What do you wish you had known before you got your chickens

[MrJiveTurkey]

I was kinda stuck with taking care of chickens. The "better half" wanted chickens. I agreed on one term.She was to take care of "HER" chickens.... It was a trap now I'm the one taking care of 8 chickens and one pigeon...

 

[Sugsug]

They poop, they poop and....oh yeah, they POOP! Did I mention how much they poop??? At least I've finally managed to train the little rascals to only poop on my nice new 3-month old deck. They used to poop out in the many acres of forest behind our house where no one ever walks on, but not anymore! I can't tell you how long it took me to break them of that nasty habit but I finally won that battle. Man 1, Chickens 0.

Also, I wasn't prepared for the addiction. They don't call chickens the gateway bird for nothing. You may start out with the firm belief that you'll only "need" 2 or 3, but before you know it, you're addicted. Unfortunately for you, by then its already too late and you're lost. You'll just want to keep feeding your addiction with more.....but it won't stop with chickens....oh no, you'll need to move onto bigger and more destructive things, like goats, llamas, or the occasional wildebeest.

I spent over two years trying to convince my wife to let us have chickens and finally got my way and I'll tell you I haven't regretted it for a second. My 4 girls are so wonderful and full of so much individual personality and there's nothing like walking out the door each day (or coming home from work) and seeing them come running to say hello. And in case you're wondering, yes, I'm sure all their excitement is because they're happy to see ME and not the big bag of mealworms I'm carrying.

And before I forget, the thing my wife wishes SHE had known before we got our girls (besides how much they poop - did I mention that already?) was how much they would be the center of every conversation. Every call home I make during work or every dinner conversation we have is "how are the chickens?" "what did the chickens do today?" "what should we do with the chickens tomorrow?" If she had really known how deep my obsession would truly go, it would probably have been another 2 years before our lovely birds came home. But then again, I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one!

 

[RedPulletMama]

Wish I had known how absolutely addicting they were!! I now have 11 hens and 1 roo. I have the fever and want more lol...

 

[SoftBoiled]

They poop, they poop and....oh yeah, they POOP! Did I mention how much they poop??? At least I've finally managed to train the little rascals to only poop on my nice new 3-month old deck. They used to poop out in the many acres of forest behind our house where no one ever walks on, but not anymore! I can't tell you how long it took me to break them of that nasty habit but I finally won that battle. Man 1, Chickens 0.

Also, I wasn't prepared for the addiction. They don't call chickens the gateway bird for nothing. You may start out with the firm belief that you'll only "need" 2 or 3, but before you know it, you're addicted. Unfortunately for you, by then its already too late and you're lost. You'll just want to keep feeding your addiction with more.....but it won't stop with chickens....oh no, you'll need to move onto bigger and more destructive things, like goats, llamas, or the occasional wildebeest.

I spent over two years trying to convince my wife to let us have chickens and finally got my way and I'll tell you I haven't regretted it for a second. My 4 girls are so wonderful and full of so much individual personality and there's nothing like walking out the door each day (or coming home from work) and seeing them come running to say hello. And in case you're wondering, yes, I'm sure all their excitement is because they're happy to see ME and not the big bag of mealworms I'm carrying.

And before I forget, the thing my wife wishes SHE had known before we got our girls (besides how much they poop - did I mention that already?) was how much they would be the center of every conversation. Every call home I make during work or every dinner conversation we have is "how are the chickens?" "what did the chickens do today?" "what should we do with the chickens tomorrow?" If she had really known how deep my obsession would truly go, it would probably have been another 2 years before our lovely birds came home. But then again, I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one!

 

[Smoochie]

#1 Chickens are a lot of work! They are so innocent and vulnerable. Your responsible for keeping them safe and healthy.

 

[buster100]

I agree to the gateway pet statement! We started with 3 RIRs a couple years ago and now have 12 chickens (with 20 more on their way), 2 ducks, 3 goats, and 2 pigs! It's wonderful!

I think chickens are easy and awesome! I don't know why people but parrots and cockatoos when they could have productive, entertaining chickens! We love having a flock.

I wish I had known:
-in our case, starting with full grown Hens, a small chicken wire fence was not enough to hold them
-secret nests will pop up in your yard
-the float test or the crack test work to determine if eggs are still good when you find a large, hidden collection
-having a rooster keeps the pecking order in line and is just awesome all around- adds drama to the chicken soap opera in our backyard
-a male duck will attempt to copulate with hens (at least- our's does)
-if you start feeding them treats every time you come in the backyard they will always run right up to you and under your feet
-if a bird falls off a tyson truck and you save her, she will lay if rehabilitated successfully!
-even if chicks are full feathered they may not be strong enough to run with your flock
-Nigerian dwarf goats can and will climb a little chicken ladder and wiggle right through a chicken door

 

[slpmom]

So far (has only been 6 months and I know there is a TON of stuff I don't know which I need to learn about)- but I have learned when you call the County to make sure you can have chickens .... chickens mean hens and roosters are roosters in the eyes of the law. We live in Santa Cruz County. To find out ordinances, you call a certain number and leave a message regarding what kind of animal you want (and amount) and your address. The County called back and left a message that we could have up to 400 chickens. What they didn't tell me was that chickens mean't chickens and roosters are illegal.

We only have 6 chickens but 2 of them turned out to be roosters. They just started crowing this past week so when they start in at 6am, I put them in the laundry room until 8

So far, my neighbors around me say that it doesn't bother them but-- these chickens (and roosters) are our pets. I wouldn't want to have to give them up. If I had known about these rules, I would have bought chickens for sure that were hens only.

 

[kkenney]

Yes! Everyone out there that has had to enlarge chicken coop capacity raise your hands. Ok. That's everyone. Lol. I am always in the middle of enlarging plans. Lol

After a log pleading process I managed to get the man of the house to agree to THREE chickens. Thankfully I was wise enough to build a coop for roughly 20. After a trip to the store we came home with 14 chirping balls of fluffiness! Now we are thinking more chicks or possibly a duck or two in the spring! Thank goodness for the foresight

 

[PrimroseMom1]

They poop, they poop and....oh yeah, they POOP! Did I mention how much they poop??? At least I've finally managed to train the little rascals to only poop on my nice new 3-month old deck. They used to poop out in the many acres of forest behind our house where no one ever walks on, but not anymore! I can't tell you how long it took me to break them of that nasty habit but I finally won that battle. Man 1, Chickens 0.

Also, I wasn't prepared for the addiction. They don't call chickens the gateway bird for nothing. You may start out with the firm belief that you'll only "need" 2 or 3, but before you know it, you're addicted. Unfortunately for you, by then its already too late and you're lost. You'll just want to keep feeding your addiction with more.....but it won't stop with chickens....oh no, you'll need to move onto bigger and more destructive things, like goats, llamas, or the occasional wildebeest.

I spent over two years trying to convince my wife to let us have chickens and finally got my way and I'll tell you I haven't regretted it for a second. My 4 girls are so wonderful and full of so much individual personality and there's nothing like walking out the door each day (or coming home from work) and seeing them come running to say hello. And in case you're wondering, yes, I'm sure all their excitement is because they're happy to see ME and not the big bag of mealworms I'm carrying. 

And before I forget, the thing my wife wishes SHE had known before we got our girls (besides how much they poop - did I mention that already?) was how much they would be the center of every conversation. Every call home I make during work or every dinner conversation we have is "how are the chickens?" "what did the chickens do today?" "what should we do with the chickens tomorrow?" If she had really known how deep my obsession would truly go, it would probably have been another 2 years before our lovely birds came home. But then again, I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one!

Bahahaha. Man:1 chickens:0. Do you think? You now have them "trained" to poop on your NEW deck. Lol. I think Otis Man:0 Chickens: 100? (Pick your number). It will always be that way. Lol. They do what they want.

Here is the nesting house my first 3 used all their lives.

So when I got 2 more girls, I put a box in their coop as they approached laying age. Now the old girls stand in line to use the new box. With chickens I have learned that the best laid plans should be written in invisible ink, not in stone. Lol

Big girls on new nesting box.

 

[dwgov]

Great writing... It describes me to a tee.