What are the cons?

[GardeNerd]

Vacation-finding someone who cares about chickens to watch them when you are out of town.

Gardening- they don't always agree with my plant placement in the flower beds and will remove some.

Chicken addiction- takes away from chores and family time.

 

[wishful]

Quote:
That made me laugh

 

[PunkinPeep]

I didn't read all the previous answers, so if this is a repeat, sorry.

I would say the main unexpected con of having chickens is that you need to be prepared for what you're going to do when one gets irrecoverably sick or injured, and you need to put it out of its misery. This is a foreign (to most) and unwelcome part of the responsibility.

Other than that, and the fact than i now know way more about the inner workings (vent and intestines) of a chicken than i knew was available to be learned, my chickens are a true joy ..... and i'm sure a decent fence might help keep them out of my garden.

 

[chickensnax]

truly there aren't many con's that can be considered true cons.

They like to poo, Yes you might say we all poo, but chickies poo and poo and poo. I have read that they will poo about 50 times a day, luckly most of it is at night while they roost so that makes for an easier clean up. But if you free range like I do with 15 birds, they poo on the walkway, the deck, the porch, in your pots on your steps in the out side cats food etc... But I don't complain too much just have a hose and some handy outside shoes that handle water and not so bad, plus everything I shovel from the coop goes straight to the compost or garden and makes great fertilizer.

If you like to garden and have flower beds and plants be prepared to take measures, fence around the garden is a must to keep them out during your peak crop times because they will demolish your garden in a surprisinly fast amount of time, and love to bath in your raised beds. And when they dust bathe they can remove a large amount of loose dirt that you'll have to replace come planting time but they're too cute to complain. In your flower beds they will eat your plants and some flowers and love to kick out your mulch that you place to protect your beds. But their insect care is outstanding. down side they will eat the benifical toads and lizards and play keep away with their little bodies.

Too much of your day is occupied by watching chickie tv, or reading online from byc

. They are addicting as is this Forum.

But their living conditions are only as difficult as you make it, and can be made simpler depending on where you live and how much land you have. Myself living in a warmer region I don't have to worry as much about frozen water, and no snow. But if you tractor them that is more work but also has its benifits.

COming from someone who didn't ever want Chickies and now is totally addicted and dreaming about how I can convince Hubby how we need more of different breeds, they are totally worth everything.

 

[chickensnax]

oh yeah, people look at you as crazy when you say I read this or learned this from my chicken site (byc) and can go on talking for ever about it and then don't get you started on your own chickens. Only others addicted to the Chickies will truely understand you.

 

[cicene mete]

I have to agree with the above poster that the biggest con is illness and injury. Chickens can be remarkably tough, but also remarkably fragile. They will get sick, and you will watch them die, or you will find yourself in a position in which you have to put them out of their misery. It can be totally heartbreaking. For most of us here, the rewards far outweigh the sadness of losing them, but I would suggest spending some time looking through the injury and illness section as well as the predator section, both so you can gain information and learn how to protect your flock, but also so that you can see some of the sad parts of being a chicken keeper.

 

[hensonly]

Quote:
NOt necessarily...I paid extra for RIR pullet chicks - ALL were gold sex links insteat of RIRs, and in spite of this, TWO(out of 15) turned out to be roos...thankfully they get along, though the second-in-command has had a couple bouts of trying to boss me when I go in the coop... I've lost three hens over time, now I am faced with probably trying to introduce a couple of new hens this spring...the boys beat the heck out of the hens' backs this past spring, and I gotta think it'll be even worse with fewer hens. Not the situation I had hoped for or planned on, but endlessly educational and fascinating!

 

[25bengood2me]

You think you have a good relationship with them, then they give you the cold shoulder, won't "go to your house." They keep at least 2 feet away from you just before dusk. They decide that coop you built is NOT their home, they want to use your $2500.00 box-truck for their bedroom!

 

[hensonly]

Quote:
I have a good excuse: Since the hatchery messed up and sent us two roos in our order of pullets, and I've lost three hens, now I NEED to get a couple new hens to save all of them from the enthusiasm of the boys. Now - here's the plot: I'm going to try to replace the hens with a breed that will (hopefully) go broody. That way I can hatch out my own replacements as my birds age, and avoid the problem of introducing new hens multiple times. Also, we've talked about raising some meat birds, so I might need more than three or four hens to sit on lots of eggs!

How can DH argue? Especially since we're building a new coop for the flock, which will leave the old (smaller, adjacent) coop and run for broody hens, meat birds, introducing the new girls gradually, etc. It's the best logic, because it's all TRUE!! Aren't I lucky?