Are chickens easy to care for?

[Yoyo'sMom]

So I've been asked to take a chicken that the people who have don't want anymore. I have no chicken experience whatsoever so I'm wondering:

Are they easy to care for?
Do they lay eggs frequently or is it just some do and others don't?
How much room do they need? (thinking I can build a coop)
I think they eat just seed and what ever is in the yard right?

Any answers greatly appreciated.

 

[jmfleish]

I personally don't find them that hard to take care of. Depending on the type of chicken you get, they can lay fairly regularly unless you get a broody breed. We have Seramas and one of our females hasn't laid in weeks because all she wants to do is hatch our fingers and lay in bed. She's an indoor chicken and a total diva. We were probably getting an egg from her just about once a day before she decided she wanted to hatch fingers though.

We absolutely adore our chickens...probably almost more than our parrots. They are very docile and make great pets. Tildie will sit and watch TV with us and follows us around the house like a dog or a cat would. She's very, very cuddly, although you're probably going to keep yours outside. You can litter train them if you want to keep them inside. I think chickens are really under-rated as pets.

We feed them chicken layer feed but they do eat parrot food as well. You can give them scraps from the food you don't eat and we also feed them the mash that we make for our parrots. All the same don'ts for parrots are true for chickens...no caffeine, no avacado, try not to give them too much bread or other prepared foods, etc.

I can't even begin to explain the bond we have with Tildie. She's one in a million!

 

[KimKim]

I have 6. They are easy to care for, but they poop a lot . At the moment, mine are loose in the backyard until my husband finishes the new new bigger coop and run. My backyard is weed and bug free (bigger bugs) . They wait for me by the slider in the mornings because they know I'll throw them some leftovers or salad mix. I'm only getting about 2-3 eggs a day right now. 2 are broody and I think the recent heat might have to do with it also. Oh and I need more nest boxes, that why the hubs made me a bigger coop

 

[sunnysmom]

I personally don't find them that hard to take care of. Depending on the type of chicken you get, they can lay fairly regularly unless you get a broody breed. We have Seramas and one of our females hasn't laid in weeks because all she wants to do is hatch our fingers and lay in bed. She's an indoor chicken and a total diva. We were probably getting an egg from her just about once a day before she decided she wanted to hatch fingers though.

We absolutely adore our chickens...probably almost more than our parrots. They are very docile and make great pets. Tildie will sit and watch TV with us and follows us around the house like a dog or a cat would. She's very, very cuddly, although you're probably going to keep yours outside. You can litter train them if you want to keep them inside. I think chickens are really under-rated as pets.

We feed them chicken layer feed but they do eat parrot food as well. You can give them scraps from the food you don't eat and we also feed them the mash that we make for our parrots. All the same don'ts for parrots are true for chickens...no caffeine, no avacado, try not to give them too much bread or other prepared foods, etc.

I can't even begin to explain the bond we have with Tildie. She's one in a million!

View attachment 185696 View attachment 185697 View attachment 185698 View attachment 185699 View attachment 185700

That last picture of Tildie is one of the cutest pics ever! How did she get on the perch? Can she climb?

 

[McSizzle]

I had 5 at one time. Down to 2 now (couldn't eat all the eggs!) and they are quite simple to care for. they aren't Fids to me tho...they are utilitarian pets. They live outback in their coop/run and rarely get time out of their area anymore. Their poop gets EVERYWHERE and can't be easily picked up. Hose is the only method. And they get into potted plants like crazy, and will NOT stay off my patio. So, coop was built, and the run is just dog fencing. I get 2 eggs per day and its glorious. When I'm out back I let them out, they are fun to watch. They are pretty resistant to the Phoenix heat so long as they have shade and cool water. Feed is cheap and they'll also eat anything, more so even then a pig I once had! They can be loud, even the females, buck, buck, buck, buuuggaaawwk! And Opi (CAG) does a PERFECT momma chicken impression! I don't know that I will get more chickens when the final two go to Camp Freezer, but...the coop is already built... so...I don't know.

Hope that helps! Raising BackYard Chickens, Build a Chicken Coop, Pictures of Breeds is a great place for info.

 

[Yoyo'sMom]

Thanks everyone...your input is super helpful.

I was wondering about the poop factor because I've been around ducks and man it's a lot! I'm thinking maybe I can get some pallets from work and start working on a coup. Unfortunately here in SoCal too many predators for me to leave them out.

I'm seriously thinking about it and goodness, Tildie is one little cute hen.

 

[NiRD]

Yes! They are easy and make great pets! Hens, depending on breed, will lay eggs every one to three days from the age of one to four years. Bigger is always better as far as room goes, but they can get by on surprisingly little room. They do prefer smaller nest boxes, though. Our nest boxes are 1x1, our coop's indoor area is 10x10, and they free roam outdoors.

 

[jmfleish]

That last picture of Tildie is one of the cutest pics ever! How did she get on the perch? Can she climb?

She climbs and flies. She obviously doesn't use her beak the way a parrot would, but she is very curious and is into everything! That picture was taken a few months ago when she decided she wanted to explore Amarillo DYHA's cage while Amarillo was out and about. She gets along with Amarillo fairly well but she really hates our Galahs. I don't know...it's something about pink birds perhaps? She also doesn't like the other chickens either but I think it's a jealousy thing. We very much treat ours as pets, especially Tildie who is pretty good with pooping issues. We are trying to teach them to use a litter box. Tildie is the only one who has full access to the house at all times. The rest are penned up most of the time for now. The Seramas can't take extreme temperatures, so we baby them.

I do have to admit the poop is a pain, especially when you're talking about an indoor chicken. I've heard it's not as bad as a duck. We have resorted to diapers but have found them only to be a temporary fix that needs to be changed very, very often. Because Tildie is broody to the absolute extreme right now, she poops very little these days. And once again, we're working on the litter training thing. They're very smart, but Tildie is also very stubborn! LOL! I love her to pieces though!

 

[ArowanaLover]

It all depends on what you want your chickens for. I consider myself a connoisseur of them and have helped my family raise them since i was very little. I have raised them for shows, egg layers, and meat. They are not the smartest birds, but some do have personalities There are tons of different types, my personal favorite is the polish, though it is often very antisocial. All chickens lay eggs, though some many more then others, there are also different types of eggs, it is a fun task to sort them. One of the best part about having a flock of chickens is the fact that they will eat almost anything you will (and many things you would never consider even touching). Never kept them inside, but outside, their poop amount and type varies on the amount/type of food.

 

[gibsongrrrl]

She climbs and flies. She obviously doesn't use her beak the way a parrot would, but she is very curious and is into everything! That picture was taken a few months ago when she decided she wanted to explore Amarillo DYHA's cage while Amarillo was out and about. She gets along with Amarillo fairly well but she really hates our Galahs. I don't know...it's something about pink birds perhaps? She also doesn't like the other chickens either but I think it's a jealousy thing. We very much treat ours as pets, especially Tildie who is pretty good with pooping issues. We are trying to teach them to use a litter box. Tildie is the only one who has full access to the house at all times. The rest are penned up most of the time for now. The Seramas can't take extreme temperatures, so we baby them.

I do have to admit the poop is a pain, especially when you're talking about an indoor chicken. I've heard it's not as bad as a duck. We have resorted to diapers but have found them only to be a temporary fix that needs to be changed very, very often. Because Tildie is broody to the absolute extreme right now, she poops very little these days. And once again, we're working on the litter training thing. They're very smart, but Tildie is also very stubborn! LOL! I love her to pieces though!

Dr. B's bantam rooster hated pink! he would constantly attack my pink crocs and legs if I was wearing my pink scrubs when he would bring him to work

 

[Menagerie Mama]

What did the OP decide? I have 6 chickens (3 Barred Plymouth Rocks and 3 Rhode Island Reds) and love my girls; they have distinctive personalities and all know their names. My chickens have also been well socialized to handling and prefer for me to place each of them on their roosting bar at night.

I really don't consider them to be work, but, a (sophisticated/urban) visiting aunt observed me doing a couple of daily tasks and kept shaking her head and repeating, "looks like a lot of work to me".

Let them out/in their coop (or, get an automatic pop door with a timer), give fresh water and some food...that's it, really.
I give layer feed (a really good quality is about $14 for a 50 pound bag), supplemented with all kinds of things from leftovers to produce from my garden, to rose petals when I prune the bushes...even make them some hot oatmeal for a treat in cold weather. As others have said, chickens are awesome little garbage disposals!

As to the poop, I have a 100 sq ft enclosed run (1/2 inch hardware cloth buried a foot deep...sucker is predator proof!) in which I use a pine nugget deep litter method and their coop has a nice linoleum floor that makes cleaning a snap.
Poop from the coop goes on the compost heap and back to the garden after enough time to "cook" into compost.

The girls (Emily, Charlotte, Bessie, Agnes, Martha & Anne) are sweet and entertaining and I get 5-6 eggs a day; enough for me, my clients a friend or two and an extravagant amount for my dog.

 

[Yoyo'sMom]

I think the op found a home closer to them. We did build a hutch and run for her so maybe might get one from a shelter as there's lots here. After reading an article regarding outdoor aviaries I think I still need to do some more work on the run. I didn't realize raccoons will dig so far under the base.

 

[Menagerie Mama]

I think the op found a home closer to them. We did build a hutch and run for her so maybe might get one from a shelter as there's lots here. After reading an article regarding outdoor aviaries I think I still need to do some more work on the run. I didn't realize raccoons will dig so far under the base.

I know, right (raccoons)!?! I was astonished when I started researching and heard how many people lost their first flock or two to predation. Or, others who just factor the losses into their plans and dont name or have personal relationships with their poultry. The last thing I wanted was to come home to death and carnage one fine day. Well worth the initial outlay of $ and work to me in order to provide a worry free chicken experience

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I'd say chickens are pretty easy to keep. Just keep them clean and their cages/pens hygienic with a constant supply of drinking water and a something to nibble on every hour and they're good to go

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I have always wanted a black and white bantam cock, and also one or two layer hens, which I would keep in the birdroom in the winter and a hutch in the summer. I know I need to get the banty rooster very young and hand tame him, or there could be problems. Not sure where I would get them, though.

 

[ArowanaLover]

Many places, I once got some from Ideal Hatchery, McMurray Hatchery is also good.

 

[echobird]

I had chickens for a while but finally rehomed them about a year ago. They were lovely! Layed large, beautiful eggs. I had several different kinds, some of the breeds were: Buff orpington, polish, RIR, Australorp(one of my favorites), barred rock, leghorn, speckled sussex(my favorite), wyandottes,silkie, red sex links(for some reason all of my red sex links got Mereks disease, they were all purchased from different hatcheries and none of the other chickens caught it, so Im wary of this breed.) The chickens were very friendly and sweet, save for a few exceptions. They ate anything I gave them and had access to a veggie garden. They were free ranged in my large yard and had a very large coop when it was raining. Of course this coop wasnt enough for their spoiled selves so they would squawk while locked in it in the winter. That was part of the reason why I rehomed them. They are easy to care for and feed isnt expensive. I bought nutrena naturewise, which is all natural, for about $17-$20 a month.Organic feed costs only a few dollars more. It lasted a month for 10 hens. of course they had lots of other goodies as well.
The main reason why I rehomed was due to them getting onto my veggie garden and they would destroy it. I have had many chickens before but this was my first flock to actually do damage to the plants. We put up a 6ft fence but the orpington taught the other ladies how to fly over it.. If I get chickens in the future it will be a silkie and a black copper marans.

 

[Heather F]

That picture of the happy little Tildie making herself comfortable in the parrot cage on the swing still makes me crack up. So cute!

 

[jmfleish]

That picture of the happy little Tildie making herself comfortable in the parrot cage on the swing still makes me crack up. So cute!

That Tildie is a one chicken wrecking ball! LOL! Love her to pieces but man, she's worse than any of the parrots in our house! She chews up our window blinds, digs in the garbage, eats anything you leave lying around the house...we call her our little menace!

 

[echobird]

That Tildie is a one chicken wrecking ball! LOL! Love her to pieces but man, she's worse than any of the parrots in our house! She chews up our window blinds, digs in the garbage, eats anything you leave lying around the house...we call her our little menace!

Thats Chicken behavior for you. I once had a little game hen who would come in the house every afternoon to build her nest on the couch.