Reconsidering my chicken dreams....

[Lacy Duckwing]

So you see, I still live at home with my family. The reason I say this is because they have favorites.... for example: Creampuff is the Buff Orpington in the very front. She is hilarious and greedy and she has nicknames from my family like "Cream Cheese" and "Cluckles". So I don't know what they would say if I suddenly announced "I'm rehoming Creampuff". Although, they are *my* chickens so I'm pretty sure I can do what I want with them.

I've delt with this too. As it is, I'm already looking at my Princess and thinking, "Oh, no. What am I going to do at retirement?" But I know that once retirement, the whole flock will need to be re-homed even if there's a bunch of favorites in the flock. The whole flock will go, and go together to a home that I think is best.
Yes, they ARE your chickens. Special birds of my flocks has gotten"free" stay before, but that's usually they have more than being a favorite. I'd warn your family ahead of time, and say you're rehoming the whole flock, or the whole age group, not just Creampuff. Rehoming the retireds all at the same time always helps me deal with rehoming favorites. Plus, how you're saying that you're overwhelmed and frustrated, and rehoming the retireds seems to be the best route to go to help you, I'm sure they'll understand. Maybe even letting them help you choose the right home might be an option.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

The coop you see all the way on the left is kind of falling apart.... And it houses 4 standard chickens.

If you rehome the retireds, this flock can go in the other coop. Then you can tear down, and either recycle, or burn the wood.

 

[3KillerBs]

Please go to this thread to see a lot of pictures of my chickens!!!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/live-photo-shoot-right-now-2.1478200/
View attachment 2775226
I have three coops and three runs. The coop you see all the way on the left is kind of falling apart.... And it houses 4 standard chickens.

Idk well the chickens you see right in front (in this pic) are my original chickens and they will be 3 years old on February 28th 2022. So they are my oldest chickens. There are also four living there.

So you see, I still live at home with my family. The reason I say this is because they have favorites.... for example: Creampuff is the Buff Orpington in the very front. She is hilarious and greedy and she has nicknames from my family like "Cream Cheese" and "Cluckles". So I don't know what they would say if I suddenly announced "I'm rehoming Creampuff". Although, they are *my* chickens so I'm pretty sure I can do what I want with them.

The very back coop you guys see in this picture is the newest coop. Built to last and built for bantams. (although standard could easily fit with a few modifications).

Please give me a list of questions to answer if you want :idk

What is your system for feeding and cleaning (I can see a large nipple waterer)?

Any way you might streamline that to reduce the workload?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Okay so I went outside and took some pictures so you can see what is going right now.

This is Creampuff.

This is the newest coop; belonging to the bantams.

Oldest broken coop.

See, the bottom is rotting out.

Large coop:

Different view of setup:

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Feed/water setup in big coop's run

( BRB @Lacy Duckwing

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

The old coop doesn't look too bad.... A quick repair might be able to get it to last a little longer. I know with the Church, it was when I fell through the floor that that coop was done. It took a lot of repairs over the years, and that last winter finished it. There was no more repairing it. It had to be burned. We wasn't able to save much from it, except for the cross, door, and maybe a couple boards.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

( BRB @Lacy Duckwing

(Ok )

 

[3KillerBs]

Looks like you've got a convenient setup in the big coop, but that tending the chickens in the other coops is more of a chore with the open waterers (what do the feeders there look like?).

What's your manure management system like?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I'm back

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Looks like you've got a convenient setup in the big coop, but that tending the chickens in the other coops is more of a chore with the open waterers (what do the feeders there look like?).

What's your manure management system like?

Yeah it is. The other coop (the broken one) also has a rat proof feeder and the same kind of waterer. The newest bantam coop I don't have a feeder for yet and there water is in a rubber tub;.