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The Dark Side of Chicken Keeping

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Before we get in to the nitty gritty and potentially gruesome heart of this post let me say this: I love my chickens. I will always have chickens.

large up close image of a rooster with text overlay When Good Birds Go Bad The Dark Side of Chicken Keeping

This post has sat in my drafts for over 2 years because I used to really care what people think. Ok, that’s a lie but I tried not to get to gruesome.

I’ve already talked you through my Alpaca Apocalypse with Meningeal Worm and told you how I rip out bleeding feathers with my bare hands. So here we go, the dark side of chicken keeping.

This is in no way intended to dissuade you from owning chickens. BUT there are two sides to every coin and chicken keeping isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

I’ve been around chickens my whole life and I’ve had my own flock for 9ish years and I’ve seen lots of good and a fair amount of bad.

There are literally hundreds of posts telling you why to get chickens but I thought I’d let you know why you might want to think long and hard about what you’re getting yourself into.

Chickens are Assholes

You’ve heard of the pecking order right? Well it’s very aptly named. Chickens literally peck each other to establish a social order.

Some groups are more vicious than others but it’s not unheard of for a flock to starve or pick a bird at the bottom of the pecking order to death. I lost a polish hen after she was literally scalped by her flock mates in an afternoon for no apparent reason.

Preventing boredom, lots of room and keeping the rooster number down will go a long way toward preventing aggression.

Blood will set off a frenzy and wounds are like chicken crack. They just can’t get enough of them.

One of the Spitzhauben pullets broke a blood feather on her tail and within minutes she was tailess and pretty beat up. If I hadn’t stopped back to check on them she would have been killed.

There is a spray called Blukote you can buy at farm supply stores, I always have a bottle on hand. It’s a wound spray that also dyes the skin & feathers (and your hands, house, ect) a blue/violet color and it’s a life saver.

Chickens don’t save their ire for the other adults either. Sometimes hens will sit for three weeks, hatch babies and then move on with their lives leaving the chicks behind. Sometimes they kill them as they hatch.

One day I came home to find an abandoned chick chirping blindly in the corner because the other birds had pecked it’s eyes out. Again, chickens are assholes.

You are the Vet

Bumble foot, broken blood feathers, abscesses, animal (including other chickens) attacks, ascites, wry neck, internal laying, fly strike. Those are all issues I’ve had to deal with in the last few years.

It’s not even close to being a comprehensive list of problems you can have. I’ve been lucky to never have a problem with mites, lice and internal parasites or any number of serious viral infections you can bring home to your birds (think about all the bird losses from flu a few years ago).

I’ve done surgery, given medications, preformed necropsies and even kept chickens in the house (I’m looking at you Harvey) but we’ve never called a vet.

Unless you’ve got money to burn it’s just not practical. That means you become the vet.

Thankfully  I lost my sense of squeamishness in college in my comparative vertebrate biology and zoology labs. I’ve pulled out feathers with my bare fingers and taken a scalpel to a chickens face to squeeze out hardened pus(again, I’m looking at you Harvey).

We’ve all very lucky to have the internet as a resource these days to diagnose and treat our chicken maladies, I recommend searching the Backyard Chicken Forum if you need help.

Along with healing sometimes you need to cull or kill an animal. It sucks, I hate it but sometimes there is no other option.

Chickens (and geese, turkeys, ducks, etc) don’t understand that you’re helping them. They have a very strong instinct to hide illness. That instinct also keeps their flock mated from killing them (see: Chickens are Assholes above for more info).

It also means you probably won’t know something is wrong until it’s really wrong. I’ve always believed a quick death is better than prolonged suffering.

A few years ago I came home to find one of my geese with it’s head twisted around very unnaturally. It was alive but very stressed, in a lot of pain and in very bad shape. I grabbed the hatchet and did what I had to.

Unless you can watch an animal suffer or you have someone on hand to do the dirty work that’s a reality you might someday face.

It’s a Girls Club

hen in a nest box with two chick and an egg

Most people keep chickens for the eggs. You know what roosters don’t do? Lay eggs.

Unless you want to hatch babies you don’t even need a rooster. I keep them for hatching and a moderate amount of flock protection, if you get a good one they’ll martyr themselves for the flock.

But chickens aren’t alligators and you can’t hatch all girls by adjusting the temperature. You can try to avoid the testosterone bonanza by ordering all pullets but it’s not 100% accurate and you’ll likely end up at some point with more boys than you want. And that means you need a plan.

Side note: the rooster:chicken ratio is a hotly debated issue in some circles and I’m not going to get into that but I will say if your birds are looking ratty and plucked it’s time for some gentlemen to go.

Back on topic: Personally I have no problem putting my birds in the freezer. But a lot of people (you might be one of them) think that’s terrible

So the next option is to try and find them “good homes” on Craigslist. Sorry guys, unless you have a magnificent rare breed rooster he’s probably going to end up in someones soup pot. Everyone has too many roosters.

You can keep extra roosters separated in a coop and usually without any ladies to fight over they’ll get along. I’m not sure why you’d want to though.

Chickens get Eaten

easter egger rooster

Humans aren’t the only ones that think chickens are delicious. Foxes, coyotes, bears, owls, hawks, neighbors dogs, your dogs. It’s pretty rough out there for a chicken.

Sometimes you won’t see anything but a puff of feathers, other times you’ll come home to a gruesome scene.

It’s sadly inevitable with free ranging chickens but even a fenced flock isn’t always safe. Remember, chicken wire won’t protect your birds! Go for hardware cloth instead.

That rooster up there? He got eaten, by me. He went after my daughter and I have too many roosters anyway. No reason to allow that behavior.

You Will Make Mistakes and Chickens Have a Death Wish

Chickens can find the dumbest way to kill themselves. You could put a chicken in an empty room and it would find a way to snap it’s neck.

I’ve come home to find a chicken dead in the alpaca water tub even though they had three full waterers and a kiddie pool available.

They will get stuck in the dumbest places, trapped in the hot sun in the one  place on your property you fenced off limits to them. They’ll get their heads stuck in something.

No matter what you do, the chickens will find a way to die. And you’ll feet terrible.

Sometimes Chickens Die for No Obvious Reason

This is the most frustrating one to me. From time to time you’ll have a chicken drop dead for no apparent reason. They’ll be healthy in the morning and you’ll come home to find a dead bird.

One day I found a silver-laced Wyandotte dead on my lawn without so much as a feather out of place. She was a healthy weight and didn’t show any signs of internal laying.

I was weary of cutting into a bird that had been sitting in the hot sun for who knows how long so I didn’t do a necrospy and I still have no idea how she died. It was possibly a heart attack or even a stroke.

Chickens are Terrible Landscapers

Compared to the rest of this list this one is pretty light. Chickens are plant killing machines, they do so much more damage than the geese (they just poop all over).

No matter how much you want that pretty mulch in your flower beds the chickens would much rather have it scattered around the lawn. I have several designated dusting areas but despite that they still insist on digging up the flower and vegetable gardens.

Nothing is more tempting than a freshly seeded vegetable patch. I keep several lengths of 2×4 inch wire in the garden to lay over the beds after planting.

My vegetable garden almost fenced and I can’t wait to grow some food without fighting my chickens. I have rolls of temporary fencing that I keep on hand in hopes of finally eating some of my grapes.

Don’t forget to PIN this to your Chicken Board.

You can find more about raising chickens on my Livestock page or start here:

white chick with head cocked to the side text overlay ordering chickens online

welsummer chick standing on grey fleece blanket

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Juanita says

    Your post showed up while browsing on Pinterest. I wasn’t looking for chicken stuff, but what the hey, we have 3 hens. Your post must be a godsend, because I feel HORRIBLY GUILTY when one of the hens fell and broke her neck. My husband didn’t have the heart to tell me until I got home from work what had happened: the afternoon before, I had cleaned out the hen house and didn’t fasten down the roosting bar. It fell in the middle of the night, and the weight of her companions broke her neck. He buried her while I was already at work. I cried all weekend, because it was my fault.
    We started with 4 chicks, but the really awesome, double-laying hen was the brazen adventurer of them all – and flew next door into the property of the K9 officer, who enjoyed a tasty lunch. Only feathers were evidence of her existence.
    The hen who replaced her (sweetest, sweetest hen) is the one whose neck broke in the fall.
    We have dogs, who ignore the hens, and the hens ignore them…unless the dogs are chewing on a bone or leftovers. But we had new neighbors move in the other next door, and their dog scratched his way into our backyard and attacked one of the Girls. We caught him in the act, so he scurried home as I freaked out on him, and my husband hurried to the Internet to find out how to save her. Neosporin, lots and lots of it, plus gentle cooing and just soothing her, did the trick. Her feathers grew back, she’s just as normal as before. It’s awesome, even though that drama had a frightening beginning. The neighbors came over to apologize (they were so embarrassed!), and my husband put them at ease by asking if they wanted to come over for chicken dinner later on.
    As of now, and going into our third year, we haven’t had any intestinal issues or fly strike, but I’m not dumb into pretending it couldn’t happen.
    Before the Girls, we had a spa-like backyard retreat. Now the backyard is a slovenly pile of a mess. The trade off is this: we get a TON more wild birds to the backyard. A TON! We have water and feeders around the corners, near the trees, where birds can easily hop to if they feel threatened, but having the dogs and the Girls ignore each other has been an incredible boost to our impromptu wildlife sanctuary. It’s been rather cool.
    We live in the Midwest Plains, and are truly a suburban backyard chicken family.

  2. Evelyn says

    Gonna be getting chickens again. You talked about some things I didn’t know about. So thanks for the information.

  3. Amy Blanchard says

    What did you do with the baby chick who’s eyes were pecked. We just had a little one that was pretty much scalped and she seems to be in a deep sleep/coma but still is chirping here and there. This happened about 8 hours ago and she hasn’t taken any water. We brought her inside and keeping her warm but are torn what to do.

    • Alecia says

      I brought it in the house and kept it warm, it died in the night. Chickens are an odd mix of fragile and strong, I have one get hit by a car & limp around for a month before magically recovering and others drop dead over nothing.

      You can try dipping it’s beak in some warm water to get it to drink.

      • Michele P Elliott says

        Also, you can use an eyedropper to feed warm water, a little at a time if it’s not able to drink on its own yet. It may be in shock. Kefir is good for nourishment too. There’s an awesome video online (I’m sorry I don’t know how to bring it here) about a half – dead hen a lady found left for dead. She brought it home and nurtured it to health with water, kefir and her rocking chair. Brought tears to me for such a kind soul.

    • Chris Scott says

      I have a split coop and run at my farm. Before the very top of the coop was enclosed, one of my pullets got into the opposite coop. I found her hiding in a corner, scalped. Not sure if the cockerel or older pullets or both attacked her. It was so gruesome. It was my fault for not fully enclosing her side. So, I took her to my vet. She stayed overnight, was stitched up and sent home with 3 meds. She was segregated from the others while healing. Then part of her wound got infected. The vet cut the infection out, sent her home with more meds. Didn’t work. Vet did a second set of stitches. More meds. This is over 6 weeks or so. Been to the vet probably 4 or 5 times. $800 later, she’s almost good as new and I just integrated her with my home flock. I did it because it was my fault for not protecting her. The reality is I have 50 chickens and cannot make vet visits a pattern! One other time, I paid $150 for a vet to handle a hen’s Bumblefoot. You really do need to make hard decisions and learn simple procedures or you will go broke!

  4. Winfield Yount says

    You know, I’m glad to see someone print some of this stuff. You always see these articles about how much fun they are and little kids holding them. I suppose it’s possible to play with one from a really young age where you can do that but otherwise they’ll come around only when they know foods coming and then walk (and poop) on your feet. They are really mean to the lower order hens. They’re dumber than a box of rocks. Ive watched then try and jam themselves through chicken wire than go through an open door that’s less than 2 feet away. The same door they came through to start. The same door all the others went out through. They dig lots of holes for dusting themselves. My 6 chickens have a quarter acre run and mowing it is like mowing a quarter acre of potholes, ha. Great article, I enjoyed it.

      • Alecia says

        I’m pretty sure all the goose poop keeps it going, honestly though it’s because they have a large area to range on. I have two full sized hens in a 4×8 coop (one is blind) and they kill the grass over a few days.

    • Marilyn says

      I do not agree that they are dumber than rocks. Mine know their names and come when called. They are a joy to have.

  5. Elissa says

    Thank you. I still have too many roosters, but it’s good to hear your story. I have been the vet. I’m not going to eat them and if one needs to be put down, I’ll have someone else do it. I have 14 separate enclosures and keep bantams separate from the larger ones.

  6. Anna says

    My goodness this post made me feel better! I’ve had chickens only since March this year and it’s been a total disaster! I obtained five adults. A month in and I came home to one very lethargic hen, and she died overnight. I received seven babies about a month later and within a week one had curly toes. I was able to fix one foot but she kept getting her brace off the other foot while I was at work and so at 10 weeks she will forever have curly toes on one foot. At around 4 weeks of age I found one of the babies had her skin slashed to the muscle from the back of her neck to the front. Long story short at 10 weeks old, we still have a chicken living in our bathroom as the other baby’s are relentlessly picking on her. I still don’t have a solution to that problem. The very first night I had ever let my pullets (at 8 weeks) range in a 10’x16′ enclosure for only two, mostly supervised, hours, right before bed a loud kerfuffle happened and a bird was missing. This happened at the brink of dusk and I cried all night long because I felt it was my fault. The very next day I came home to the neighbor’s dog who had someone found their way into the fenced in area, but thankfully not into the coop where the babies were still locked up. I wrangled the dog and took her to her home only to return and find, low and behold, my missing chicken! Almost 24 hours after her disappearance she was hanging around outside the fenced in area. In that same week I locked my adults in their coop for the night and one was breathing like she had a giant wad of snot in her throat and the very next day the same bird was spotted limping. I could ID the bumblefoot but was unsure of the best way to handle the respiratory issue so off to the vet we went and now every night I’m wrangling a bird to shove a syringe of antibiotics down her throat. I’ve had chickens for five months and it’s be a disaster every step of the way. However, they still warm my heart and make me laugh when they run their goofy run at the sight of me and a treat bag and I bring my house chicken out to the couch every night where she snuggles deeply into my neck for warmth even though she’s now too big to fit properly.

  7. Jamie says

    We have a large mixed flock and I was cleaning out the nest boxes today and found a maran hen hiding with a swollen shut eye, scalped with most of her comb gone. Picking the feathers out of the polish heads is one thing. The guilty chicken better hope I don’t find out who they are!

    • Anonymous says

      If I know who they are I usually throw bullies, egg eaters and chick attackers out of the pen to free range and continue to feed them I have discovered that free rangers are better layers and if I the laying areas daily I can usually save the eggs. I once had a hen who would eat her previous egg before laying her next egg. I eventually sold her because she was one of my biggest hens she was bought by someone who wasn’t planning on keeping her for eggs.

    • Anonymous says

      That’s hard to read:( I haven’t had any of these problems. Maybe it’s just blessing. I’m a year and a half in and I have a flock of 42. They free range on a fenced off near-quarter acre, and I put a lot of work into securing their area against escape and against predators (anti-dig with buried hardware cloth, anti-air via bright colored twine). They sleep in a secured coop made from a resin shed from Costco which is cleaned out regularly. They eat mainly Scratch & Peck Organic Layer mixed with cheaper grains, and I follow Lisa Steele’s books and feed them garlic and apple cider vinegar and herbs in their water and such to keep sickness away. The “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” has been my approach, and reading these stories makes me really think it’s true. Again maybe I’ve just been lucky, but not all experiences are this bad!

  9. Lorraine says

    This made me laugh, having chickens for the last three years has been an emotional rollercoaster. It’s true, all the online info talks about how wonderful, fluffy and cute they are living in their poop free coops complete with window curtains.
    But as we all know it’s way more trouble and heartache than this rosy picture paints. We’ve had health issues, sudden deaths, bullying, feather eating, escapes, dog attacks….the list just goes on.
    We had a wonderful rooster, looked after 17 girls in the end, one day he just lay dead in the coop, stiff as a board. The girls had all gone out to play and left him there. I did invest in some chicken expert to do an autopsy to find out what happened and apparently he died of a liver infection. Who knew such a thing could happen.
    Chickens are mean, ungrateful and selfish, they make a huge mess and have dug dust baths everywhere, cost a fortune (the new coop palace didn’t help the budget). And they are freeloaders as they are not producing many eggs at all. (Maybe a new rooster will help with that) BUT they crack me up, are super fun to watch, they love you when you have food in your hand. Wouldn’t be without them now.

  10. Ronald says

    This is just a half of it I raise chickens and in the winter time if your is not heated your eggs will freeze they’ll eat their eggs chickens poop everywhere they come to the house they poop on the deck is like playing hopscotch sometimes chickens will destroy the garden the rooster can be very nasty and attack you and Peck at you it takes 20 some weeks before they lay their first eggs in the summer time they’re going into m o l t don’t lay they only produce for about two to three years on the only bright side their poop is great for the garden and I have met some loving chickens not many

  11. Cecilie says

    Thank you for your informative article.
    I’ve heard of Merek’s, but not bumblefoot, internal laying, or anything else except for mites, egg eating, cannibalism, and spuring.
    Many years with chickens, I guess I’m lucky to have healthy flocks.
    I control mites, flies, & internal parasites with food grade diatomaceous earth (de).
    I also control flies, mites, poop & rotten feed smells with lime.
    I read if your hens are laying blood smeared eggs, it’s a worm problem. I generously mix dm with their feed as well as our cat and dog’s food. No worms here.
    Spuring gets a hot tub visit.
    Egg eating never had a problem. I actually feed eggs and shells to my flock. They are already cooked crushed, or whatever to make absolutely sure they no longer resemble eggs and do try to mix with other scraps.
    I had one rooster who sadly died because the terrible twins (a white silky bantam, and a standard size dominate rooster kept him away from food and water. The terrible twins were great at protecting our flock, but the 3rd was my son’s pet.
    Now, my most recent flock, had four fowl move out because two were roosters. They took their favorite ‘girl’ and have gone on to be show-birds.
    When any hen or rooster now ever seems to be pecked on too much, I remove them until healed and use bacterial ointment. Then, when healed, I put on them bird-stilts so they can dominate!
    Please, please don’t let children kiss or hold chickens! Illness is inevitable unless your babies do not put them near their faces, keep their hands away from themselves after handling or petting until they’ve washed their contact areas. Footwear worn in the areas of possible poop should be muck boots which are immediately rinsed off, bagged in a mud room or changed before entering any area humans walk barefoot.
    OK…sorry I ran on. I hope someone else is helped by my experience.
    Oh, I forgot to mention, I’ve raised hundreds of meat chickens and have a bloodless, calm way for euthanasia without bruising the meat.

    • Jody says

      So what is this “bloodless way” to kill chickens. Don’t they have to be drained of blood to cook?

  13. Debbie Schipper says

    I have had my flock of 20 for 18 months and have faced all of the above. Our chickens are loved and cared for but stuff happens and you absolutely nailed it all in this article. Well written and thanks for taking the time. Debbie in Nebraska.

  14. Melody says

    Maybe u or someone on here could help I have 8 chickens 2 are 3 weeks younger, we have never been able to flock them together because they act like they wanna kill the 2 younger ones. Should I forever leave them apart or just put them together and hope for the best I feel terrible the 2 are secluded but ur right chickens r assholes and only 1 of the other 6 let me even touch her. I’m lost on what to do

    • Alecia says

      How have you tried to introduce them? My go to method is to put the new birds in a wire dog crate in the coop so they get to know the other birds with some protection and they get a sense of where they need to sleep. I let them out after 3 or days to join the flock. There will be some scuffles but it should settle down quickly. 2-3 weeks isn’t that big of a difference so they should be similar in size unless the 2 new birds are a different breed.

  15. Teresa says

    Let’s not forget about pasty butt. Never thought I’d be holding a tiny chick under the faucet washing its butt for a week.

    • Alecia says

      That’s always a struggle, it’s even worse with dark colored chicks because it’s so easy to miss. If it’s a consistent issue they may be too cold, you could also try an electrolyte supplement. You can also take a small pair of scissors and clip off the feathers around the vent so the poop has nothing to stick too.

  16. Chicky says

    Person who has the slightly different aged chickens what you are seeing is the practice pecking order and right now the game is rigged the oldest and biggest have all the asshole cards.
    When everyone reaches point of lay then a new pecking order will be established based on individual personalities and not age or size.
    Still, keep a close eye on them as im sure you’ve picked up on they’ll kill each other no problem.

  17. Catherine says

    This post is so funny because it’s true. When I was in high school we had ten chickens and after a year or two (I don’t remember for sure), they were all gone. Mostly coyotes and foxes (despite everything my dad tried), but some just died for no damn reason.
    I would also add guinea hens to this list because those are some of the dumbest birds on the planet. Don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty. They eat bugs. But that’s about it. lol
    I’m not sure if I want chickens again or not, I’m still on the fence about it. 😉

    • Alecia says

      Guineas are the worst! I was talking to the vet about them and she nailed it when she said “They’re good at eating ticks and dying”

  18. pauletta says

    I love reading this article finally someone wrote honestly about chicken behaviors the good bad and ugly.

  19. Jill says

    BluKote is really only alcohol with blue dye in it. It’s not advised to use it on open wounds.
    Blue food coloring works much better and is not painful to the bird.

    • Alecia says

      BluKote is more than alcohol and food coloring, it contains gentian violet which is antifungal & antifungal; and acriflavine which is an antiseptic.

  20. Brittany says

    The immediate picture after “chickens get eaten” is what kind of chicken?
    Our neighbors moved and couldnt take their birds. I know for sure 1 is polish gold laced, but the other looks like your picture. Please help. I think mone may be a rooster though. I do not want roosters.