Is it worth getting chickens?!

[Moomoola]

I’d love some, Dh is less keen and says for the price and effort we could just buy eggs.
Is it worth the financial outlay? Coops seem to be a fortune! Could they live in an outbuilding ( if I clear it out!)
are they lots of work?
Dh doesn’t want poo everywhere.
I just like the way they potter about and find them very calming.
thank you!

I would wait until the bird flu is over. We have 4 of them and since bird lockdown came they have to be kept in strict conditions to prevent the spread to wild birds. Look up the DEFRA website. It's not nice for them and is really impacting my enjoyment of them as it is against the law at present to allow them to pootle about.

Research redmite, bird flu restrictions and the implications of Mareks disease. Then make your decision. I loved having all of our chickens and ducks and I was OK with the extra work but they're definitely not a walk in the park.

It they pootle about, they'll ruin your garden. And you'll get rats. And be prepared for a fox to get at them no matter how much you fortify their henhouse.

It is never worth getting chickens from.a.financial.point of view unless you are basically setting up a farm. Nothing wrong with wanting a few as pets but they are not easy lets and very tying and often a very expensive way of providing the local food with something nice for dinner.

I have quails, which are a bit like chickens 'light'. The bird flu is just so restrictive at the moment. My little girls are used to being out in the garden but are now closed in and it's not such a lovely life for them. I'm just glad that they have a big home in a shed so plenty of space.

I’ve kept them on and off for ten years now but these chickens are the last four. Once they’ve shuffled off, that’s it. The rat-attracting has been the issue, plus dealing with mite infestations once or twice a year. Yuck.

I used to have 7 chickens and had real problems with red mites, rats and foxes. Diatomaceous earth can help with the first one. Recently chickens around the globe have stopped laying eggs because of changes to feed. www.newswars.com/watch-chicken-farmers-blame-tainted-feed-after-hens-stop-producing-eggs/ choose your food wisely and supplements as needed

I keep them as pets because I love them! The eggs are a bonus. I’ve put a lot of effort into their house and run setup. We sometimes get rescues and I want to give them the best quality of life that I can.
We have a big biosecure fox proof run. Genuinely fox proof. It can be done. They have a deep layer of woodchip to scratch in, things to shelter under / behind, and perches. When there’s no bird flu lockdown we let them out in the evenings when we’re there, to scratch round the garden and eat grass.
They are laying, there’s nothing wrong with the good quality feed we buy and we give them (healthy) extras like cabbage, apples and porridge.
We don’t get rats. Rats are attracted to food that’s left out, spilled or not stored securely. Ours is kept in a steel bin in the garage and never left out overnight. Nest material is also kept in lidded rigid containers because that attracts rodents too.
If you look after them properly, there’s some work, just as there is if you look after any animals. Quick feeding/ poo picking twice a day or so, and a proper coop clean every week. It’s not hours and hours of work.
The eggs are way better than anything you can buy in the shops. I used to sell surplus eggs (cheaply) to workmates - they insisted on paying something- and they’d almost fight amongst themselves to get the next lot!
The bedding/ nest material plus poo goes into the compost bin and our compost is fantastic.
I’d say keep them if you like them, and are prepared to keep them happy, healthy and not bored. They’re very sweet characterful creatures and not particularly high maintenance, but they are prone to a few health problems and you need to learn how to avoid those.
If you decide to get them and don’t want to buy a coop, buy a decent book on chickenkeeping. You can use an outbuilding as housing if you don’t want to buy a coop, but you have to set it up properly. There’s a lot of info on the British Hen Welfare Trust website and the Chicken Vet website.
It doesn’t sound like your DH is keen if he’s just thinking of whether it would be cheaper to buy eggs (which it would be if you keep them in decent conditions). If he doesn’t actually like them it’s unlikely he’d help with their care and it would all fall to you. But we really don’t find it much of a workload.

We had chickens and loved them but they are expensive, they crap everywhere, will happily destroy your garden and foxes and rats are a big problem!

The vixen took ours at 10am ( not long after we let them out for their day of free ranging) and kept coming back throughout the day to check if there was anymore as she had young and they hunt all day and night so don’t for a second think foxes are a nighttime issue, It broke my heart as they are amazing but as we live rurally in the countryside we are overrun with foxes, I haven’t got anymore since.

Our chicken coop was completely fox proof ( it was a concrete building ) so never had an issue in the evening so keep a look out in the daytime around June if I were you

Also they are prone to illness and mite problems.

A big issue now is Bird Flu and that is now looking like an annual event going forward so they have to be locked away for around 5 months a year

I absolutely love chickens though and if we didn’t have around 5 fox dens near our home I’d happily get more

Thank you everyone! It seems s lot of learning, and possibly hassle. But I would really like to get some, I’ll do more research on the links you aphave suggested.
so sorry for everyone who has had them attacked by foxes etc.
it doesn’t sound quite as easy as the egg loo website makes out! They also sell beehives..another thing I’d love to do!

I love having chickens. They’re great fun and full of personality. They do poo a lot though - about 20 poos a day per chicken I think! We’ve got an acre so we’ve given them half the space so it leaves half the grass without chicken poo on it. I deep litter so that reduces the number of times I need to clean them out. I have them for the joy of having them and eggs are a bonus. Ours are heritage breeds so they lay eggs every 2-3 days. I definitely suffer from “chicken maths” (planned to have 5 chickens - now have more than 30 🤣 with some more hatching eggs due to arrive next week).
You also need to think you’ll check on them when you’re on holiday. We have automatic door openers but they sometimes fail so they need checking on morning and night to check the doors have worked and for any signs the chickens have issues. Their eggs are delicious.

Id love to keep chickens but have refrained as what the heck would I do with them if I was away. At least dog/cat can go into kennels /cattery.

We get teenage kids etc to look after our chicken while we’re away. We live very rurally though so they’ve all got chickens at home and know what to do.

You won't get rats, not if you keep them properly. A good strong well maintained fencing will keep out foxes. They will ruin a garden though if you completely free range in the daytime.

We've had them for 3 years and haven't lost a single one to a fox. Our run is very secure. We have had problems with mites and Marek's disease though. It's very satisfying using your own chickens' eggs, though. And they are absolute dotes as pets, I can easily while away an hour sitting in the run watching them chicken (and often being sat on by them, they like attention).

Had them for 8 years. We got a joiner to make a wooden coop and really large run; never had problems with foxes etc. don't leave food down in a tray, we scatter feed to stop rodents.

They aren't financially viable if that's what you mean - they cost more than you'd ever get back in eggs

But they are lovely. My kids love them and I'm happy to eat eggs knowing that the chickens are well cared for.

From what I know of them,

it's more pets that lay eggs, the food costs can add up, it's basically more of having them as a hobby rather than a way to save $ on eggs.

It's a mix on suppliers as to who you'll get the chickens and the prices for them.

Overall they would be quite worth the time and effort and expense.

In your mind you might think 'free eggs' but in reality they cost lots of pounds each, factoring in the housing/bedding/vets/treats/food etc but I think they're worth it, they're lovely pets to have and properly fresh eggs are unbeatable.

As with any pet there are downsides - costs due to housing and feed, illnesses and parasites etc. These are no more than any other pet though. They don’t scratch up your garden unless there are too many for the space. They are lovely to watch poodle around the only real expense is the set up. If you have outbuildings then it sounds like you have plenty of space for them.

I'm going to go against the grain and say they are not much work. But I have horses and dogs and cats and goats, all of which shit everywhere, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask.

Mine have a metal coop (get them on eBay) but don't use chicken wire the foxes tear through it use 10 gage. I also put a row of old paving slabs around the outside so the foxes can't dig through.

They stay in the in coop/shed if there is a bird flu problem. Otherwise they free range around an area that's well fenced. be warned if you don't have dogs the foxes are really really keen to eat them. Also previous posters are right you will get rats. I already have feral cats due to having horses at home and it's a similar issue. They work really well and there are lots in rescues waiting for homes.

There has been an issue with Hens not laying. I've mixed my layers pellets with corn and wild bird seed plus they get all the veg patch greenery and it seems to have made a difference.

We have had rescues for about six years. Love watching them regrow feathers and enjoy sunbathing and mooching about the garden chatting to us. Real characters!

The downsides though... they wreck the garden, wake us up early in the summer, are a tie when we go away as we like to let them out to free range each day. But the biggest downside is all the health issues, especially with rescues who've had such a hard life.

It's definitely not a cheap way of getting eggs if you treat them as pets, a trip to the vet is £30 and apart from one or two who've gone quickly/ quietly most of ours have had to be PTS when they've started to deteriorate.

Mine descried my garden entirely. Just no

Thank you!
am rather put off!
we rent a bit of land which is where we have a veg patch. ( covered with net) There’s loads of ivy covered twigs and nettles and I sort of wondered if they’d like that?! And may even clear some of the weeds!

Could you tell me any more about Mareks ? I had a post mortem done on one of my hens who died last Summer and it showed Mareks. She was the second one that I’d had die that year , six months apart but also a lengthy illness with many very trips and I wanted to know if we were missing something.
My two remaining hens are perfectly well, but it seems that they could also be vectors for the disease to wild birds, even though they aren’t unwell ? My vet wasn’t clear on this so I am confused.