free-range all day and eat bugs (ticks grasshoppers ect).

How much noise can two chickens make?

Two hens won't make much noise at all. The roosters are the ones who are noisy. You don't need roosters to get eggs. I would suggest that you get two hens at first.

Are they dirty and nasty?

Yes and no. They take dust baths and get dusty, but they are good about cleaning themselves off. They will need you to clean their coop about every one to two weeks. They do poop a lot, and you need to be ready to clean up their messes.

Good luck!
 
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I'm another person who advises against getting chickens if it's not legal where you live. I had to go to a county administrative hearing just to prove the citation against MY chickens was not legal and I could have chickens where I live. It was very stressful, but I prevailed. The ordinance was NOT clear and the presiding lawyer who heard the case and read ALL the material determined the county was "interpreting" their own ordinances to include chickens when it didn't mention chickens anywhere at all in the section where I was cited. But that's different than some place where it IS definitely illegal to keep chickens. I did have to reduce the number of roosters in my flock, though.

It's heartbreaking to give them up after you become attached to them.

Please, re-consider getting chickens. Or work to have the ordinance changed so you CAN have them, legally! But don't get chickens until that's done.

Sorry to be a bummer. They're easy to care for, they provide a lot of entertainment in addition to eggs, they reduce the bug population in your yard, and I think anybody should be able to keep chickens. At least a couple in a city lot should be perfectly fine. Too bad it isn't, in so many places!
 
Well, looks like my cold feet got really frozen and we might postpone the whole chicken deal to a later time.
We might try to get the law changed first although I don't even know where to start...
Thank you everybody for taking the time to answer me!.
 

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