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

[PrimroseMom1]

Ginger can be a boy's name. If you're old enough, you'll remember Ginger Baker--played drums for Cream.

Thanks!!! We love calling him Ginger. It really stuck on him.

 

[Wednesday]

That every time you think you have it figured out you will open a whole new can of worms with a different stage of chicken keeping. For example, I am getting chicks for first time after adopting sick adult hens and losing them and now I am weighing pros and cons of heat lamp verses Brinsea ecoglow. How to use it in coop safely etc.Best material to use in brooder (sand versus shavings). There is always something new to read and research, consider purchasing (such as the Biopod I bought last month for black soldier fly larvae that I now have to freeze since I currently have no chickens...) The OCD is strong with this hobby

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I laugh at myself when people talk about all their preparations for chickens. My granddaughter and I went to the feed store. Neither one of us had ever had a chicken or even held one. We bought two baby chicks, production RIRs. We asked what we needed. We got a lamp, a plastic feeder, plastic waterer, and some feed. They went home in a box. I planned to put them on a dog crate but they could get through the bars, so I wrapped the crate in screen. And so it went, as a need arose, I read up and met the need. I got on BYC immediately and all of you guided me through. New problems, you had answers. My chicken yard continues to grow and change. Always will. What I didn't know was how much there was to learn one day at a time as needed and it all works out if you enjoy it and care.

 

[Wednesday]

I laugh at myself when people talk about all their preparations for chickens. My granddaughter and I went to the feed store. Neither one of us had ever had a chicken or even held one. We bought two baby chicks, production RIRs. We asked what we needed. We got a lamp, a plastic feeder, plastic waterer, and some feed. They went home in a box. I planned to put them on a dog crate but they could get through the bars, so I wrapped the crate in screen. And so it went, as a need arose, I read up and met the need. I got on BYC immediately and all of you guided me through. New problems, you had answers. My chicken yard continues to grow and change. Always will. What I didn't know was how much there was to learn one day at a time as needed and it all works out if you enjoy it and care.

Glad you were lucky and wish I had done my homework to save a lot of grief and expense.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

That even in the most natural "free-range" healthy conditions problems will arise. And thinking it won't happen to you is a "no-no."
I wished I would have known:
***That buying all pullets meant I was going to get 3 roosters
*** That despite 2 roosters "getting along" doesn't necessarily make for good conditions for the hens.
***That even though chickens love tall roosts, they will jam and break toes. Not good in freezing conditions.
*** That because a chicken bred "New Hampshire" and has a single comb doesn't necessarily make it's comb winter hardy. LOL.
***That despite all the problems having a Rooster in the flock entails that free ranging without losses would be impossible.
***That chickening is as hard or as easy as you want it to be. You'll learn about yourself whether you are a high maintenance chicken keeper or a person that doesn't sweat it.

 

[birdsrfun]

Being a noob chicken owner, that I would have acted sooner with a sick chick. We started out with three, and one got sick. It stopped eating and drinking, and, although we tried to nurse it to health, it didn't make it. We don't know why it got sick, and what exactly happened, but I feel that I should have started the nursing process sooner. Maybe I'm just being hard on myself.

 

[clairi]

That chickens sunbathe and it's not a cardiac arrest!

 

[LBejaran]

That chickens sunbathe and it's not a cardiac arrest!

Hahaha! I remember the first time I saw my chickens rolling around in a dusty spot on our yard. I was freaking out because they were rolling and flapping and I kept thinking that I had done something wrong. It took me about ten minutes to realize what they were doing. My parents laughed at me so much, I was so embarrassed.

 

[aggiemae]

I wish I put more thought into the breeds I chose for my urban yard, I love my girls but would have selected QUIETER breeds and I wish I had known to get chicks hatched locally instead of chicks shipped here from Arkansas. Also I should have had the first aid emergency kit I put together later on hand before I needed it.

 

[aggiemae]

Being a noob chicken owner, that I would have acted sooner with a sick chick. We started out with three, and one got sick. It stopped eating and drinking, and, although we tried to nurse it to health, it didn't make it. We don't know why it got sick, and what exactly happened, but I feel that I should have started the nursing process sooner. Maybe I'm just being hard on myself.

Take it from someone who has (and probably will again) feed a new chick with an eyedropper every 2 hours for two days, sometimes chicks die no matter how hard to try to save them. Now stop being hard on yourself.