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

[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.

 

[3KillerBs]

I find chickens a little higher maintenance than cats -- collecting eggs and letting them in and out of the run -- but MUCH lower maintenance than dogs (one of the multiple things I dislike about dogs).

 

[SilkieChicken123]

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Many of us keep dogs, or cats and many have kept one or both before we took the plunge and started keeping chickens. We're curious to hear how you all think chicken keeping compares to keeping dogs or cats.

Please cast your vote in the poll options above and share your thoughts in reply to this thread

I think chickens/ducks/etc are so much easier then dogs, I've never owned a cat, so I wouldn't know about that. I would take a single, $3 chicken before a dog that was another breed then a Great Pyrenees, German Shepherd, Norwegian ElkHound, Anatolian/Pyrenees mix, or a Spanish Mastiff. But, despite the fact that I'm not a huge dog lover, I do own a Anatolian/Pyrenees mix, but she's a LDG.

So all in all, I'll stay with my rabbits and poultry, and their LDG's.

 

[CoconutCoffee]

I voted harder than cats and dogs. Shelter wise is harder as you can easily keep a dog or cat indoors or buy an adequately sized outdoor shelter. Vets for domestic animals are also more easily accessible than for birds. A vet is out of the question for many for various reasons, then it can be emotionally taxing as trying to treat a bird with an unknown illness is difficult. Culling can also be difficult for many. Its hard to euthanize any animal but especially if you're doing it yourself

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I have 1 dog, 2 cats, and I've been keeping chickens for the past 3 years. So trust me, I know what I'm talking about here.
From hardest to easiest:
1. Dogs
2. Chickens
3. Cats

 

[FoggyFowl1719]

I have dogs, cats, parakeets, chickens, ducks, and fish. I have to say that aside from the extra time and money to feed, keeping 100 chickens is just as easy as keeping 5 chickens. Whereas keeping dogs and cats, you have to set aside time to play, feed, walk, and train each dog. You also have to clean litter boxes, play and brush each cat every day. I finally ended up putting all but my parakeets outside. What with the cats spraying in the house and leaving dead mice on my pillow as well as trying to eat the fish and parakeets. Not to mention the havoc even small dogs can cause. I got tired of picking up tootsie rolls from the dogs accidents. Now I have a 90 pound german shepard mix who loves to chew on everything. Hands down chickens are easier. As long as they have food, water, predator safe shelter, and warmth in winter, they pretty much take care of themselves. Of course there is the occasional cleaning of the coops. But that goes with keeping any type of animal.

 

[jklhgyfhg]

They are way higher maintenance than cats or dogs (not that I am complaining).
I have to go outside two (or more) times a day to check/replace their water, bring them food, make sure they're entertained if there's snow on the ground and they won't go into their run (replace that with potential heat issues and checking on them in the summer months). Gearing up to go outside in the morning to open the coop and once in evening to close them in. Also routine checking for possible pests, cleaning the poop board, and checking for eggs. Again, not complaining, but compared to my dog and two cats on the daily, it is more work.

 

[agold23]

I work with dogs as well as I just lost one of my own, I have 2 cats and had a flock of 7 chickens who had bad luck (one died of sickness, 4 taken by a fox, all with upper respiratory tract infection) guinea pigs, a bearded dragon and fish.
My ranking from hardest to easiest goes:
1. Dog
2. Lizard
3. Chickens
4. Cats
5. Guinea pigs
6. Fish

My late dog was a 3 year old Irish wolfhound mix, she was very high maintenance both behaviourally but also mentally and physically as she had energy for days. She needed least an hour outside running or walking to satisfy her then maybe 30 mins of training or mental enrichment. Definitely the hardest of the 3.
Cats are easier than chickens even though they’re both pretty similar, they both can be left alone for a day and night whereas most times a dog cannot, they both occupy themselves and they both don’t need training the same way a dog does. Chickens are like cats in the sense there’s not much difference between 2 and 3 cats compared to 5 and 10 chickens, if you have one it’s easy to take care of another. Of course there’s a lot of variables with the type of care any animal needs but in my experience the dog always comes out on top as most difficult.

 

[AgnesGray]

Cats are harder than they're marketed. Or we've been unfortunate with our 4 (over the years).

Chickens are easier than cats. We can fill their feeders and waterers and they're ok for a few days. Cats are marketed as having similar needs, but when we've tried, we usually came home to some sort of disaster.

Our dogs require more than that if we're to be gone, but less day to day maintenance. Overall averages out, I guess.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I have dogs, cats, parakeets, chickens, ducks, and fish. I have to say that aside from the extra time and money to feed, keeping 100 chickens is just as easy as keeping 5 chickens. Whereas keeping dogs and cats, you have to set aside time to play, feed, walk, and train each dog. You also have to clean litter boxes, play and brush each cat every day. I finally ended up putting all but my parakeets outside. What with the cats spraying in the house and leaving dead mice on my pillow as well as trying to eat the fish and parakeets. Not to mention the havoc even small dogs can cause. I got tired of picking up tootsie rolls from the dogs accidents. Now I have a 90 pound german shepard mix who loves to chew on everything. Hands down chickens are easier. As long as they have food, water, predator safe shelter, and warmth in winter, they pretty much take care of themselves. Of course there is the occasional cleaning of the coops. But that goes with keeping any type of animal.

My cats are fixed & indoor only. I also don't have to brush and play with them everyday. One of the perks of having two cats is they will play with each other.