Owning a few chickens, how hard can it be?
Give em seed, leftover greens, fresh water, shelter, plenty room to do their thing, sit back, enjoy.
Watch the interactions, scratching, dust bathing, sun baking, cute clucking. Therapy pets in your own back yard. Delightful 😊
The eggs taste better than any shop bought (do they🤔) the bright yellow yolks a contrast to their anaemic supermarket friends
That’s the good stuff, but beware …
Free-ranging chooks and tidy garden beds don’t go together. No shouting when they dig up the nasturtiums.
Free- Rangers can ‘disappear’ then turn up three weeks later with many cute fluffy chicks in tow.
Chicks grow fast, guarantee half will be roosters
Roosters crow at 3am, the neighbours will hate you
The smaller the rooster, the nastier
A mean little rooster flying at you with harmful intent doesn’t feel nice, even if he’s only 20cm tall, you’re allowed to scream
No one wants yer roosters even the big handsome, gentle ones
No one 🤷♀️
Chickens poop a lot
Behind the scenes of that cute photo of the perfect straw nest with the perfect eggs is an ongoing poop cleaning and coop sorting show. Can you be bothered?
Advice to former self who didn’t know she’d be living on a freakin chicken farm🙄 invest in practical easy to clean chicken tractor or build well-designed chicken palace like the neighbours.
Snakes love eating yer chickens, course they do 🤷♀️ dig that coop wire deep into the ground or prepare for the sight of content python curled up in a nest box, chicken bulge in it’s middle or even more confronting, catch it mid murder😩
Chooks coming indoors to say hi might seem cute but quickly becomes a cleaning pain in the arse. No chickens in the house 🙅♀️ Off ye go! Oot!
Chickens get mites
An ongoing situation.
Mites like living on humans 😩
Just saying
Be prepared
Also chickens = Rats = Inevitable
Control of these disgusting creatures another ongoing situation
Chickens get sick, on death’s door can look the picture of health
Conversley
Sick barely able to stand chickens CAN be nursed back to health, especially family favourites
Cute fluffy breeds have health issues
Like eating chicken? Butchering and eating your own should be doable, in theory
Research humane quick procedure, discuss with willing family members then hide with headphones on while the actual deed is done
Help enthusiastically with plucking and prepping and pretend to enjoy eating
At the very least don’t buy or eat meat from tortured chickens or eggs from battery hens, just don’t do it
Love yer chooks, if you own them you must 🐣🐥🐔