Official BYC POLL: Chicken Keeping - Easier, same or harder than dogs/cats?

[Kiki]

100% sure keeping chickens is easier than keeping dogs.
1000% sure actually.

I am not a crazy cat lady so I can't compare there.

 

[Swiftbow]

Definitely easier than dogs. A little harder than our cat because we need to open their door in the morning and shut it at night. Our cat needs doors opened, too, but she doesn't mind waiting, lol (Well, she probably does... but her complaints aren't in English . Also, we can leave the cat a day or two by herself, but someone still needs to open and close our chicken door.

I suppose this could be managed with an automatic door, but I haven't tried to build such a thing yet.

 

[Dmontgomery]

Looks like I’m in the minority here. I choose harder than keeping dogs. We have 5 full time dogs and 2 p-time dogs (our son’s 2 visit daily from next door). We have about 60 chickens/guineas that free range all day. We live in the DEEP woods so we are constantly concerned about predators. We have hawks, snakes, coyotes, etc. trying to get at the flock on a regular basis. The dogs do a good job of protecting the birds but with 60, they can’t be everywhere all the time. Of course if I kept the birds locked up all the time, they would be much easier to care for.

 

[driver]

I voted about the same as dogs, but that was based only on the daily amount of time I have to dedicate to the basic requirements of each, not on some of the other things people have brought up here.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Our chickens are so easy care that we can just leave them in their big coop over the school week with full feed and water. I don't have cats or dogs so I can't really compare.

 

[Molpet]

yeah apples and oranges ..
I was always told the only animal messier than a big dog is a big bird.
for me:
cat in the house is easy.
dog in the house is harder..
chicken in the house is a big mess.

cat outside in a pen is easy
dog outside in a run is easy
chickens in run is easy

cat, dog or chicken free ranging, the hard part is predators and cars

 

[I Love Layers]

LOL. No they don't....I'll change that.

Dogs are harder than chickens is what I meant to say....then cats, then chickens.

LofMc

I guess it depends on the breed of dog, where it is kept and where you live. Ours is 1/2 Great Pyreneese, 1/4 Australian Shepard, 1/4 Border Collie.
She needed minimal training, sit, stay, go home, and go get them, which was something she kinda just figured out, mainly when we move bulls. She lives outside, she hates it inside, she does whatever she wants in terms of where she goes ans when she goes there around our 800 acres. We play with her throw balls, wrestle, go out and check fence, but thats all during stuff I have to do regardless, lol.

 

[PirateGirl]

I have all of the above, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 5 chickens.

The chickens were the hardest to set up, but now that they are established, the easiest to care for. This may in part be due to my lack of experience with chickens. We also opted to build our own coop and run instead of a pre-fab setup. The food and water routine for all is the same, twice a day, however I can set up the chickens and cats to be ok without a sitter for a long weekend. Morning I let the chickens out, fill the feeder, fill the water with fresh (or unfrozen) water. Evening if they are out of food I throw them some scratch grains. If the water is really dirty or frozen or spilled I refill it, sometimes no attention is needed at this time for either, but I do like to check in on them, I will grab any eggs at this point too. That's it. When I send the dogs out before bed for one last time I lock the coop up if the chickens have put themselves to bed. I don't even always lock the coop, mostly in bad weather.

The one cat is indoor only, the other goes in and out. I fill the food and water in the mornings like the chickens, and check it and refill if necessary in the evening. They want more attention. The chickens don't care if I ever give attention. Litter box cleaning and house cleaning required. Checking on them to keep them out of mischief is required. My cats can be naughty. One is not friendly. I worry about the one that goes out when it gets dark or cold or the coyotes are about. The cats wake us at 4:30am religiously. They need to be checked on often. They want attention.

The dogs are the most work. They get fed and watered twice a day also. I do all the animals at the same time twice a day. It's my routine. House cleaning and yard cleaning required. I go on poop patrol weekly and scoop the dog poop, clean the litter boxes, clean the coop as needed. The difference with the dogs is they want attention. Not just sometimes but 100% of the time I am home. They don't want to be home. They want to go on hikes and camping and swimming and in the field and hunting and then when they are tired they want their ears scratched and their bellies rubbed. They need to be cleaned. They have higher vet bills. Did I mention they want attention? And I have had many dogs over the years, they are all work in different ways, but if you don't get one that is a perfect fit, then it's more work, more training, more attention needed.

A sick or injured animal is a sick or injured animal and requires extra attention, regardless of species.

 

[tripletfeb]

For me, it is way easier to have chickens than a dog. While I love my dog, he is an annoying pain in the butt sometimes. He is a weimaraner and won't leave us alone. We sit on the couch, he is in our face. We eat dinner, he is in our face. He waits outside the bathroom door when one of us is in there. They call weims a velcro breed for good reason. My chickens, on the other hand, I can leave them all in their coop and run and they have food and water for days. I only have three chickens and haven't even gotten their eggs in two days. I use the deep bedding method in their coop and only clean them out twice a year. Easy peasy

 

[BDutch]

They are harder than cats though. I don’t have to worry about getting a pet sitter for my cats if I go out of town for a few days. I just give them an extra litter box plus extra food and water and they are good for three days to a week. With the chickens I would have to have someone come by twice a day to let them out and lock them up.

An automatic pop door would solve you’re problem.

Btw I have no cats or dogs. But I do take care of ours neigbors cats, dog, pig, fish and a sort of leguan if the are away for the weekend/holliday.

Fish are the easiest. The dog is most work. Manly because I have to walk the dog 3x a day. But normally they take the dog with them if they go anywhere.