Reconsidering my chicken dreams....

[HeatherKellyB]

I think you misunderstood the point I was making lol. I wasn’t looking for advise. I was pointing out that compared to the waste, mess and work of ducks, my 50+ chickens are a cakewalk. I do let all my animals with the exception of the rabbits out to freerange. Just my preference to not have them confined to one area all day and I have the room to do it. My ducks hit everyone’s water throughout the day, multiple times a day I am constantly emptying and refilling water. Even though they have a pond to swim and mess in they prefer up with the rest of the animals. I absolutely love my ducks , and that’s the reason I spend allot of my day cleaning water buckets ans troughs rather than butcher them.

OK. I see. Explanation is unnecessary and I never doubted your love for them I wasn't offering advice, just a different point of view.

 

[LovemyChicksus2]

All our hens are pets and named. We just rehomed the rooster that came out of the last purchase of chicks. Feed them, water them, clean up after them but mostly enjoy them. If you need to downsize go ahead and do it and know someone else will love them like you do, but you just won't have as much work to do. I love my chickens

 

[Locsondoc854]

What I thought:
I thought I'd go to TSC and get 3 or maybe 4 chicks to have as a tiny backyard flock. Pets only. No roosters.
This was almost 3 years ago...and now I realize that chickens aren't as "easy" as people make them sound. (Newbies, please don't not get chickens because of what I just said. Keep reading...)

What I ended up with:
Okay so here we go.....don't be surprised if you get confused.

Started out with 6 chicks. The night I got them 1 got super sick. I was a greenie and didn't know about this forum, brought chick back to TSC and exchanged it for a new one. Back to 6. About 1.5 years later, got 4 new chicks to start a flock for a chicken who was kicked out of my current flock, and was pining away from loneliness. When the chicks were about 2 weeks old, 1 of my full grown chickens died. Unknown death. 3 days later a chick died. Now I have 8 chickens. Almost 2 years later I get 5 bantam chicks from TSC. Now I have 13 chickens.

Why I started this thread:
Idrk to be honest.... I guess life really got busy and I don't feel like I have the time to take proper care of them anymore...and they were naughty today which made me a little frustrated. Feed costs have gone up...and winter will be here (I don't have the best setup considering winter) I guess I want advice on what to do:

1. Should I sell my chickens?
2. Should I just cut back on numbers?
3. Should I completely drop chicken keeping and do ducks or something?
4. How could I sell what I call "pets"?

Idk......

What do you guys recommend? Feel free to ask questions.

Your right about pets any pet will change your life style. Only you can decide what gives you Joy. Consider the next time your Flock is culled don't replace the losses. A smaller Flock maybe the answer if the caregiving is too stressful and taking away your Joy.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

What are questions I should ask the person who is interested in my hens?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

What are questions I should ask the person who is interested in my hens?

Well, I usually ask when can they get them, but usually I've decided who I want to get them out of the responses. In your ad, you should say that they're pets only, and let the responder do the talking. Some people don't talk much, whereas others do. Often you'll get a response asking if they're still available. It's up to you if you want to do First Come, First Serve, or to go through all the responses to see who is best instead of going for the first "Are they still available?"
Some people will tell you what type of home they're going to be giving them, whereas some might not say anything until they're picking them up. Because they are chickens, I personally think that if you ask a bunch of questions on what type of home they're going to, you might scare people away.

I'll PM you further on this.

 

[Slaneyrose]

I have 3 girls and 2 newly hatched eggs so don't know their sex yet, I use miscanthis on the coop floor, clean out once a week, takes 5mins, and they free range from lunchtime to bed time. Hardly any work and I love that my eggs truly are free range. Just downsize

 

[The Tiny Homestead]

One thing I didn't think of is, are there any young people around who might love to give you a hand in exchange for the learning experience and some fresh eggs?

 

[McChooky]

What I thought:
I thought I'd go to TSC and get 3 or maybe 4 chicks to have as a tiny backyard flock. Pets only. No roosters.
This was almost 3 years ago...and now I realize that chickens aren't as "easy" as people make them sound. (Newbies, please don't not get chickens because of what I just said. Keep reading...)

What I ended up with:
Okay so here we go.....don't be surprised if you get confused.

Started out with 6 chicks. The night I got them 1 got super sick. I was a greenie and didn't know about this forum, brought chick back to TSC and exchanged it for a new one. Back to 6. About 1.5 years later, got 4 new chicks to start a flock for a chicken who was kicked out of my current flock, and was pining away from loneliness. When the chicks were about 2 weeks old, 1 of my full grown chickens died. Unknown death. 3 days later a chick died. Now I have 8 chickens. Almost 2 years later I get 5 bantam chicks from TSC. Now I have 13 chickens.

Why I started this thread:
Idrk to be honest.... I guess life really got busy and I don't feel like I have the time to take proper care of them anymore...and they were naughty today which made me a little frustrated. Feed costs have gone up...and winter will be here (I don't have the best setup considering winter) I guess I want advice on what to do:

1. Should I sell my chickens?
2. Should I just cut back on numbers?
3. Should I completely drop chicken keeping and do ducks or something?
4. How could I sell what I call "pets"?

Idk......

What do you guys recommend? Feel free to ask questions.

The more chickens you have the more work they are . Maybe you should downsize and give a few to a friend so you can visit them? I'm 66 yrs young and made a 30 sq ft raised coop this spring that takes 5 minutes to clean. It has a linoleum floor.I only have 6 hens and won't keep more than this. Its a lot more work than I remember so I'm glad I made a small coop.

 

[McChooky]

I've never had chickens. But I've had ducks for 6.5 years. They are so much work. I can't recommend ducks to anyone who wants less work.

I read about their messiness before getting them and it is 20x worse. I adore my ducks, they are wonderful and charming. But after they pass away, I'm out. They are so time consuming. And all of my duck breeds, including my cayuga, shout quack at me all day long. They are so loud!

I bought 12 mallard ducks and adored those little rascals but a weasel got them so I got 12 more.Those little rascals were the messiest things I ever saw in my life but they were so cute. I raised them up until they were grown but I waited too long to clip their wings. They all flew away the same day and never came back. I still wonder where they all went and why they didn't come back but I never got another duck.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

I've never had chickens. But I've had ducks for 6.5 years. They are so much work. I can't recommend ducks to anyone who wants less work.

I read about their messiness before getting them and it is 20x worse. I adore my ducks, they are wonderful and charming. But after they pass away, I'm out. They are so time consuming. And all of my duck breeds, including my cayuga, shout quack at me all day long. They are so loud!

I love your pfp, it’s the cutest thing I have ever seen