18 ms·

They lock you at home like any pet, difficult to move house and also keep the chickens, need a big garden, unless you have a huge garden they prevent social use

They lock you at home like any pet, difficult to move house and also keep the chickens, need a big garden, unless you have a huge garden they prevent social use of it, don't reliably lay, people work long hours and don't have the time for cleaning out pens and ensuring water/food is available, cost of keeping them far outweighs the fiscal benefit, they attract rats, you can't be keen on gardening and have free range chickens as they eat flowers.

luckydude 10y ago
Lock you at home? Get an automatic waterer and feeder, throw in some feed and go on vacation. I've got 25 hens and a rooster and they are good for a week or two on their own. Only problem is if nobody gathers eggs you'll have some broody hens. Don't lay? I get a dozen eggs/day. Use lay crumbles not lay pellets; doing so doubles the output. Enclosure? I used a horse stall for boxes/roosts and have big outside enclosure. Works great. Your comments make sense for a pet like a dog, those do tie you down, but they make no sense for chickens in my experience.
conorh 10y ago
Some interesting reasons there for first world chicken raising, but I'd disagree with most of them from my experience: - lock you at home: with an automatic door on the coop (ours free range), waterer and multi day feeder, you can leave them for a week, possibly longer. If we moved we'd just give them away (or well, I'd probably eat them, but I'd be voted down) - huge garden and social use: We don't have a big garden. They happily co-exist in the garden with our kids and friends running around with them. - reliably lay: for their laying period chickens that are bred for laying are incredibly reliable. We have four chickens and get four eggs a day like clockwork. - don't have the time: I spend about an hour a week taking care of the chickens. Collect the eggs once a day and clean the coop on the weekend. - rats: They do attract rats if you keep their food easily accessible. This is definitely a problem. There are feeders that make this harder, we have one and it seems to work. - gardening: The gardening thing could be true I guess, but my wife is an avid gardener and she seems to make it work. I think you just change your gardening practices a little. She does like their manure for compost. - cost of keeping them vs fiscal benefit: this is an interesting one. I haven't done the numbers, but I know people who raise small flocks specifically to make money. I doubt I'm making money on them, but they seem incredibly cheap to raise to me.

luckydude 10y ago

Lock you at home? Get an automatic waterer and feeder, throw in some feed and go on vacation. I've got 25 hens and a rooster and they are good for a week or two on their own. Only problem is if nobody gathers eggs you'll have some broody hens. Don't lay? I get a dozen eggs/day. Use lay crumbles not lay pellets; doing so doubles the output. Enclosure? I used a horse stall for boxes/roosts and have big outside enclosure. Works great. Your comments make sense for a pet like a dog, those do tie you down, but they make no sense for chickens in my experience.

conorh 10y ago

Some interesting reasons there for first world chicken raising, but I'd disagree with most of them from my experience: - lock you at home: with an automatic door on the coop (ours free range), waterer and multi day feeder, you can leave them for a week, possibly longer. If we moved we'd just give them away (or well, I'd probably eat them, but I'd be voted down) - huge garden and social use: We don't have a big garden. They happily co-exist in the garden with our kids and friends running around with them. - reliably lay: for their laying period chickens that are bred for laying are incredibly reliable. We have four chickens and get four eggs a day like clockwork. - don't have the time: I spend about an hour a week taking care of the chickens. Collect the eggs once a day and clean the coop on the weekend. - rats: They do attract rats if you keep their food easily accessible. This is definitely a problem. There are feeders that make this harder, we have one and it seems to work. - gardening: The gardening thing could be true I guess, but my wife is an avid gardener and she seems to make it work. I think you just change your gardening practices a little. She does like their manure for compost. - cost of keeping them vs fiscal benefit: this is an interesting one. I haven't done the numbers, but I know people who raise small flocks specifically to make money. I doubt I'm making money on them, but they seem incredibly cheap to raise to me.