Do you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night to look out into the backyard to make sure everything is okay? Sure, maybe a lot of people do this, worried about prowlers, whether the dog was tied up or just want to check on the weather and see if the windows are closed, but do you do it because you are concerned about the chickens in your chicken coop? Believe it or not, many people are going through the exact same thing as you. They have been raising chickens on their own and have quickly developed chicken addiction, something that happens quite easily to people who start raising the birds. Here are 10 ways to get your chicken addiction under control and try to get your life back.
- Avoid the cuteness – it is the cuteness of the chicks that seems to suck in so many people. It can be really difficult to look the other way when you have one of those cute and fuzzy things in the palm of your hand and they start chirping at you, so you need to avoid doing that as often as you can or you will end up with more birds than ever.
- Stay away From Feed Stores – Keeping clear of the feed stores might help you to avoid stockpiling even more, not just feed, but more chickens! It might be hard for you to try to stay away, but remember it is for your own good.
- No more catalogs – Who knew there were so many catalogs associated with raising chickens? Is your mail more catalogs regarding feed, coops and accessories than it is letters or bills? Then it might be time for you to cut back and stop checking out every catalog that comes along.
- Carry pictures of your family – The pictures of your family need to go back into your wallet or purse and not the pictures of the chicks that were just born. If your social media page has more pictures of the chickens than your spouse or kids, you need to try and get things under better control.
- Avoid chicken paraphernalia – Just because it has the picture of a chicken on it does not mean that you need to own it. All of the other things you already own are probably more than enough to open your own store, so put down the chicken pot holders or salt and pepper shakers and move on to something else.
- Enjoy your vacation – When you go away for the weekend or even for the week, there is no reason for you to call home to check on the chickens. Odds are they are not going to answer the phone and talk to you anyway, so go back to your day at the beach and let the chickens be for a few days.
- Use your carpentry skills in other ways – Before the chickens, you barely knew how to handle a hammer and nails and now all of a sudden you are sharper than some of the guys on TV who build houses, but the problem is it is only on the chicken coop! The chickens do not really need luxury accommodations; try using the carpentry skills for your home, the kid’s treehouse or something else.
- Learn another language – Chicken does not really count as knowing a second language, yet you seem to understand exactly what the birds are saying and feeling all the time. That might be a sign that it is time to take up another language that you can use to talk to people, not just chickens.
- Remember your family – If you have kids, remember that they are your real kids, not the chickens. If you have found yourself giving the kids dirt baths or haircuts that look suspiciously like the hen brooding in the coop, it might be time to take a break from the birds and spend more time with the family.
- Go cold turkey – There was no way that this particular pun could be resisted when making a list like this. Besides, you could never just quit your chicken addiction that way, you love those birds!
