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

[Aeropennchick]

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.

I find that what we are spending money on is ways to save time later on - watering systems with tank set ups, ways to protect the food at night, etc. At least my DH can build just about anything I show him a picture of! I'm saving loads of cash there!

 

[griffinkid02]

That is awesome, handyman skill are always a plus with chickens. I'm "learning" contruction at the moment, as I simply can't afford to pay someone to do it for me. My chickens will probably be shaking their heads when they see my coop finished and just tell each other, "How 'precious,' he tries so hard, less his heart."

 

[Aeropennchick]

That is awesome, handyman skill are always a plus with chickens. I'm "learning" contruction at the moment, as I simply can't afford to pay someone to do it for me. My chickens will probably be shaking their heads when they see my coop finished and just tell each other, "How 'precious,' he tries so hard, less his heart."

Silly! You know they will love it!

 

[aceintoledo]

I have been a chicken owner for exactly one year now and at first I was going to respond that I thought it was harder than I thought but when I stopped to think for a minute I was the reason for most of the difficulties. Mistake number one, purchased chicks without knowing one thing about raising chickens. Mistake two, purchased chicks in the spring, for most people this is not an issue but when you do lawn and landscape work for yourself your work schedule runs from late march to the end of november 12 hours a day 6 days a week. Mistake three, with very limited time you should not try to build a fancy coop/run (I truely expected to get a visit from the local law enforcement with as many nights the circular saw was running after dark)


I have received my associates degree in backyard chickens (thank you BYC), built a beautiful home for my girls, and got a nice routine down that blends perfectly with my busy work schedule. Things have been going so nice that when I went to pick up some chicken feed at TSC that I bought some more chicks.

 

[brandislee]

I have had chickens for over a year now, and I have experienced pretty much everything (or so it seems) except catastrophic illness... I did have epidemic vitamin deficiency in a large batch of broiler chicks, but I won't call that catastrophic because I got it under control and only lost one chick of the 11 who had issues. I've had two predator losses, fighting roosters, unexplained chick death, broodies in the fall, killing a chicken to eat, killing a sick chicken (just a broiler about to flip).

But despite all of that, which were all isolated incidents over the past year, I think keeping chickens is WAY easier that I thought it would be. Getting the right setup can be hard work (and expensive!), but after that it was smooth sailing, more or less. The only time it was hard was when I had 100 broilers at once when I got the idea to raise them up and sell them. So not worth it for me, I hated every minute of that 12 weeks (two batches staggered by 4 weeks). Layers only? Cake walk. You've read the stuff, you know what to do, now is the time to do it! I had that same knot in my stomach when I started, and it went away (gradually, and it still reappears when I have brand new chicks or something like that). Keeping chickens has been so easy. I don't see why dogs and cats are the preferred pet- if they weren't so messy I would say chickens would kick both to the curb as most popular pet in a heartbeat. They require very basic care, only as much of your companionship as you want to give them (far less, actually, unless you have treats to give them), zero training besides the ability to come running when you yell "chick chick chick." Yes, things can go wrong, but if you do most of the things you've read about (the most basic stuff, anyway) they aren't likely to. Yes, it's likely you'll make a mistake, but you'll learn from it (I accidentally left one of my roosters outside all night once- it was fine, thank goodness). But 99% of the time they will enrich your life. I don't "love" my chickens, they are not pets, but I do respect and enjoy them immensely. They are fun to watch, I love that they follow me around the yard when I am outside on the off chance I have any food on me, I love the noises they make, and I LOVE the eggs and meat they give me. I say jump right in, you'll be glad you did!

 

[tuckertori]

Not only are they easy to care for, they are fun! They each have their own personalities and visit with me while I work in the yard. The ONLY times I have been sorry we starting raising layers is when one died. GO FOR IT.

 

[duckinnut]

Easier than I could ever imagine, but I make it easy and don't over think it. NOW!!! When they are little it's was a little bit of a pain keeping inside at night and warm,putting them out during they day in a small pen to get used to scratching and everything chicken. But now it is a turn key operation. What other creature large or small can not only give you an edible product every day, free manure for your garden and a barrel of laughs. I hang fruit and veggies from a string in the run which equates to utter laughter.

 

[Nicole01]

Easier! And I'm a total freak when it comes to keeping them clean! I clean the coop/run 2-5 times a day! I have 2 scoopers, so if anyone wants to help, they're welcome.

I supervise all their free ranging due to seeing and hearing hawks daily! Once I see one eyeing my flock, back in the coop/run they go! It happens so frequently, my hens know that I mean business when heading back to the run where it's safe.

 

[Sunnysimplelife]

What do you use in their coop? I am thinking of sand so I can scoop daily and keep it really cleaned out.

 

[dainerra]

hay in the coop. throw the soiled hay into the composite pile once a week. Check the feeder is full in the morning and that there is water. Open the run door around 4PM to free-range, fill water if necessary. Shut run door after dark.

That is 99.9% of the work. Everything else is just fun - giving treats, watching them run around, and stuff like that. If I'm going out for the day, there might be no free-range time, but nothing to stress over. Going out of town for a week? Tell the neighbor they can have the eggs, just keep the water dish full. Both feeders full will last over a week, but I leave an ice cream bucket of feed on the porch, just in case. The most expensive trip was paying another neighbor's son $10 because the pop door needed to be opened (6-7am)and closed (after dark).