What age chicken should I get?

shamans · Jan 26, 2013

Hey guys. I've been interested in birds for some time and I want to get a chicken now. I think it will be cool to get one as a pet.

I've found some good aseel chicks for sale nearby. They are being sold at one day, 1-2 weeks. and two weeks to a month.

I have some questions.

Can chickens be as tame as parots? A friend of mine said a chicken will never be comfortable with you holding it and he'll never get attached to you. Is that true?

and if they can be tamed I suppose the younger the better but how young is good enough to be tamed yet not requiring A LOT of care?

Replies would be appreciated.

(p,s: I'm getting a rooster and a hen because I don't care about my neighbours

)

skeeter4488 · Jan 26, 2013

I got my chicks at a day old and I wouldn't change that at all. They grow so extremely fast that if you wait and get them at a month old, you'll regret not seeing them develop from little handheld bitties to actual birds. I'm looking forwrd to incubating and hatching a few of my own chicks. As far as being tame and getting attached to you.. I've never had a parrot, so I cannot relate, but I can tell you that I have a couple of hens who let me hold them and they come right up to me when I come to the coop door. Some of the other hens are a little shy. The baby chicks actually required less care than when they got older. When they got older, they pooped a lot bigger and a lot more. I had to clean the brooder out every day. As chicks, you can just clean it once a week or so for the first 2-3 weeks.

roostersandhens · Jan 26, 2013

GET REALLY YOUNG ONES! i got young ones so i could tame them now they are soooo sweet if i were u i would get 2 chicks in your case!

donrae · Jan 26, 2013

If you're looking for chickens as pets, I'd not go with an aseel or anything similar. Chickens overall aren't bred to be pets, but breeds like silkies and ornamental bantam breeds seem to be more tolerant of frequent handling.

Age depends on if you're able to care for a day old chick and grow it until it can live outside. Do you have a brooder area and somewhere to grow the birds out? If so, chicks are fine. If not, go with grown birds who don't need as much support.

Most adolescent or young adult birds tame down just fine with food. Food is the great motivator for most animals!

shamans · Jan 26, 2013

skeeter4488 said:
I got my chicks at a day old and I wouldn't change that at all. They grow so extremely fast that if you wait and get them at a month old, you'll regret not seeing them develop from little handheld bitties to actual birds. I'm looking forwrd to incubating and hatching a few of my own chicks. As far as being tame and getting attached to you.. I've never had a parrot, so I cannot relate, but I can tell you that I have a couple of hens who let me hold them and they come right up to me when I come to the coop door. Some of the other hens are a little shy. The baby chicks actually required less care than when they got older. When they got older, they pooped a lot bigger and a lot more. I had to clean the brooder out every day. As chicks, you can just clean it once a week or so for the first 2-3 weeks.

Hey, thanks for the reply

Did you have to take care of your day old chick a lot?

Also, by some of the other hens being "a little shy" do you mean that they are just afraid of you despite you handling them from a young age?

roostersandhens said:
GET REALLY YOUNG ONES! i got young ones so i could tame them now they are soooo sweet if i were u i would get 2 chicks in your case!

Hey. Yes I'm going to get two because I've heard one isn't good enough. I want to get a rooster for it's crowing and a hen for the eggs. But somehow.. I feel a little grossed to be eating fertilized eggs :/

donrae said:
If you're looking for chickens as pets, I'd not go with an aseel or anything similar. Chickens overall aren't bred to be pets, but breeds like silkies and ornamental bantam breeds seem to be more tolerant of frequent handling.

Age depends on if you're able to care for a day old chick and grow it until it can live outside. Do you have a brooder area and somewhere to grow the birds out? If so, chicks are fine. If not, go with grown birds who don't need as much support.

Most adolescent or young adult birds tame down just fine with food. Food is the great motivator for most animals!

Hey

I thought aseel were good as pets because they were bred for cock fighting which involves a lot of human handling and being calm with humans. Heard they are intelligent as well? Besides I just love their tall look and the fact that you don't have to be afraid of predators (cats and crows) because I've seen aseels fight back.

And as for care how much are are we talking?

It's a bit cold here-like 7-8 degrees celsius and may get to 2 when the night is bitter cold. I read about having a 250 watt lamp ect. Not sure if I have all the equipment for that though.

p.s: I hate cockfights and think they are brutal incase you think I am buying it for that.

skeeter4488 · Jan 27, 2013

They weren't hard to take care of as baby chicks. I just kept my eye on them to make sure that they weren't eating the pine chips, which none of them did and that they had plenty of water and food. I also gave them some probiotics their first week, which isn't hard. I just added it to their water.

I don't know why they are shy. We handled them a lot as they were little bitties, but after a few weeks we didn't really handle them that much. That might be the cause.

shamans · Jan 27, 2013

Well I would love to get chicks of a day!

'
I am thinking I might have to get one extra because of well , "infant fattality" rate in young chicks?

The guy selling them says I have to wait for 10 days and he'll have new born chicks.

Bellatrixed · Jan 27, 2013

It's possible to have a good pet chicken, but do a lot of research before picking a breed! This site has excellent breed reviews up on the "Breeds" tab at the top to get you started. Look for breeds that people say are calm, friendly, easily handled, non-aggressive, docile, etc. I know nothing about Aseel, but people have marked them with those attributes - Aseel. The thing is that they are also marked as aggressive, which I imagine means they fight with each other. I personally would steer away from any game type chicken as a pet and go for bantams or some of the standards known for being reasonably friendly/calm. For reference, I also want pet-ish (since they will live outside) chickens and picked d'Uccles, Salmon Faverolles, Australorps, Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Spitzhauben, White Faced Black Spanish and Plymouth Rocks.

Not all breeds are created equal though. Despite being handled from a young age, some chickens just grow up to be super afraid of everything and for lack of a better word, dumb. I've had chickens run to greet me and chickens that try to kill themselves slamming into a fence and screaming despite me holding a bowl of treats the other ones love. lol

Raising baby chickens is incredibly easy. I can't think of many baby animals that require less care. Basically all they need is 24/7 access to food and water, heat, and bedding that gets cleaned regularly. If you want them as pets, I highly suggest getting day olds and spending lots of time talking to them and hand feeding them.

Two other points!

You say you want "a" chicken, but realize that chickens are social animals and need at least one other chicken present to be healthy/happy.
Please don't assume that any breed of chicken is safe from predators! I have seen adult geese be attacked by coyotes in broad daylight--a chicken, regardless of breed, isn't safe if a predator is really determined.

shamans · Jan 27, 2013

Bellatrixed said:
It's possible to have a good pet chicken, but do a lot of research before picking a breed! This site has excellent breed reviews up on the "Breeds" tab at the top to get you started. Look for breeds that people say are calm, friendly, easily handled, non-aggressive, docile, etc. I know nothing about Aseel, but people have marked them with those attributes - Aseel. The thing is that they are also marked as aggressive, which I imagine means they fight with each other. I personally would steer away from any game type chicken as a pet and go for bantams or some of the standards known for being reasonably friendly/calm. For reference, I also want pet-ish (since they will live outside) chickens and picked d'Uccles, Salmon Faverolles, Australorps, Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Spitzhauben, White Faced Black Spanish and Plymouth Rocks.

Not all breeds are created equal though. Despite being handled from a young age, some chickens just grow up to be super afraid of everything and for lack of a better word, dumb. I've had chickens run to greet me and chickens that try to kill themselves slamming into a fence and screaming despite me holding a bowl of treats the other ones love. lol

Raising baby chickens is incredibly easy. I can't think of many baby animals that require less care. Basically all they need is 24/7 access to food and water, heat, and bedding that gets cleaned regularly. If you want them as pets, I highly suggest getting day olds and spending lots of time talking to them and hand feeding them.

Two other points!

You say you want "a" chicken, but realize that chickens are social animals and need at least one other chicken present to be healthy/happy.
Please don't assume that any breed of chicken is safe from predators! I have seen adult geese be attacked by coyotes in broad daylight--a chicken, regardless of breed, isn't safe if a predator is really determined.

Thanks for the informative post

I am looking into other breeds but the problem is, any other breed is quite expensive where I live (Pakistan) because they aren't common. I've researched on aseels and apart from them being considered as "beautiful" animals over here for the price they come as chicks they are very good. Also; seeing a lot of people handle their aseels like puppies (okay slight exaggeration)
has inclined me towards them. That said, I am trying to do some more research on local breeds.

Good to know baby chickens are easy to handle. How much heat do they require? I heard a constant supply of 240 Watt bulb? I guess I can expect a hefty electricity bill this month then

And yes of course. I will be getting at least two but at most three chickens. As for the predators, I know the risks and the importance of keeping them safe. My cousins aseel was also attacked by a dog. (some a**hole kids threw the chickn infront of some unsocialized agressive dog to watch a show). Where I live though is a highly urban settlement. The only animals here are pet dogs. Also, in Pakistan houses have boundary walls like 6 feet high at least.

Now without trying to sound too dumb, I have a question. How much does a rooster crow? I used to think they only do it in the morning (which I still sort of believe because at night they are sleeping-how can they crow?) but even so, how much does it crow? Will it become unbearable because right now the only reason I'm getting a rooster apart from the looks is that fact that it crows.

and lastly...I'm just wondering..how do people get company for aseels because they fight with each other? I mean... I'm getting a rooster and 1-2 hens but if someone were to get say 3 aseels what do they do? Do they not want to be together?

aaaaaaaaaand is there any way I can make my future aseel not fertilize the eggs I wish to eat?

Bellatrixed · Jan 27, 2013

I'm not exactly sure on the wattage of the bulb--I just use whatever sort of bulb normally comes in a heat lamp. I'll have to check the wattage

Roosters crow a -lot-. I used to keep a bunch of roosters because I figured it couldn't be too bad... it is! lol. They crow seemingly all the time and the only time they really shut up is when they're asleep it seems. Some breeds are worse than others but you can be assured of fairly frequent crowing for a rooster regardless.

I don't know much about the Aseels but based on experience with other aggressive breeds I would assume a rooster and hens would be okay. Multiple roosters would probably be bad, and some of the hens may fight more than normal to establish a pecking order. A small number should be fine though!

As for the fertilizing of eggs--there's no way to keep them from being fertilized if you keep a rooster with your hens,but so long as you pick up the eggs and refrigerate/eat them right away, it doesn't matter that they're fertilized.

What age chicken should I get?

More options

shamans

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skeeter4488

In the Brooder

roostersandhens

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donrae

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shamans

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skeeter4488

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shamans

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Bellatrixed

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shamans

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Bellatrixed

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