I got 3 pullets in April 2020, and went into a little bit unsure too. I LOVE my hens, and I totally think keeping some chickens is worthwhile. However, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: It is going to be a lot more expensive than you probably think it will be.
When I got my girls out of the brooder around 6 weeks or so, I put them in this tiny coop, thinking it would be enough space. Yeah.......... no. The chickens were angry, loud, and there were a lot of issues with bullying. Though it doesn't look so bad here, by 5 months old, it was wayyy too crowded. Now, if this was the only pen the chicken would be in all day, I would not even keep one in this coop.
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Original Coop (ain't it cute?! too bad it doesn't work for me)
First idea solution (but not really a solution): Got some PVC pipes, 1/2" hardware mesh, zip ties, and rope. Assembled the PVC pipes in a rectangular prism shape, glued together using the little attachers/elbows that connect them. Then, I zip-tied the hardware mesh to the walls and roof of the frame, and finally, added some rope loops to each corner to help with transporting it around the yard. The result: 10 feet x 3 feet chicken tractor that isn't really a tractor. Additionally, due to predator issues, I could only let the girls in the tractor to get some grass and move around a bit more when I was home, but only during the day. Conclusion: Chickens only got about 1-2 hours a day in the sort-of-but-not-really chicken tractor, forcing them to still spend the majority of their day in that cramped, uncomfortable coop. So my genius idea really didn't work that well in the end.
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Sort-of-but-not-really chicken tractor
Oh well.... moving on to plan C:
So I ordered this big play pen about 9 feet x 12 feet. Put the frame together, and then realized that the mesh that came with it, was SUPER flimsy.... so off to Tractor Supply. Had to get 1/2" hardware cloth for the walls, roof, and floor. Attached it to the frame with about 12,009,657 zip ties, then buried the mesh on the floor under some topsoil, then about 6" of pine shavings. Covered roof with tarp to weather proof (kind of). Moved the original coop inside of this run, and let the ladies loose inside.
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Happy Happy Happy Chickens In This Coop!!!
FINALLY-it was a HIT!!! They've been very happy hens since the move, and actually lay more eggs. used to get 4-5 eggs per chicken per week. Now, I get 6-7 eggs per chicken per week. The happiness of a flock is critical to keeping difficulty to a minimum.
Unfortunately, it took a lot of time, money, and manual labor to get to this point.
Some of the expenses I had to pay for
- Original coop: about $450
- Sort-of-but-not-really chicken tractor: $250
- Current coop: $800
- Actual chicks/shipping (got tricked by MPC so way over-payed): $100
- Feed (yearly cost): $200
- Treats (not necessary, but I spoil my hens lol)(yearly cost): $50
- Brooder Accessories, set up (I spent a little extra on a heat plate instead of a heat lamp to prevent fires): $100
- Miscellaneous (feeders/waterers/perches/etc): $70
- ***VERY IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER*** random crap that nobody needs but, hey, who can resist a chicken tutu?! $50
Estimated Total of my expenses: about
$2,100 (this is probably underestimated)
As for concerns about gardens, my chickens love digging around in the mulch/dirt for bugs and worms.... they were curious about the plants at first, but after a while, they didn't try eating any of the plants. May depend on the type of plants you have though.
About vacations- I'm pretty comfortable leaving mine for 4-5 days alone, as long as they have
multiple feeders and waterers available stocked with at least 2x as much food and water as they'll need during the time period that I'm absent. Sometimes I send a neighbor over to check on them after a few days if it's an extended period of time.
Workload on a normal day: Refilling feeders and waterers, cleaning out poop boards under roosts, managing bedding (like sifting if you have sand, or adding pine shavings to dirty or wet pine shavings), health checks on the chickens (check for limping, fowl pox, lethargy, etc)
Dogs.... That's a tricky one. It depends on the dog. Even my old, super sweet, gentle, tiny chihuahua wanted to eat my chickens when they were small. She happily plays guard dog over them now, but that wasn't the case when they were chicks. What I learned after an incident with the brooder and my dog while they were chicks....... it's best to play it safe. don't let your dogs have access to your chickens. caging the chickens in is not enough either. dogs can dig, jump, etc. floors need to be impenetrable for predators. Because unfortunately, no matter how sweet your dogs are to you, their instinct is to go after your chickens.
I know I probably seem very negative about a lot of this, but I really do love having chickens, and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.... however,
these are some things I wish I would have known before getting my chickens. Also, thinking about it logically, not everyone's lifestyle is really compatible with chickens. Again, sorry for pointing out all of the downsides, I just think it's best to know EXACTLY what you're getting into.
Best of luck!
To put things in perspective, I still have some old wire cages I bought from a commercial egg farmer back in the 1970s. At that time, each cage division was about 10 inches wide by maybe 16 inches deep. A chicken spent its entire short life in that wire cage. I never had chickens in those cages, but we bought them for the wire to make larger rabbit cages. I cannot imagine raising chickens in a small cage like that, but back then, I don't remember anybody claiming it was cruel to the chickens. I don't know if that practice of caging chickens is even legal these days, but I hope not. At any rate, my chickens have a better life with lots of free space in the coop and a chicken run outside to scratch and peck for additional food. I like to think they are happy.
