POLL: Chickens - easier, same or harder then you thought, once you got them?

[bj taylor]

i have found having chickens to be a lot more expensive than i anticipated up front. i have had many sleepless or near sleepless nights, especially in the early days. i also went through the heavy saddness when my dog killed 10 of my 14 through a mistake of my own. chickens make going away on trips harder because not many people can be relied upon to take good care of them while you're gone.

if i had to do it all again, i would not hesitate. they enrich my life. they're funny, sweet, endearing, and fascinating to watch. they also bring me closer to the land & being able to feed my family. chickens are a gift.

 

[Chemguy]

It has turned out to be much easier than I anticipated. I did spend a lot of time worrying in advance, but this actually helped me to better avoid any issues that can be avoided. For me, that comes down to keeping things clean, feeding my flock well and spotting problems before they get out of hand. I've been fortunate so far to not have had a major problem come up. If I do, I know where to go if I need help....BYC.

 

[Habibs Hens]

i find it a real joy keeping chicken

i love em to bit a

nd dont mind getting mucky cleaning them and feeding them

 

[Sunnysimplelife]

More time consuming but mine are still young (7 weeks) but I think once we have a good routine down then it will be easier. I love caring for them though and waited until my daughter was four so that I would have the time and not feel stressed.

 

[destinidawn]

I find it really easy to care for my chickens I anticipated much more work. I clean my coop once a week. I have a sheet vinyl covered floor I sweep it onto a tarp and put it in the yard waste. I gather the poo by the door and off their catwalk and under the roost and put it in my compost bin. I do this every saturday. I check food and water every day. I find myself talking to the chickens. The hardest part was building our coop. I am so happy I got to help with it because it turned out beautiful. My chickens coming running out their door in the morning. I love seeing them excited to play. They put themselves in the coop at night and I just shut the door. All in all each week I spend less than one hour total to do my chicken chores. and 30 minutes of that is cleaning the coop. I dont want it to smell

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

My frustration has been with all the books and some of the chat groups. You'll run into some issues just having 6 hens that are very different issues than people with larger flocks, say 15-20 and those with a rooster will run into.

Roosters are GREAT peace keepers. But us city dwellers can't have them. So the hens can peck at each other and fight. And there's no one to put them in their place. If you get a bully, you really will have no choice but to get rid of it. This took me a year to accept. It's SOOOOO tough when you are a softy like me and become really attached to your hens, think of them as pets and know them all by their special names you've selected.

I turned out to be a total softy and take my hens to the vet when they seem off. That's kind of pricy and hadn't planed on that expense. But I just don't have the heart to let nature take its course.

So when I was down to the two hens, I bought more chick and raised them in the garage. Integration has taken me THREE long, very painful months that ultimately forced me to buy a second chicken coop. I wouldn't have this if I had a rooster. The books tell you to tuck new hens into the hen house after dark and the older hens will just wake up and say, hmmm, I don't remember you. Well, my two adults when ballistic and attacked the babies immediately and then turned on me. I got really beat up that night.

And while I think people on these groups mean really well, I frequently got advice that didn't help with my current situation. People would say things like "send the hen to freezer camp" or "I wouldn't have bought that variety of hen", which while IS good advice, is not helpful when you are IN a situation looking for a solution. Especially, after you've worked a long day at work and come home to a situation.

And since you'll probably have one coop and a relatively small run, you likely won't have space to quarantine or set up a second space to remove a sick hen or bully.

I wish there was a better book out there for the city dweller who has 2-6 hens. It's been loads of fun for me and I'm glad I did it. I did have some very low points over the last 1.5 year. You are smart to ask the questions and seek out advice before you jump in.

 

[griffinkid02]

There will be more details that you will find out about on the fly, as they pop up, than what you expect. But most everything that you will encounter is very easy to deal with. Common sense will get you through most "surprises," and even when a solution is counter-intuitive, common sense solutions usually won't do any harm while you're researching something

 

[Aeropennchick]

I have only had chickens for less than two months, and it is way more $$ than I originally thought to get started, but LOADS less time consuming in their actual care than other pets. We raised three dogs, and when we got the first one, we didn't so much as go out to the movies for almost six months! The chickens are a breeze in comparison. The time consuming bit has been this forum!!! Haha!

 

[griffinkid02]

OK, yes. If now one else has warned you about THAT, then there it is. Chickens eat money (as well anything else that's green

). The backyard poultry movement is exploding atm as more and more people are getting into it. And the prices of EVERYTHING poultry related are climbing. You will spend a lot more money than you expect, but once again, there will be far less work than you think. Once you are set up, they will pretty much run themselves as long as you keep the food and water flowing. Also you will find that there are LOTS of unnecessary "nice" things for chickens and chicken owners that are money sinks.

 

[girls and guineas]

Chickens are fun and entertaining, and you grow attached to them. But they are work, and a responsibility!! I didn't realize how much work they would be, or the expense getting set up! I lock mine up every night, plus there is feeding, and giving clean water, cleaning out their cages every day! There is daily responsibility, just like most other pets. And, you need someone to take care of them when you are gone, which can be expensive! I planned to free range mine, but that didn't work out because of neighbors' dogs, hawks, and other predators!! Also, mine would wander off to the neighbors, and they love to scratch, and take dirt baths, so they can destroy your yard, and garden!! I let mine free range in the evenings for a couple of hrs. and they will go back in their coop when it gets dark!
Also, I don't know what I'm going to do with mine when they get old??? So, they are quite a bit of work, but they are entertaining and fun!!