PLEASE HELP I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO

[aart]

I'm committed to the ideas of pleasing my parents

They might be happiest with a sincere thanks for letting you try chickens,
and your decision to wait until you're older to have them again.

 

[black_cat]

They might be happiest with a sincere thanks for letting you try chickens,
and your decision to wait until you're older to have them again.

I probably should have said 'pleasing my parents to a certain extent'....Even if I never end up getting more chicks, I just CAN'T send these hens back. I know that they are going somewhere where they are not getting good care, and I can't stand the thought of it. That's the equivalent for me of getting a dog from the pound, keeping, caring for, and getting attached to said dog, then deciding that I don't want to do the work and just giving the dog back to the pound. I just don't have it in me.

 

[FloorCandy]

I read about halfway thru and then the last couple pages, so forgive me if I’ve missed something, but it seems like maybe the whole chicken thing is a bit much for a young person who has to abide the wishes of parents who don’t really want to participate in this endeavor. Have you considered keeping quail? The run you have Added can be easily strengthened and would be good for a few quail. They are smaller, don’t live as long, so parents aren’t stuck with them when you go to college, they make less mess due to smaller size, and are generally more quiet, they could be easier to fit into your life and your parents expectations.

I know as a parent, even when my kids say “I’ll do it myself, with my own money” I know that means I’ll drive them to get whatever they need, I’ll carry it all into the yard, I’ll be asked every 4 minutes to stop what I’m doing and come out to see what they’re working on. I get tired at the sound of “I have an idea”. It’s hard being a parent, and I’m sure they are just as frustrated with the situation as you are, so maybe you can consider that chickens might be too much to start with, and try something a bit more manageable for a kid. I say this as a quail owner who felt chickens might be too much as well, but I really like the idea of humanely and safely sourced eggs.

I would also maybe suggest you consider returning the hens before you get more attached. I know it seems cruel to return them, but continuing to give them money, and pay them for chickens you fed and cared for is only going to allow them to continue and expand these practices. It’s the same idea of buying a puppy at a store, you feel like you’re helping them, but maybe you help 1 puppy and the money you paid lets the store buy 6 more puppies from a broker, and probably 2 will die in the truck, the others will be sick, the space cleared by selling those puppies makes room for a new litter to be tormented. If they didn’t have customers they would not continue this ridiculous business scam. They rent you a pile of trash stuck together and called a pen/coop, they deliver rough looking unsocialized hens, I bet their actual farm conditions are deplorable and your best bet is to cut your losses.

 

[black_cat]

I read about halfway thru and then the last couple pages, so forgive me if I’ve missed something, but it seems like maybe the whole chicken thing is a bit much for a young person who has to abide the wishes of parents who don’t really want to participate in this endeavor. Have you considered keeping quail? The run you have Added can be easily strengthened and would be good for a few quail. They are smaller, don’t live as long, so parents aren’t stuck with them when you go to college, they make less mess due to smaller size, and are generally more quiet, they could be easier to fit into your life and your parents expectations.

I know as a parent, even when my kids say “I’ll do it myself, with my own money” I know that means I’ll drive them to get whatever they need, I’ll carry it all into the yard, I’ll be asked every 4 minutes to stop what I’m doing and come out to see what they’re working on. I get tired at the sound of “I have an idea”. It’s hard being a parent, and I’m sure they are just as frustrated with the situation as you are, so maybe you can consider that chickens might be too much to start with, and try something a bit more manageable for a kid. I say this as a quail owner who felt chickens might be too much as well, but I really like the idea of humanely and safely sourced eggs.

I would also maybe suggest you consider returning the hens before you get more attached. I know it seems cruel to return them, but continuing to give them money, and pay them for chickens you fed and cared for is only going to allow them to continue and expand these practices. It’s the same idea of buying a puppy at a store, you feel like you’re helping them, but maybe you help 1 puppy and the money you paid lets the store buy 6 more puppies from a broker, and probably 2 will die in the truck, the others will be sick, the space cleared by selling those puppies makes room for a new litter to be tormented. If they didn’t have customers they would not continue this ridiculous business scam. They rent you a pile of trash stuck together and called a pen/coop, they deliver rough looking unsocialized hens, I bet their actual farm conditions are deplorable and your best bet is to cut your losses.

No, you haven't missed any major points. I have thought about quail as an alternative, but that would probably be about a year after our chicken endeavor, (parents probably wouldn't go for it sooner) and only if I had to return the chickens. I'd like to have quail in the future, but chickens will always be my first choice.

I can't actually relate to being a parent, but I can attempt to understand that point of view. I'm trying very hard to make sure that I'm not pushing anything on to them. I'm trying so, so hard to be independent with this. I've tried to do everything myself that I possibly can-the issue is, as a kid I have minimal control over my life. I'm trying to be really mature with handling my parents, taking care of the chickens, and being on BYC-I think that if anything, I've definitely gained a lot of experience and have learned some lessons from this. (this is why I personally don't think that I want kids, at least at this point-they seem like a lot of work, hassle, and money)

As for returning the hens, we had to pay upfront-any money that's going to them is already gone, aside from buying the hens off of them. Even if I did want to send them back now, I would probably be required by my parents to keep them the whole rental. If I HAVE to give them back, it will be by force, and I will be miserable about it. Everyone seems to expect me to be able to magically change my emotions and mindset. I really wish that I could, but I guess I just don't have that level of control over myself. I've already warned people against buying from these people-a friend said that one of their friends wanted to try the rental, and asked for my thoughts-I said that I would advise not to do this, and explained all of my reasons why.

 

[littledog]

I've run into a problem, at least in my brain........
View attachment 2228925
If the black part is the current coop, the green part is the current run, the red part is the add on, and the blue is where doors are: If I'm outside the setup, and the chickens are in the red part, how do I get them back in the green part? Is it as simple as just block the doorway with my body as I go in? *struggles to use brain* Also: Is clipping the wings of birds bad or painful for them or otherwise inhumane? I'm worried that if I was to let them free range they would get startled and fly up a tree/over a fence/onto the roof/anywhere where we can't find them/can't get to them.

How do the latches on the doors work? You could attach a string to the door between the green and red sections, so you could latch it closed from outside by pulling the string. Or if the latch is too complicated, pull the string to swing the door closed then poke a garden stake through to keep it shut. You could tempt the hens into the red section using treats, then pull the string to shut the door between green and red, and do whatever maintenance, cleaning, moving feeders and waterers you need to do in the black and green sections. Then open the blue door and tempt them back in to the green and black area.

 

[black_cat]

How do the latches on the doors work? You could attach a string to the door between the green and red sections, so you could latch it closed from outside by pulling the string. Or if the latch is too complicated, pull the string to swing the door closed then poke a garden stake through to keep it shut. You could tempt the hens into the red section using treats, then pull the string to shut the door between green and red, and do whatever maintenance, cleaning, moving feeders and waterers you need to do in the black and green sections. Then open the blue door and tempt them back in to the green and black area.

Thank you for the help! We've figured something out. We cut a little door in the chicken wire for my hand, and I"ve been tempting them back into the green part with treats. I shut the door through the hole in the chicken wire.

 

[littledog]

I admire the care you have for these chickens, what you're trying to do, the knowledge you've worked to gain, and lament that you're lacking the support you need to make a good home for your chickens.
But I can't help but be suspicious about this "chicken rental" outfit.
You've only gotten one egg so far...and some of the hens have clipped beaks...is this business a battery egg farm that's trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of their older hens who aren't as productive any more?

 

[black_cat]

I admire the care you have for these chickens, what you're trying to do, the knowledge you've worked to gain, and lament that you're lacking the support you need to make a good home for your chickens.
But I can't help but be suspicious about this "chicken rental" outfit.
You've only gotten one egg so far...and some of the hens have clipped beaks...is this business a battery egg farm that's trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of their older hens who aren't as productive any more?

I'm suspicious too. Our friends have apparently had good experiences with them, but they also weren't renting. It's kind of a strange business-they also sell chicken coops and rabbit hutches, and they breed rottweilers, turkeys, and pigs. I am never going to buy from these people again. I'm thinking that it was just such a drastic change for them that they stopped laying-their combs are getting a lot redder again. I never wanted to do the rental in the first place, but we're here now. I also don't mind if they're actually old-it means eggs will slow down, and more likely parents will let me add some more chicks!

 

[littledog]

Your parents, in this, appear to show strange financial sense.

That's a very polite and courteous way of saying the things I would prefer not to say.

 

[black_cat]

That's a very polite and courteous way of saying the things I would prefer to say.

They USUALLY make plenty of sense. My dad is a CFO, so he should know how money works? I think? I really don't know what's going on with this.