What am I getting myself into?

[llrumsey]

With mine we are trying to raise them for food. We have about 1 1/4 acre on the edge of town with the 1/4 being outside town limit so I am able to have my animals.

We would like to go as natural as possible, raising the animals for feed, very large garden and selling stuff for a little extra money. The burros and llama help to protect the other animals, however I'm not having very good time raising chickens, so I'm here to learn all that I can. My geese started laying in January and I have had only 4 eggs from my ducks (12 hens) none from my guines or turkeys, but I havent given up yet.

 

[ldemmert]

Tell him you won't have to take the garbage to the street for pick up. The chickens will eat it all (well, most) so you'll save time there. You won't have to go to the psychologist. Chickens do that job remarkably well. You'll save lots of time and money there. You won't have to do as much weeding or bugpicking. Lots of time save there. I'd say chickens will save you time, not increase chore time. Heck, they even make your breakfast.

 

[dsqard]

It takes me about an hour and a half each day to do all of my animal chores but I have a lot more chickens than you are allowed to have, horses, two brooders of different age chicks and dogs. In the morning it only takes me about twenty minutes to feed the horses breakfast, let them out and throw out some alfalfa leaves for the chickens. It is the afternoon that takes the longest. Clean stalls, check and refill water and food if necessary, clean up the brooders and feed and water the chicks in them. For just the chickens it takes little to no time. I let them out to free range while I am doing my afternoon chores and they keep me company. For the amount of work I have to put into them, I get three fold of enjoyment out of them. Watching their antics just keeps me happy. I can't wait for it to warm up finally here so the grasshoppers are out again. To watch chickens chasing grasshoppers is hours of free entertainment and they keep the population of bugs way down.

The only thing I would caution you about, and you probably already know this since you have been researching chickens for a year, make sure they can't get into your garden because veggies are going to be a lot more tastey than anything else. Good luck!

 

[Judy]

A small 4 chicken coop will be quick to clean, I would think only a few minutes. The rest will take 5-10 minutes or so. I spend a whole lot more time just sitting with them than I do caring for them. Maybe this is the problem, a fear that you will spend a lot of "unnecessary" time with them.

Chickens really don't "need" us, once their physical needs are met. Of course they will be tamer and easier to handle this way, but they are not a bit like a dog, in that they have no need for our social presence. There have been days I've only been out there for a few minutes, and I don't feel badly about it -- and I see no indications the chickens care one bit.

 

[Saltysteele]

agreed with the "chickens don't need us" comments. they are going to do fine whether you're a "take care of the basics, gather eggs and run to the house" kind of owner, or a "sit for a couple hours and watch them be chickens" kind of owner.

for 4 chickens, your cleanup time is going to be trivial, as your coop won't need to be that large. with a coop for 4 chickens, you could have it elevated so you wouldn't have to bend over (mine is elevated and super easy to clean), and the size you would need would literally take less than 15 minutes to clean. if you kept up on it every day, it wouldn't take you more than an extra 5 minutes daily.

i guess if 15 minutes a day is "too much time," than chickens might not be for you (i'm guessing this is not the case, though). when my wife uses the arguments your husband is using, she is usually afraid she is going to have to take some part. however, after a week or so, i caught her checking for eggs and watching them. i'd let him know that this is a hobby for you (and your kids) and whether he wants to do it or not should not affect whether you are able to participate. let's say your husband wanted to start woodworking as a hobby. would he appreciate it if you came up with every reason in the book why he shouldn't be able to do something he enjoys? whether one spouse wants to participate in the others hobby should not affect whether the other may or may not. tell him to quit being such a party pooper, you're not asking him to take care of them for you.

besides, if you end up not liking them, you can put the chickens, feeders and coop on craigslist, and you'll have a very fertile patch of lawn

 

[MCbur-burk]

At 4 chooks you are getting yourself in for not much at all. I work 12 hour days and being winter in Oz it is dark when i go to work and dark when i get home. I've only two very spoilt girls who free range the 1/4 acre block all day and get porridge for breakfast most days. I'd save about 5 minutes a day if it wasn't for the sparrows eating their seed mix. I go away for three days every second weekend and have someone drop by to check feed and water on the second day. Berta, the RIR, started laying 5 days back and for the past week while I've been on holidays and working the gardens has followed me around everywhere. My problem is working out where the next 3 will roost and not going to the 10 that the council allows me to have. Life is so hard.

So, I wonder how things will pan out if you suffer a bout of childhood regression and simply come home one Friday with 4 gorgeous girls and a weekend to build them a home...

 

[wolfandfinch]

Quote:
Thank you - I was worried about the days where I wouldn't be able to give them more than the basics...

 

[wolfandfinch]

Quote:
I'm tempted, but I do respect his opinion. He knows me well, and we both know that I often get in over my head.

It's not that he's worried that with every day life chickesn would be an issue. He's concerned that right now we need to be focussing on building our basement (we just finished insulating it, now it's ready for vapour barrier and drywall), as well as putting in a deck. These two things would make for a massive change in lifestyle for us - right now we have 4 people sharing one bedroom and an overstuffed main floor. He says that once that stuff is done he's totally fine with chickens. The problem is we're talking next spring since we're doing it all ourselves

 

[naakte]

Hey before you decide to use DE, please do some more research on it. Yes it will kill stuff, but could damage your chickens or if you are using a pine shavings base, you could breath it into your lungs causing lung damage. if you still decide to use DE please use a mask
Donna in Branson

 

[wolfandfinch]

Quote:
Thank you. I am planning on doing a LOT more research about it, no worries. I have children so I'm pretty careful about anything I introduce to our property