Topic of the Week - I wish I knew…

[Cryss]

I wish I had known years ago how much I would enjoy raising chickens. If I'd only known how much fun and how interesting they are, I would have gotten them a long time ago.

I wish I knew I would want more than 10 chickens, and end up with 19, and have built a bigger coop. Ours is way too small.

I wish I had known what chicken math was...

I wish I knew how addicting chickens were. Lol

I wish I knew that more space is always better...we bought a coop for our six chickens that was advertised as a great coop for 8-12 chickens, but seemed small to me. I always figured that the commercial coops were best because they were advertised as such. In the end, we ended up converting a large horse stall and it works better than any coop that we've looked at.

I’m amazed at how much grass they eat. They trim my lawn every day. Not a problem but I just sit and watch in awe. They eat grass. Lots of it. Who knew?

Also, I always said when they stop laying they are dinner. Mine aren’t even laying but I am so adored with all of them, I can’t imagine eating one. Which will be a problem

All of the above!
Add I wish I had started raising chickens years ago instead of waiting till I was 66. 12 years ago would have been good cuz that's when I bought this 1 acre property. Ah well, I'm raising them now and loving it.

 

[Cyprus]

Also, I always said when they stop laying they are dinner. Mine aren’t even laying but I am so adored with all of them, I can’t imagine eating one. Which will be a problem

Oh boy I feel you on that one!! I really need to thin out my flock because I have so many old and nonproductive hen but I can't bring myself to kill the birds I've raised since chicks. I'm losing money quickly but I can't do it.

 

[Duck Hill]

I wish I knew how close to humans hawks can come. I once lost a baby to a swooping hawk when within 20 feet of them. The hawk caught the baby while flying - it didn't land. A friend lost an adult duck (about 4 pounds) in the same fashion within about 15 feet of her.

 

[Patty from Ivy]

I wish I knew that it is important to have an nice covered chicken run that I can stand up in! So much easier to keep clean and get close to the chickens. Waiting for the fencing guy to come around and build it - hopefully, soon!

 

[RodNTN]

I wished I had bothered to ask what is "straight run" vs. "sexed" before purchasing 16 chicks and winding up with 11 roos...in the house!!!

Oh my! That's rough!

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

I wish I knew who abandoned the flock that I ended up adopting and draining my bank account because I would march right up to them and give them the biggest hug in the world! Their lack of scruples have provided me the most enjoyable entertainment daily!

Also, I wish I found BYC before I built my coop...oh how things would be different...

 

[MROO]

I wish I had known ...
that, the bigger my coop, the more chickens I would put into it ...
and that the more chickens I put into it, the bigger my coop had to be ...
and that the bigger my coop got, the more chickens I could put into it ...
and the more chickens I put into it ...

 

[aligarysmom]

I wish I had known ...
that, the bigger my coop, the more chickens I would put into it ...
and that the more chickens I put into it, the bigger my coop had to be ...
and that the bigger my coop got, the more chickens I could put into it ...
and the more chickens I put into it ...

This is so cute. Who said perpetual motion defies the laws of conservation of energy.

 

[Wee Timmy]

I wish I knew to join BYC instead of stalking it for five years straight

 

[Shezadandy]

I wish I'd spent more time "wasting" time watching broody/chick videos before I ever got my first chicks, and so understood that she does it so much better than we do. I would never have seen my little granddaughter burned by a heat lamp or had chick mess in the house, or had to put them (and me) through transition to the outdoors after weeks of them living inside.

Darn tootin'!! I wish I'd run across the MHP before the first chicks! Two weeks ago we had a broody hen abandon her nest, so I had to step in and take care of the chicklets. Happily, the next broody (lots of broodies and babies this year) accepted them at 11 days old- and now they will be integrated along with their young siblings by Momma Hen. I credit using MHP for the grafting success- fulfilling the instinct to wriggle under something warm and dark, where day is day and night is dark.