i want chickens

[natty529]

i have been really drawn to the idea of keeping chickens in our yard. i think it would be great for eggs obviously, but also for our garden and for ds to learn about animals etc.

dh is against my chicken/egg idea, he thinks it will smell and be gross and that the local cats will kill the chickens... i have told him that we could coop them at night and keep them safe but i think he is just weirded out by the idea of chicken in our yard.

so how do i convince him to try it?

thanks

[la mamita]

my chickens never smelled. i think cats and dogs as pets are much grosser, honestly. i also had some half-wild neighbor cats that would sneak into my kitchen every night and steal food (my house was a colonial south american style, so partially open to the elements) and they never attacked the chickens, even when i had some pretty small baby chicks and no coop. having a rooster might help too.

there are a bunch of books and websites about raising chickens in an urban environment, maybe start reading those and dispelling some of his fears?

[BeckyBird]

I LOVE chickens! If you want to win over your husband, you can show him certain small bantam breeds like Silkies or Seramas. Seramas are actually a popular indoor cage pet in Asia, and I believe are the smallest breed of chicken in the world.  Silkies are extremely docile, and fluffy like a cotton ball. You could start with just a few bantam hens, and your husband should not mind, especially once he sees how cute they are!

www.backyardchickens.com  is an excellent website for chicken advice. Good luck, and I hope you get some chickens of your own!

[philomom]

I clean the coop once a week, just like the litter box. Poop goes in the compost bin to become great garden soil for later. My chickens free range a fenced backyard and do dig up tender plants. I think they are worth it for the great eggs they make. The coop gets locked up each night, safe from predators.

I don't ask my dh to do much for the chickens but he has enjoyed watching them.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Heh, I'm actually the one between DH and I who is bothered by the chickens. Ours climb out of their chicken yard(literally, they climb the fence) and get everywhere and poop everywhere. I have to spray our patio EVERY DAY. Grrr!!! But, I don't think this situation is the norm. I think we just have super chickens. Or stupid chickens, as the case may be.... Once they get out of the yard, they don't know how to get back, but their food and water is IN the yard. 

Anyway. I have to say, the chickens themselves don't stink. And if they were confined to a certain space, the mess would be far less of an issue. We have stray cats in our neighborhood, but they have never bothered our chickens. Our dog is a total jerk about them, though, and chases them through the yard. 

[philomom]

Originally Posted by SubliminalDarkness  I have to spray our patio EVERY DAY. Grrr!!!

I finally had to block mine off the back deck using some lattice scraps. Otherwise, same as you, poop gets too close to the back door.

[lucyem]

It all comes down to management and how your coop and run are built.  We only let our hens out when we are around in the late afternoons.  Otherwise they are in a large secure covered run by day and their coop at night.  In the fall they get let into the garden where they help finish off the plants and fertilize a bit.   No food is wasted around here as the chickens can eat just about anything.  

It took me ages to get my DH on the chicken bandwagon.  We have horses and he was tired of dealing with critters.  Well presently DH is the hero of the office selling our extra eggs.  Last summer he left the house with a rooster that needed a new home and came home with two hens.  And guess who is pushing for meat chickens this year and more laying hens :)

[natty529]

our yard is pretty large, larger than our house, which is 1000+ square feet and. it is all fenced in, would we need to make them an enclosure in addition to the coop? I  would coop them at night, will they just go in there or will i need to chase them around a bit? i have never had a chicken and i have always seen them portrayed as difficult to catch... probably seems like a silly question.

[Adaline'sMama]

Well, I doubt local cats will kill them. They dont really stink, but they do make a lot of poop. In an urban enviroment, my biggest concern would be that chickens are not quiet. They can be pretty loud.

[MrsJewelsRae]

Chickens don`t stink unless you confine them and don`t clean the pen for a while.  Just don`t get ducks- they are super messy and they do stink, imo.  Your yard should be fine if you keep your chicken to yard ratio (not sure what that would be!) reasonable.  I`ve never had a cat problem with my chickens and we`ve had a ton of cats stray onto our farm, my bigger concern is dogs and other predators- skunks, coons, foxes, possums, etc.  If they have a safe place to go they should be fine and if you confine them to a tall enough enclosure you can protect them from messing on your decks and eating out of the gardens.  I`d go for it!   Also, chickens are not noisy, in case he brings that up- just don`t get a roo unless you like hearing them crow repeatedly around 5 am! ;)    Oh, and FYI- the eggs are WAY better!  Seriously, once you have fresh eggs you can`t help but turn your nose to the grocery store ones, the yolks of fresh eggs are much brighter and more perky, and the whites don`t spread all over the pan when frying.  Grocery store eggs peel better when doing hard boiled eggs as they are older. 

[BeckyBird]

Originally Posted by MrsJewelsRae 

  Grocery store eggs peel better when doing hard boiled eggs as they are older. 

Huh, I never knew that. I always boil my chickens' eggs, and they are tough to peel. Now I know why. Thanks!

[hildare]

you don't have to chase them around (though as n00bs, we did the first few nights b/c they didn't know to go inside) if you have a coop.  they need to roost when it gets dark, and they should roost in the coop.  if not they will roost anywhere and be limp and vulnerable. 

they don't smell... the compost is really good for your garden.  i LOVE LOVE LOVE our chickens so much.  of all the animals we have, i like them best.  they are quite hard to contain, though (and we don't really, they just get in the yard and everywhere) and they completely and totally decimated our garden greens this winter (but we fenced it now).  we're not urban/suburban, though, but do have town friends that have chickens.  no complaints but you may want to see if you can do without a rooster, that's what makes most neighborhood people ill about them.  they're loud.

see if you can find anybody near you that has some and see if you can visit with your dh.  once he sees someone else's setup, he'll realize that it's great.  that and get some eggs like what you'd get and knock his socks off with how much better they are...

[Meksmama]

We have a chicken tractor which has a fenced in area below the coop.  We are now addicted to raising chickens! We are up to hatching our own in an incubator.  We don't have to chase them they go back to the coop every night at dusk or before.  We open up the fenced in area in the am and close it at night but if we aren't home for a weekend they are enclosed so predators can't get them but can go in or out of the coop at their leisure.

We have tons of stray cats and they never even look twice at the chickens. 

[jadekat]

Originally Posted by MrsJewelsRae 

Chickens don`t stink unless you confine them and don`t clean the pen for a while.  Just don`t get ducks- they are super messy and they do stink, imo.  Your yard should be fine if you keep your chicken to yard ratio (not sure what that would be!) reasonable.  I`ve never had a cat problem with my chickens and we`ve had a ton of cats stray onto our farm, my bigger concern is dogs and other predators- skunks, coons, foxes, possums, etc.  If they have a safe place to go they should be fine and if you confine them to a tall enough enclosure you can protect them from messing on your decks and eating out of the gardens.  I`d go for it!   Also, chickens are not noisy, in case he brings that up- just don`t get a roo unless you like hearing them crow repeatedly around 5 am! ;)    Oh, and FYI- the eggs are WAY better!  Seriously, once you have fresh eggs you can`t help but turn your nose to the grocery store ones, the yolks of fresh eggs are much brighter and more perky, and the whites don`t spread all over the pan when frying.  Grocery store eggs peel better when doing hard boiled eggs as they are older. 

I agree! We got chicks last May and they kids really enjoy them. I enjoy the bug control and fresh eggs. Last year was the first summer that I haven't had to pull a tick off anyone.

[Ecochique]

We are moving to a country house May 1st I talked DH into getting a few chickens which was easier than I anticipated! Is there really a difference in the kind off chicken you get or is it just the look of them??

[mattemma04]

I want to get some more even though we are at our limit for the chicken shed with 8. I have had chicks the past 2 springs/summers,and I want some bad. TSC is selling chicks right now.

Our rooster died and I gotta kill one hen who is egg bound and infected. Tough when they get sick,but I would never live another year without a few hens. I love watching them. They really are no more of a bother than dogs or cats.

[jadekat]

Originally Posted by mattemma04 

I want to get some more even though we are at our limit for the chicken shed with 8. I have had chicks the past 2 springs/summers,and I want some bad. TSC is selling chicks right now.

Our rooster died and I gotta kill one hen who is egg bound and infected. Tough when they get sick,but I would never live another year without a few hens. I love watching them. They really are no more of a bother than dogs or cats.

Not to hijack but how can you tell if they are egg bound and infected?
 

[Hykue]

Originally Posted by Ecochique 

We are moving to a country house May 1st I talked DH into getting a few chickens which was easier than I anticipated! Is there really a difference in the kind off chicken you get or is it just the look of them??

The two basic kinds are laying breeds and meat breeds, functionally.  Some are considered dual-purpose, which means they will do well enough for eggs AND meat, but of course they're not as good at either thing.  Another division is between bantams (small) and large breeds.  Other than those categories, there are some functional differences, like how cold-hardy they are, whether they will sit their own eggs very often, and temperament.  If you look up Henderson's chicken breed chart online, it has a column for most every characteristic - many of them are just appearance-based, but some of the categories are functional.