Grant Brereton looks at the realities of chicken keeping, with the key considerations to ponder before embarking on this wonderful hobby…
For many years (before bird flu became a problem), ‘chicken-keeping’ was riding the crest of a wave as the ‘fastest growing hobby here in the UK’, and that may still be the case, but it seems that many people are realising that the hobby isn’t for them. A friend of mine’s flock now consists mainly of laying hens that have been donated freely by those who in the last few years ‘had a go’ at chicken-keeping, and have since given up. And many reasons are cited as to why (after experience) such people felt that keeping a few chickens wasn’t for them.
The obvious ones are perhaps the amount of cleaning-out involved, or the occasional bird with problems and the associated expense and worry. My view is that many people jump into the idea without giving it much consideration. It’s going to be easy keeping a few chickens, isn’t it? They soon become aware of the care and maintenance involved and realise that it doesn’t just mean a few fresh eggs for the breakfast table and a dipping of the toe into self-sufficiency, there’s a whole lot more to this hobby than the enjoyable bits.
For me, chicken-keeping taught me a lot about life – in that there are ups and downs, and that many things can go wrong as well as right. And anyone who sticks with the hobby, displays resilience and an ability to experience and deal with the common pitfalls that most poultry keepers go through at some stage or other. So, without dwelling on the negative aspects of why some people no longer want to continue with their feathered friends, I have come up with a few pointers and manageable expectations which, if heeded, will make for a more enjoyable chicken-keeping experience…
This article extract was taken from the December 2024 edition of The Country Smallholder. To read the article in full, you can buy the issue here.
