Official BYC Poll: What Is Your Least Favorite Thing About Keeping Chickens?

[swimmy44]

What I do not enjoy is dealing with an egg eater. First you have to identify her then separate her from the flock. Never gets better just worse. Frustrating.

 

[Meema Hen]

Still too new at it. The shine hasn't worn off. My gals are such a joy to be around that, even if they didn't lay a single egg, I wouldn't love them less.

 

[Chick Wrangler]

Keeping them away from the fruits/vegetables that I want to eat and then keeping the fruits and vegetables that I wanted to eat off of the walkway into my house. That pear just hanging there like a monster on that low hanging limb, that passionfruit just a few days from dropping of the vine, those tomatoes that you know are gonna be red tomorrow. They are all just unwilling participants in the flocks plot to show you that while they may not have run of the house, everything the light touches is theirs to on.

Been there! Laughing out loud!

 

[Dinogrrl]

Think my least favorite part is the ceaseless digging. SO MANY HOLES in my back yard. Pretty sure they're worse than dogs!

 

[blackacres]

I loathe having to lug water up and down the hill to the coop. Searching for a poly or metal wagon big enough to carry them all at once so I don’t have to do them two at a time. That would make it so much easier!

 

[blackacres]

The poop. All the poop! In the bedding, in the chicken yard, on the bottom of my shoes getting tracked into house yard.

Poop is the pits.

It’s everywhere! Haha I bought a pair of muck boots and they’re the only shoes I wear when going in the coop and run. It’s definitely helpful for keeping the poop out of the house!

 

[3KillerBs]

I loathe having to lug water up and down the hill to the coop. Searching for a poly or metal wagon big enough to carry them all at once so I don’t have to do them two at a time. That would make it so much easier!

This was my birthday present from my DH last year: https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Carts-GOR6PS-Heavy-Duty-Convertible/dp/B01BECQF6K?th=1

It's so much easier to move than our old garden cart and the dump function is great for moving pine straw to the coop and old bedding to the compost/garden.

 

[blackacres]

Finding out my favorite chick is a cockerel

YES! That’s definitely one of the worst parts!

 

[blackacres]

Chicken math, the subtraction part of it in particular. We all know that having too many cockerels/roosters is going to be problematic at one point or another. Having to figure out how to keep peace in the flock is difficult sometimes. If all of the cockerels grow into well behaved respectful roosters, I find it impossible to select who goes and who stays. We certainly cannot let our pullets and hens be abused, overmated, injured, etc, so subtraction is a MUST. My personal answer is to have roosters free ranging during the day, but making sure all of the boys get along isn't always easy either, even free ranging.

The selection is so hard. I’m considering a bachelor pad just for that reason.

 

[blackacres]

This was my birthday present from my DH last year: https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Carts-GOR6PS-Heavy-Duty-Convertible/dp/B01BECQF6K?th=1

It's so much easier to move than our old garden cart and the dump function is great for moving pine straw to the coop and old bedding to the compost/garden.

That’s exactly what I need! Thank you for the link!