Should i buy chickens

I even created a spreadsheet and highlighted the chicken breeds that should be laying early between 17 to 26 weeks. I bought those breeds. One has yet to lay a single egg and is now at the ripe old age of I have started to plant the seeds of her becoming dinner but once again have been rebuffed by the family. Perhaps if I send them all away on a trip and enjoy her all for myself? But I digress. There seems to be no rhyme or reason when backyard chickens will decide to lay eggs.

They may lay every day for a month, then take a break for a few days, then lay every other day. Has your kid ever had a nagging set of symptoms that you simply could not diagnose? Well, prepare to do the same with your chickens. You will spend hours reading, asking for and getting random advice from strangers on what to do with your chickens.

You just might save the rest of your flock with this quick cure-all remedy. I mean — they smell. They poop everywhere and it accumulates like all get out. Yes, you can throw down more straw and even some diatomaceous earth D. Oh, and then there are the flies that come to the party. My backyard now consists of two fly traps that smell like dead fish , square feet of straw about three or four inches deep, and twice a week sprinklings of D.

This helps but the only true solution is cleaning and replacing your straw weekly. Buying expensive products like Dookashi which may or may not help to solve the problem. To me, this is the number one reason to get backyard chickens. The eggs are supremely good. The yolks are bright yellow and they stand up nicely. Having a basket of fresh eggs on the counter to draw from is a lovely experience. The colors of the shells are beautiful and picking them up, warm from the brooder, is the most positive sign of freshness one can imagine.

Eating fresh eggs is a sublime culinary adventure. For this reason alone you should get your own chickens. I never thought I would say this but I like watching my chickens play together.

They chase each other, push each other around, fly up in the air a few feet and drop down, roll in the dirt, scratch and peck, etc. Sitting on the porch and looking at them makes me happy for some reason. Either way, I like it. Hens have around two good years of laying before their production declines and they become freeloaders. When the cost of feed is greater than the money you save in eggs then you have a little mental cost-benefit analysis to complete. On a true farm, animals that are no longer useful are disposed of eaten.

Since you are a gentleman farmer you can make a far more subjective decision that includes things like love for your birds and the value you place on them as pets. That said, they are pretty tasty little morsels and stewed chicken and dumplings is pretty damned good. Plus, you can experienced the whole process all over again by buying new chicks to replace that old hen! Whatever you decide, no one will judge you for it. While the road was rocky along the way we have learned a lot in the process.

Hopefully this will help you as you contemplate beginning your own backyard chicken adventure! Jason Price lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and children. Check him out at TheHungryDogBlog. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. We have raised chicks before. The benefits were HUGE in all the ways described here plus all the awesome memories made! Another very good reason to have chickens is the fact that they will eat almost anything.

On top of good scratch and layer feed and of course plenty of fresh water, they love household food scraps. My family digs a compost hole in the yard in the same area the chickens live in. Guarding your flock against predators is a day and night occupation, but with planning and care the risks can be minimized or even eliminated.

Foxes, raccoons and hawks have all made successful homes in cities and urban areas. Rural areas have many more hunters such as fishers, bobcats and coyotes. You may never see them but if you have chickens they are sure to visit you to check things out. If you remove it on a daily basis it is not so bad, but if you let it build up then you can develop some serious muscles while shoveling. You cannot put chicken manure directly on your plants as it will kill them.

You will need to have a compost heap somewhere to deposit it in until it ages. You will need to be up for finding and treating these little creepy crawlies.

I found early on that chasing them around the barn trying to catch them was more exercise than I wanted! So I got sneaky and did two or three birds early in the morning as they were just getting up or just as they were settling down for the night. You will need to keep your ladies clean, hang up fly tapes way up high and do whatever you can to reduce the population of flies. The average hen will live for around eight years — you can read more about this in our article on how long do chickens live.

You will find that each one has a personality and some will work their way into your heart. You can give them the best lives possible, but even then they will inevitably die. Children especially get very attached to chickens, so be prepared for a little sadness in your life when those special ones leave you.

All of the reasons we have discussed are valid, but we have taken a humorous look at some of the problems that can arise when you want to keep chickens in your backyard. It will depend on your point of view, but my own is that having chickens is a very positive experience for most people. Those that find it awful or hard work have not done enough to prepare themselves for the experience.

Hopefully we have given you something to smile at and think about, but have not managed to put you off of chicken keeping! Just like people, chickens prefer to have some personal space. They enjoy being able to move around freely and do what they want without having to wade through a crowded coop or run. Most people get backyard chickens to lay eggs — so if you want lots of eggs you need to pick the correct breed. The Polish chicken is a magnificent sight to behold.

Their head feathers are a head turner and a fashion statement for sure — once you see on these lovely birds they certainly leave an impression on you. I learn something new from each article and this is helping me better manage my poultry at home. Thanks, very much appreciated.

Totally enjoy your chicken articles! I have a love for chickens and have been preparing because I will get my chickens later this month or the 1st of March. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Home Raising Chickens This article will take a semi-serious look at why you should not get chickens.

So, onto our first reason for not getting backyard chickens… Contents and Quick Navigation Bad Eggs Vacations and Pet Sitters Neighbors and Complaints 9. Space and Fresh Air 8. Chicken Math 7. Cheap Eggs and Money 6. Day Old Chicks Day old baby chickens definitely have the adorable factor, but unless you are willing to spend a little money for adequate supplies, and put in the time to hand rear them, they are probably best left to more experienced poultry keepers.

Point of Lay The usual age to purchase chickens, especially those that are wanting fresh eggs pronto, is point of lay. Sources and further reading. Or perhaps you are wondering which chicken breed you should add to your established chicken coop?

Not only do chickens provide protein rich, nutrition packed The Ultimate List of Backyard Chicken Breeds by Kassandra Smith January 12, Whether you are a beginner chicken keeper or looking to add a new chicken breed to your backyard flock of chooks, there are so many Eggs Raising Baby Chicks. What are they? In layman's Breeds Eggs Kids Corner.

Chicken keeping is quite addictive and once bitten Chicken Behavior Chickens Protecting the Flock. Roosters are a contentious issue among backyard chicken keepers.

On the one hand, these charming chaps can be a huge benefit in keeping your flock Chickens Health Nutrition. To keep chickens happy, healthy and laying bounties of delicious eggs, they need to be fed a varied diet rich in protein and calcium- most Chicken Coops Chickens Eggs. Time to peek inside those poultry nesting boxes and gather all the egg-ceptionally fresh eggs! This is truly the most egg-citing part of Chickens Plain and simple, the answer is no!

Hens are one of the most captivating creatures on the face of the earth. They are beautiful, intelligent, Health Incubating Raising Baby Chicks. Not sure whether your eggs are fertile? Wyandottes are splendid birds that come in an endless variety of colours. This American bred bird is incredibly popular all over the world - not Chicken Behavior Chickens Health.