Family help: Chickens: - Help.com

Oh, I can’t wait to hear the replies on this:)

Where do you live? Here in the US it is illegal to have them in certain areas.

if you live by woods you can always remind your parents that they eat ticks which are bad and you dont want ticks around your house.
They also will produce eggs so that you guys never have to buy eggs if you get enough. plus there are some chickens that lay different color eggs. no **** we had ones that laid blue eggs its was pretty cool when i was younger.
you need a good size yard but not a farm or anything! and youll need a chicken coup or something to keep them in at night and youll need a rooster as well which can be nasty. they always attack ppl.
they will run free and alwasy come back becuase you are feeding them esp if you get them as chicks but they will poop all over the lawn and its gross!!!

I love chickens. I just let them roam free in my yard, and they didn’t destroy anything. They ate all the pests. They need a place to rest and be high off the ground so predators don’t get them.

why do you want chickens?

First you need to know if your town or city has a law against owning them. They are considered “livestock” not pets. I think it’s the state of Massachusetts? that now allows a person to have up to four, hens only, if their neighbors don’t object.

hhmmm… i would contact your local codes office… they will have all the information that you need about this.

My sister has several chickens. She lives in a fairly rural area where keeping free range chickens is permitted. Hers are mostly Sebright ornamental chickens but they do provide a large number of small eggs.
She provides several small coups but generally lets them free range about a portion of her yard. They do not go far if you feed them regularly and they are comfortable. They do not use the coups by choice but roost and sleep in trees. Having trees available to them is essential if you want free range chickens, as they must have a way to escape predators such as foxes, weasles, local cats and dogs, and even predatory birds. The disadvantage to this is that you must search about the yard and in trees for the eggs.

You need a fairly large property for this and if the chickens start to hang out on or near your house or frequently used yard areas, it can become unhygenic and unhealthy. They also tear up and disrupt vegetable gardens.

1- no clue
2- very little. 4m2 per chicken is luxury
3- depends on the chickens personality

Go play Harvest Moon instead. That way you won’t have to clean up the mess.

Well it depends on a lot
Do you want meat ones?
Do you want layers?
Are you going to have a rooster?
Free range is nice but, they do need to roost and they will not object to pooping all over everything. I fenced an area for them cause they roosted and pooed an trampled gardens. They need little boxes of hay or straw to brood in. They like to get setteled at dusk and locked up. They are very habit oriented. They like to browse and you have to throw them scratch (mixed grain, corn and such). I would save lettece and leftovers, peas and such from dinner.
They are fun. The roosters are characters.

Oh, I live in the country, but listen even if you dont, you must protect them from dogs, cats, and here I have to look out for fox, eagles, hawks, badgers, weasels, coyotes and all of the like. But I have had trouble with horseback riders with dogs following, that have attacked my chickens. So I suggest fencing for sure. But whenever you have caged animals depending on you to take care of them. Do it. Water, food, and fresh air, exercise is essential for life. No matter how you feel, you must make sure they are cared for. Unless your serious, it is work and responsibility.

A next door neighbor had 7 hens. Three got killed immediately, probably by foxes or raccoons. The other 4 were lovely to look at, but one of them squawked constantly. And loudly! The had free roaming privileges all over her backyard, which had great grass, but which is now completely without a blade of grass. They also laid MANY eggs, too many to eat. She finally gave them to someone who had a farm. I miss looking at them (they were Rhode Island Reds), but I don’t miss hearing that one squawking little Mrs. Chicken. :)

Thank you 2greeneyes for reminding me why I don’t want to get chickens right now:)!

I was thinking about getting some. Until the reality of penning them up everynight, mending the fences, cleaning up with a hose, watering, feeding…morning and night. And not to mention hearing the rooster, I’m just not up to that right now

Sun-etos are you planning on raising them for food, it might be worth the commitment if you can use all the eggs:)?

Yep, you know what Im saying Soul.