How much work are chickens you ask?
When my niece first met our chickens, she was enamored. Their sweet nature, happy-go-lucky attitude, and the regular supply of breakfast rations had her googly-eyed and wanting her own small suburban flock.
But wait – her parents said. Chickens are noisy, smelly, and they are a whole lot of work, right? Besides, we wouldn’t be able to keep them in our suburban neighborhood, could we?
So, I set out to write this article on exactly what it takes to raise chickens.
When we first got our chickens, about 8 years ago, I was still working in my high-tech job and traveling between 100 – 150,000 air miles a year. I was not home often enough to care for farm animals. I certainly did not want to introduce them to our property only to attract raccoons and coyotes. But John was very eager and insisted he would not only care for the hens while I was traveling, but would also predator-proof our coop and run to make sure they were always safe. We also have neighbors who raise chickens, who offered to help us learn.
I relented, and he started working on the coop. It didn’t take long, as expected, that the Buff Orpington and Americauna hens he got became my babies. Part mothering instinct, part stress therapy, the birds have become an important part of our farm. And now, after 8 years, we have added successive generations to the flock, including Marans, Favarolles, Wyandottes, Silkies and Seabright bantams.
Well, Hello! Violet the Americauna has such a big personality and always wants to be the center of my attention!
Spoiler: there is some not inconsequential work you need to do to prepare for chickens. And you need to read and learn a lot. But once your chicks are settled in, there’s very little you need to do on a daily basis. Basically, chickens are an easier animal to raise in the long run than a dog is.
Keep in mind that everyone’s situation is different, and different amount of setup work will be required in different scenarios. Some people may already have a toolshed or barn they can use for a coop, whereas other people may have to build or buy from scratch. And, of course, it is always helpful if you have friends or neighbors who raise chickens to bounce ideas off.
Let’s dig in – how much work are chickens?
Are Chickens Loud?
Generally, chickens – hens – are not loud. Sometimes when they have just laid an egg, some chickens will coo a bit when they are still young. They are so happy and surprised to have produced such a beautiful perfect egg they want to tell the world! By the second year, even this usually quiets down.
Roosters, on the other hand, are loud. They will crow at all hours of the day – not just in the morning. Some people love this crowing (I sure do), but many more are very annoyed by loud rooster crowing. However you do not need a rooster to get eggs. You only need a rooster if you want fertilized eggs (ie, chicks).
Most chicken keepers we know, especially those in urban or suburban areas, only keep hens, which are significantly more quiet.
Are Chickens Smelly?
Chickens themselves are not smelly at all. They are actually pretty clean animals in general. Chicken poop is generally far less smelly than dog or cat feces. This is in part due to the fact that it is smaller. But also because chickens eat more grains and vegetables rather than meat. In addition, chicken poop, like other bird poop, consists of a lot of water. Once it dries it doesn’t smell at all.
Just like cleaning out a cat’s litter box, you will occasionally need to clean out the coop. However, this is not a daily or even a weekly chore. On the contrary, you usually only need to do this a few times a year, depending upon how many chickens you have, and how big their area is.
When a chicken coop starts smelling, it is usually because it is damp or wet and does not dry out. You usually just need to add more shavings down to help dry things out. Where our coop is sited, it stays dry and we usually only need to clean it once every 4-6 months. If you live in a rainier /humid part of the world, or the coop itself is sited where it never dries out, you may need to clean it more often.
One-Time Chores – Before the Chickens Arrive
First of all, do your research. This is probably the most work of all about getting chickens. You will need, at a minimum, a chicken coop and a run. Your chicken coop needs to have a few things: like nesting boxes, roosts, and be very secure from predators.
If you purchase a ready-made coop, this is the easiest option, as it will already have the nesting boxes built in. Many ready-made coops now also have a small run, too, usually under the coop, saving space. This dual-decker solution is ideal for an urban setting where space is at a premium. The only thing to keep in mind when you purchase a ready-made coop, is that you will need to make sure that predators can’t lift, burrow under, or otherwise penetrate the area.
If you are very handy, there are some fabulous construction plans and templates available. There are also tons of ideas on Pinterest and other social media sites. But you can also convert an existing tool shed, playhouse, or other structure pretty easily. One of my favorites is the conversion of an old VW Beetle into a mod coop.
You will also want to invest in a hanging chicken feeder and some sort of waterer. While the traditional gravity waterers are great, we also use 5 gallon buckets converted with water cups or nipples, which work really well and are an inexpensive solution. Because they are covered, another benefit is that they also help to reduce bug populations. These simple items will greatly reduce the time needed to spend on your birds, as you won’t have to feed them daily.
Weekly Chores
With your feeder and automatic chicken waterer, you don’t need to feed the chickens every day. In fact, depending upon the number of chickens you have, you may not even need to feed them weekly. But, you should check the food and water weekly just to make sure they have enough.
In hot weather, you will want to check your waterers more often. We sometimes throw ice into the waterers if there’s a heat wave. We keep a waterer inside the coop and another two in the run, so that there’s always fresh water when they need it.
Daily Chores
Gather the eggs. That’s it! You want to try to collect the eggs daily to keep them fresh and to prevent rodents from trying to gain access to the coop to steal your eggs.
While not ideal, you can leave the eggs for a few days. I was on a business trip in February. At the last minute John joined me, and we left the chickens alone for just a few days. We came home to about 18 eggs waiting for us in the nest boxes – and not one had broken. I like to imagine our young chickens stepping gently into the nest boxes each morning, side-stepping carefully around the eggs already in the boxes.
One more non-critical thing I like to do each day is to give my girls a small but healthy treat. I like to hand-feed them some 9 grain bread in the morning when I greet them before letting them out to free-range. I also give them some high protein mealworms in the evening when I put them to bed. This is not critical – the girls will put themselves to bed. But they enjoy this routine as much as I do. And a wonderful side benefit is that it makes it easier to get the girls to come when you call.
Are Chickens Worth it Financially?
For me personally, I can say that the money we have spent on the chickens has been small, and the benefit in eggs much higher than what we have spent. We converted an old 6 x 8 garden shed which already existed on our property into our coop. And we made the run and the roosts. Although we did purchase hardware cloth, metal roofing, nesting boxes, feeders and waterers, we used leftover lumber for the supports and natural tree limbs for the roosts.
As for the eggs – the first year we averaged two dozen every week from 4 chickens. At $6 per dozen for organic and/or free-range eggs at the store, that’s the equivalent of about $624 in the first year. I can guarantee you that we did not spend that much on the coop conversion. And now 8 years in – our cumulative egg costs in that time would be over $4000, but our chicken and coop costs are negligible. (approximately $60 – $75 per year in food for 4 hens, and another $10 in shavings. Food costs have tripled with our expanded flock of 12, but still remain very low compared to our almost dozen eggs every day)
Plus, we get beautiful, organic, free range eggs in multiple colors. And our backyard eggs have the biggest and brightest yellow yolk you have ever seen.
Can I Even Consider Chickens in my Neighborhood?
You should check your local ordinances to see if chickens are allowed in your neighborhood. They are actually allowed in many suburban neighborhoods, and more and more urban areas, too. However, roosters are banned in many neighborhoods.
If you are only keeping hens, the likelihood is that your neighbors will forget your chickens are even there. Even in neighborhoods with limited space, hens tend to be quiet and well-behaved co-habitants. They go about their business without the need to alert anyone of it.
How Much Work are Chickens?
So, how much work are chickens?
ANSWER: They are really pretty easy, although they are not for everyone. It helps if you are handy to build or fix things. It also helps if you have a similar minded neighborhood or community. While the setup work and/or costs could be not insignificant, the daily work to be done is quite minimal. And the benefit in eggs and stress therapy is huge!
