OWNING CHICKENS: EXPECTATIONS VS REALITY

OWNING CHICKENS: EXPECTATIONS VS REALITY

Remember when you first envisioned getting chickens? How idyllic and easy it would be to feed your little chicks whilst they enjoyed the sunny weather - running around the grass with no cages and no predators! You imagined your chickens would produce a constant supply of fresh eggs without any hassle or stress. Sounding familiar? 

Here at Team Titan, we wouldn't change owning chickens for anything in the world but we have learnt some harsh realities on our journey of looking after chickens. We thought it would be nice to share our experiences and hope that you can relate too - it's not all perfect and instagramable all the time!

Here are 7 examples of how our expectation of owning chickens was different to reality:

Expectation 1: Having chickens will magically make you motivated and extremely happy to wake up super early in winter to let them out their house. 

Reality: Yup, even we struggle getting up in the dark to let them out of their poultry house! Hence we made our range of Titan automatic chicken door openers to do the daunting task of waking up early just to let them out. As much as we love our chickens, we don't love the early mornings the same amount.

Expectation 2: Every morning you will have fresh eggs for breakfast - hassle and stress free!

Reality: Usually domesticated chickens will lay an egg every 24 hours but this is not always the case! There are so many reasons why your hens might not be laying consistently - such as stress factors (like their annual molt), issues surrounding feeding and diseases such as Salpingitis.

Expectation 3: Your chickens will be safe enough on your land without needing a lot of protection.

Reality: Chickens are more vulnerable than you first realise. They have quite a few predators depending on where you are in the world! This requires a lot of preparation such as choosing the right chicken wire to surround your chicks, how deep to place the fencing and how tall to have it. We covered how to keep your chickens safe in a previous blog if you want to go check out our findings! 

Expectation 4: You will instantly know everything about owning chickens and won't be in the slightest bit overwhelming!

Reality: Nobody becomes an expert overnight - in anything - learning takes time and sometimes the best way to learn is through experience. All you can do is your best. Also there are so many free sources online to aid you in your journey of owning and understanding chickens.

Expectation 5: All your chickens would happily get along, happily running around together

Reality: The pecking order is very real! Not all chickens will get along straight away whilst the pecking order hierarchy is being established amongst them. Although be careful and mindful that it could be something more like bullying going on in your flock! More can be read about this in our blog on how to spot bullying within your flock.

Expectation 6: Cuddly chickens that would sweetly hope into your lap for a lunch time snooze.

Reality: We *think* we might enjoy the cuddles more than they do. Owners need to make sure that forcing cuddles on your chickens is not a stressful experience for them and make sure to wash their hands thoroughly after! 

Expectation 7: The noises from your coop won't be too loud and sound like cute clucking.

Reality: Being woken up at a super early hour to your rooster crowing - with each crow feeling like it slightly louder than the last and spaced out seconds apart! We're very fortunate at Team Titan to not have neighbours too close by! 

Despite the difference in expectation and reality - we wouldn't change it for the world!