Indoor Pet Chickens

[WhtRos2]

they have diapers to wear when they are playing inside

they have diapers to wear when they are playing inside

How do you keep the diapers on them?
How young do you start them in diapers?
I've tried but they keep going backward and trying to get it off which they succeed no matter what I've tried. I've bought diapers and made my own also. The only time I was successful was when a hen was too sick and weak to struggle with it. When she was well enuf to get it off easily, she went back outside.
I would love to hear your suggestions.
Barbara (pronounced chee-keen lay-dee)

 

[lawson1986]

We have 4 quail ladies that live in the house in a guinea pig cage and a pair of silkies that live in the house; we have a huge enclosure for them that takes up half our living room. I clean it on the weekends. It is a wire A-frame enclosure, 32 square feet with a tarp for the bottom; and we use pine chips for the litter for the flooring. I clean it out thoroughly about 2x a month. They do create a bit of dust, but no bad Smell. The fact we have hard wood floors makes it easier to clean. When I do let them out to roam the living room, I just wet swifter mop behind them. They do snuggle with me on the couch and watch tv. I let them outside one time, and they absolutely wanted no parts of it. They are very spoiled birds and they get along well with the cats and dogs. I love my house chickens

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Do I keep chickens in the house?

One word. No.

I stopped brooding in the garage because of the horrible mess. I now brood only with hens in brooding hutches outdoors to avoid such mess (and fire hazard).

But if someone wants to do so and takes responsibility of the bird to make sure it gets enough mental stimulation and scratching time as well as properly cleaning and sanitizing after them (their poo has not only the usual eColi and Salmonella but it also harbors Histoplasmosis which can affect humans and their dander is a major contributor to asthma in susceptible poultry workers)....more power to them.

My gals (and fellas) are very, very, happy coop and yard birds who spend their time digging all day long in the bark compost, eating what's left of the grass (and my growing elderberry bushes...darn them), and chasing off any wandering neighbor cat.

I enjoy watching them do that...outside.

LofMc

 

[black_dove2]

My two spent first two months in their closet coop (I'm still cleaning the dust) i moved them outside and gave then a dog crate to sleep in at night. They used it two nights then flew to my window to roost. They only used it for the hottest part of the afternoon. I took away concerned it would be too hot. They still try to come in through window to sleep. I don't let them.

During the day if I call them they come to the window where I can pet them and they fuss at me. I don't want them in the house unless they were very sick

I too have wondered about the poor birds wet dirty but in a diaper. How do they lay eggs. I have trouble bathing my dogs I couldn't with a chicken.

But that's just me

 

[Killer Tomato]

I have a two teenage girls that are sleeping in my ONLY bathroom right now. I brooded them as chicks in the bathroom, hoping to slowly incorporate them to my flock (using the "playpen" method). My outdoor jerk-wad rooster is having none of it -- he's an aggressive #$%@@! and terrorizes them.

So, the girls have the outdoor playpen during the day, side by side with the grown free range flock. When the big kids go to bed, I collect the teenage girls (they hop on my shoulders and back) and I piggy back them to the bathroom to roost.

They are almost 16 weeks old. In another month, they will probably be laying! Hopefully in a coop by then.

I brooded my older birds in the bathroom too -- aside from my Roo, it's made us all very close.

Sigh. I really do want my bathroom back though.

 

[black_dove2]

I had a dove inside once, she died and never again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_fancier's_lung

I bought a dove years back that was raised in the house where I got her from. She didn't last very long either. It broke my heart because I also tried to let her go but she knew nothing about fending for herself

 

[Lizardlicks]

Blue has been a sort of indoor/outdoor chicken for that last few months. With the hot summer weather and no A/C, we leave the back door open with a box fan and open the windows for a cross breeze. Blue comes and goes as she pleases, usually inside during the hottest times of the day to drink out of the dog's water bowl (they all get ice in the morning, but by early afternoon when we have 100f weather, her outside water is already warm) and beg treats off the kids. Our floors are wood and linoleum, so any mess she makes is easy to sweep and mop. tbh she's probably way cleaner than the dog and cats.

Actually helps clean up too; the other week spouse was doing a deep kitchen clean and pulled out the trashcan to find some spilled food behind it had turned into a maggot party. He called Blue over, and she had a field day, lol.

 

[PeepersMama]

For the benefit of the chicken, no. Absolutely not. I would LOVE to have a couple (not just a lone chicken mind you) running around my house - gross my city slicking friends out even more

Two years ago we ended up rescuing an OEGB hen who our neighbors had been watching - the owner said she didnt want her anymore. The poor girl had been kept all alone, in a cage, for as far as we know her entire life. She was on the pudgy side from a life of eating bird seed, but MAN was she a sweet bird. She would peck dogs 1000x bigger than she was on the nose just because she didnt know better!
Anywhoo.... She had absolutely NO idea what to do with herself outside. Thankfully we had a broody hen with chicks that tolerated her following them around, and she learned to free range by hangin with the chicks.
Bossed alot of the standard birds around too once she got the hang of it. Sadly she passed away last year.... Very suddenly.

Moral of the story? Chickens are NOT happy in the house. Its more fun for us than it is for them, and in the long run its downright BAD for them - and us!

 

[dwidick]

I've got 9 orpingtons 5 buff and 4 lavender. I allow then in the house one at a time from time to time to sit with us. They are all very tame. We don't allow them to run freely through the house just to sit with us for about 30 mins and then take them back out. Any longer then that we end up with a poop mess. The buffs are a year and a half the lavenders are almost a year but they enjoy the lap time. Before I bring them in they get their feet washed off. Coop is kept clean for obvious hygiene reasons. We are animal people even the chickens are part of the family.

 

[Christine972]

I started my chicks inside in a brooder box and then moved them into a larger brooder in the garage after several weeks. Then they went outside into the coop at about six weeks. During the time they were in the house they did not produce as much dust as I would have expected. If I ever have to nurse a sick or injured bird I would do it inside in a large cage. Hope it is never necessary though!☺