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When times are tough, people want chickens. On dynuz.com there’s an article called America Stress-Bought all the Baby Chickens which reads, “chick sales go up during stock market downturns and presidential election years”
This includes Corona time. In some places people have completely sold out of chicks. The reason people may purchase chickens might be because of course, they lay eggs.
According to the agricultural department, last week wholesale egg prices rose more than 50% in some parts of the country. Because of this, people might believe that purchasing chickens of their own is the easiest route to take.
People are rushing to buy chicks, without being fully informed on what it takes, which can lead to problems.
Some people may just not realize though, that preparing for chickens is harder than it may seem, and many long-term chicken owners can testify of that.
“It’s kind of difficult keeping them safe sometimes, because they and their eggs are the apples of a skunks eye,” said Morgan Mitchell. “Sometimes in the middle of the night we hear our dog barking and we have to go shoot the skunks”
Skunks aren’t the only predator, Morgan Drew had her previous flock killed by a hawk.
“[They were kept] outside in a run that wasn’t covered–they could have gone in the coop, but they are chickens and stupid, so they didn’t,” said Drew.
Chickens need to have a coop, a safe place for them to stay. The few weeks in which the chicks are inside fly by very fast, and suddenly you need a place for them.
According to Jana Francis, who stars in a podcast by Gardening Utah, “Premade store coops do not last. You need a coop that is made to last.”
Coops that last usually are home made, or converted from a shed. Usually, a chicken needs 14 hours of sun to produce eggs.
Some people may not realize though, when panic buying chicks for eggs, that it takes about 18-26 weeks for them to start laying. A common misconception is that you need a rooster for them to lay. That is false, a rooster’s purpose is for reproduction and protection.
You also need to be aware that when let loose, chickens will destroy your garden. Yes, they will also eat bugs which is handy, but still, the garden is not safe.
Before you do anything regarding chickens, one of the first things you need to do beforehand is to check the city regulation and zoning limit. This is more of an issue for bigger towns and cities. But you need to know if your city even allows yard chickens.
There’s one more thing about chickens, please do not ‘gift’ a single chick to someone else, without their permission and consent. If you do, please consider gifting multiple chicks, because a chicken is a social animal, and it’s just cruel having only one with no friends.
