chicken burn out... a question

[Scotty from BI]

I am retired aged 69 years old. I have been for about 12 years and have had chickens for about 10 of those years. I keep about 10 chickens on average for about 3 years per flock and then re-home them and start over with chicks for another three years. I am totally devoted to my chickens. They are housed in a very large coop and enclosed run which I built myself. I wake up at sunrise to let them out, and go out at sundown to close their coop for the night. I mix organic layer pellets with mash and water the night before to make their diet more interesting. I mix up vegetables from the grocery store in a blender to make it more digestible and mix in dried grubs every day. I clean the coop and run about 2 or 3 times a day with dog poop scoop and handle and keep their environment as clean as possible. I have a poop tray under their roost that I clean daily. I deal with all the typical chicken problems that everyone else has from time to time.

I love the organic fresh eggs, but man it is a lot of work and after about a decade of this in every kind of weather the Pacific North West can dish up, I am finding myself less and less motivated to get up and go through the routine.

So my question is, what do you old timers do to stay motivated after years of tending your backyard chickens? Am I doing too much? I am not sure I can do the deep liter method the way my coop is set up. It has a raised wood floor and is covered. This is meant for hobbyist chicken keepers not people who raise chickens for profit or sale. I have no help and don't think I can find anyone who will do what I do every day. How often should I be cleaning up after them? The biggest challenge is keep up with their poop every day. they poop A LOT! I can't imagine not picking it up every day. it would get pretty disgusting and lead to a much larger job when it came time to clean it. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You don't need to soak or blend up feed. You can just feed it dry in a feeder, top off as necessary.

Doing deep litter in your run will eliminate the need to clean there. The coop I clean as necessary.

Chicken keeping can be as easy or complicated as you like. I like tending to my birds. If it ever got to be too much it would be time to downsize or even stop keeping them.

Another thought would be that you keep a couple of pet chickens and buy your organic free range eggs from the store. That's the easiest, and probably cheaper option.

 

[Scotty from BI]

I think you may have hit on an answer. I think that I may need to cut back on the number of chickens I house. I could probably go down to 5 chickens from 10. that would be half the work. I will have to ponder this solution.

 

[PirateGirl]

You could definitely make your routine easier if you wanted. You could have an automated pop door. There are numerous ways to set up feed and water that would last multiple days. Your cleaning routine would be considered excessive by some.

Then time spent with your chickens would be if and when you want to be with them instead of out of necessity.

 

[yickenscarf23]

Wow you clean A LOT. I scoop my coop out and do new bedding probably twice a month. I just scoop it out with a big snow shovel. I haven't had chickens very long but I know I get burned out on the horses I've had for years. It helps to have as much automatic stuff as I can and keeping them closer to the house so I don't have to walk far in the cold. Sometimes I utilize neighbor kids who just want something to do lol. Bigger feeders and waterers. I feel like downsizing and not getting eggs may lessen your motivation.

Just remember rehoming them and starting up in the future isn't failure. We all go through stages and maybe you need a year of not worrying about it every morning and treating yourself it can take time to fall in love with something again.

 

[yickenscarf23]

Also I wanted to add that I work nights and don't wake up till noon to let the critters out and fed breakfast and all the animals seem well adjusted to this schedule. I don't see any reason to wake up at the crack of dawn if they've got a spacious coop with food and water. Sleep in!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Agree with what's been suggested .... Another idea is a poop board under their night roost, with a layer of PDZ makes for easy/fast clean daily. I ferment Flock Raiser, way less poop and it's firm plus no stink. I do a modified DLM, shavings on clay ground, just keep adding as need, I do pick (long tongs) the big stuff daily when I go to feed. I have only 4 BOs and it's not time consuming. Oh yea, my girls are confined & I feed them between 7 - 8am and again between 2 - 3pm. I used to allow them to grub my yard but it's easier with them confined in their Chicken House (8x12x7) cause of the neighbor's dogs like sitting at the fence line.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Chicken keeping can be as easy or complicated as you like. .

That is the key.... I am a deep litter in the run, deep bedded coop, no waste feeder that is filled once a month, waterer filled ever two weeks chicken keeper. My daily intefactions with the birds are by choice and all about fun.

 

[Birdinhand]

simplify, simplify, simplify... I hear about these kinds of routines and I almost feel a little guilty. I have relied heavily on large water and food dispensers and the deep litter method to reduce daily work. I'll go a couple days without checking on them occasionally. I have lined their inner coop where they roost with plastic, since it's up off the ground, and add potting soil to it. the chickens turn over the soil daily and bury their own droppings, making for a decent natural aerobic breakdown so I don't need to clean up after them, I just run the soil through my composter ever six months or so and refresh. I have a large covered run for them, which also spreads out the impact. my set up isn't super cutesy, it's a bit more farm rugged, but I do live in the berbs in the PNW. chickens kind of take care of themselves if you give them a decent environment and good food and clean water/nipple waterer.

 

[PirateGirl]

Another note on simplification... if you are buying a commercial feed it is formulated (by scientists that have done loads of research) to give your chickens everything they need in their diet, as is, dry, with nothing added. Your chickens don't NEED the extras and you don't NEED to spend time (or money) on the extras. I rarely buy any special treats for my girls, but they do get table scraps and garden scraps from time to time, and it feels special to me to bring them these goodies because they aren't an every day thing and I take time to sit with them while they run around stealing spaghetti from each other or the ducks clamor over each other to grab lettuce from me or dive in their pool for peas or the chickens excitedly dig through the garden weeds or excitedly fight over the one earthworm I found. These moments become more special and more enjoyable because the are different and separate from the every day routine, which is just top off the feed and swap the frozen water for fresh.