Which are Better Pets? Dogs vs. Chickens

Find out which make better pets in this posting that compares chickens and dogs.

Dogs are the most popular pet in America and Europe.  But do they deserve that status?  Let's do a side-by-side comparison of dogs and chickens to find out which make better pets:

Daily Feeding

• Chickens:  Fill the feeder as needed; generally, just a few times per week.
• Dogs: Feed every day, two times each day.  Supplement with table scraps when begging occurs.
  
• Winner -- Chickens.
  

Daily Upkeep

• Chickens:  Let them out of the coop in the morning.  Close the coop at night.
• Dogs:  Put on your coat and go out in the pouring rain or snow to walk your dog.  Do this two or three times each day for a minimum of 20 minutes each time.  When you get home, use a towel to wipe off your dogs feet or suffer with muddy paw prints on your floors.  In urban and suburban locations, you need to clean up after your pooch, so talk along your pooper scooper and dog bags.  Having fun yet?
• Winner -- Chickens

Household Inconveniences

• Chickens: None.  They live in a coop outside, so you have your home to yourself.  Clean the coop once per week -- takes about 20 minutes.
• Dogs:  Dogs generally live with you, so dog hair gathers on your floors and your furniture as well, because dogs sleep on the couch whenever they can get away with it.  And of course, there are those little accidents on the floor now and again which you'll need to clean up.  Get out those paper towels.
• Winner -- Chickens
  

Cute & Cuddly

• Chickens:  Tame enough to hold, but not exactly what I'd call cuddly.
• Dogs:  Definitely cute and cuddly.  And then there are those sad brown eyes looking at you.
• Winner -- Dogs

Eggs

• Chickens:  Each girl gives you a wonderfully fresh egg that you couldn't buy at the grocery store for love or money.  You get one egg per day from each bird.
• Dogs:  If you've collected any eggs from your dog, post a comment because we'd all like to know about it.
• Winner -- Chickens

Play Fetch

• Chickens:  Generally, not very capable retrievers.  Practice not likely to improve performance.
• Dogs:  Dogs love to fetch sticks, balls, Frisbees, you name it, a dog will retrieve it.
  
• Winner -- Dogs

Eat Backyard Pests

• Chickens:  Love to eat slugs, bugs, and other creepy crawley critters.
• Dogs:  Don't kid yourself, dogs eat anything.  I once saw my dog eat a spider.
• Winner -- Tie between Dogs and Chickens
  

Provide A Source of Meat

• Chickens:  You can eat 'em if you want to.
• Dogs:  Not unless you live in a very poor country or you have a sick mind.
• Winner -- Chickens

Welcome You

• Chickens:  Come running to the door of the pen when they see you because they are hoping for treats (chicken scratch)
• Dogs:  Come running to the door of the house when they see you because they are hoping for treats (Milk Bones, Liva Snaps etc.)
• Winner -- Tie between Dogs and Chickens
  

And the Winner Is....

Well with all the categories tallied chickens prove to be far superior pets. 

Ok, it's a tongue in cheek comparison, but here's the real point.... Chickens are actually much easier to take care of than you might think.

The hardest thing you need to do is to build a coop and you really don't even need to do that.  You can buy a coop locally or through the internet.  There are even manufacturers making coops with high style modern designs to fit into urban environments. Check out the Eglu Cube and other coop models from this manufacturer in the UK.

If you currently own chickens, post a comment and let me know if you agree with me about how easy it is to keep chickens. 

If you are considering raising chickens, but have not taken the plunge, let me know if you have any questions I can help you with.

Comments

[Michaele]

My biggest challenge as being a fan of both dogs and chickens - is having a bird dog. But then again, every breed I have owned from a poodle to a pyrenees has ended up being a bird dog. : (

[H. Mark Delman]

Hi Michaele:

I have Labs, the classic bird dog, but they dont seem all that interested in the chickens. Granted the chickens are in a pen, but I would expect the dogs to express greater interest in some way -- digging under under the fence, charging the pen etc But nothing. Oh well.

[Miss Sebright]

Chickens are by far much easier to take care of. I have 8 chickens, that take very little care per day. I have 2 dogs that take more work, and demand attention. I love them all, but the chooks are my favorite.

[H. Mark Delman]

I think the fact that chickens are easy to keep is really known only to those that have them. Its a surprise to most folks and the primary reason why I wrote this post. I want to encourage people interested in backyard gardening to add chickens to the mix. They are super easy, fun and provide wonderful fresh eggs. My kids love them.

[Olivia]

I'm really a fan of chickens. They are very easy to keep. i agree with Mark Delman. i vote chickens and i believe they won.
Best Wishes,
Olivia

[Mark Delman]

Hi Olivia:

Just curious, how many chickens do you own?

[Andrea]

I got chickens last year after owning many other types of pets my whole life. No question about it, if I had to give up all animals except 1 species, I would choose to keep CHICKENS! I absolutely love them, more than I ever thought I would. :-) They're easy, fairly self-sufficient, very entertaining, and of course the eggs are delicious!

[H. Mark Delman]

Thanks Andrea. Same with us - dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, fish. Nothing better than chickens.

[Olivia]

Mark Delman, i have 6 chickens. i have 16 chicks in the basement. The 16 chicks are straight run, my mom thinks they're all roosters. she does not want roosters. we killed 2 from our previous order because they were roosters. My previous order has the 6 chickens. used to have 8 before those 2 were gone!!
Olivia

[Olivia]

my dog lays me an egg every morning!! Guess who scoops it up off the lawn!

[Olivia]

i have a story about my chicks also. this was taken last winter. well, my chicken Rita was in the coop. after 4 minutes, she slipped out. we don't have a top on our coop, but it was so cold last night the snow in their run turned to ice! Rita ice skated to the feeder. luckily, it wasn't frozen. she ice skated to the waterer. it was frozen!!! Rita started to peck at the ice, which made the plastic feeder fall from the can it was on, and all the chickens ran for their lives!!! well, then Rita finally found a way to crack the ice!!!!!

[H. Mark Delman]

Hi Olivia, thanks for your comments. I love the chicken ice skating story. Maybe shell make the US olympic team. Just needs to find a rooster to partner with for the ice dancing pairs event.

[Cat Care]

According To me ...Dog is a Best one...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Viva-Magazine-Your-Premium-Womens-Natural-Health-Magazine/262734921452?ref=ts

[Pet Care]

Although chickens are easy to maintain. I prefer dogs or cats..
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=817789614&email=7cff47bb7cdcb76fbfa15e66c81a1961

[H. Mark Delman]

Hi Jerry:

I have two Labrador Retrievers and a bunch of chickens. I like dogs alot as well. Most people think raising chickens is hard because they are not really familiar with them or havent even considered it as a possibility.
I wrote this post to make people more aware of chickens as viable pets.

-PlanterTomato (Mark)

[Olivia]

Hi Mark, I'll get her a rooster to partner with! Rita is my sweetest chicken out of my 6 chicken flock!

[Pet Network]

I'm going to subscribe to this blog because it's very interesting

[H. Mark Delman]

Thanks for subscribing! Theres also a Podcast version of my post you can subscribe to if you prefer to listen to these postings, rather than read them.
If you are interested in animals, you can observe bees working at the honey bee hive in my backyard. You can see the bees on a live web cam during daylight hours in the U.S. The best times are 11:00 am to 5:00 pm US Pacific Time. The link to the honey bee camera is: http://www.plantertomato.com/2010/05/honey-bee-web-cam-streaming-video.html