Indoor Pet Chickens

[Michelle Guynn]

 

[chickenlover chickencrazy]

i have a house chicken

tiny (the hen in my avatar) is my favorite, but she is partially lame and blind in one eye, so i decided to keep her inside. she couldn't fly to the roost and was having trouble getting enough to eat. most of the younger hens picked on her, so she hid behind my rooster raven most of the time. she's been living inside for about six months now and is doing a whole lot better. she can't have the run of the house, but she has a large rabbit cage and i let her out whenever i'm there to lay down towels (i can't put a chicken diaper on her, since it's already hard for her to walk). she also comes with me every evening when i go out to close up the chickens so she can see her friends. the next time she goes broody, we're going to let her hatch some chicks, so maybe she won't be so lonely!

oh and she lives in my bedroom...yes i said in my bedroom. maybe i'm crazy, but

I have kept chicks in my house for a couple of months every time I hatch them. I often take the tiny newborns out (from the dog crate they sleep in) for a snuggle with me on my bed or on the sofa (I make sure they have fully fluffed feathers and that they don't get cold). I tried using towels but I found it a right pain. So I used old newspapers. It worked really well and was super easy to clean up!

 

[Lin Klein]

My girls are happy in the house. Miss Bitty was terrified the times I tried to put her in the outdoor run. I brought Sky in so that she had a friend. She and Sky stroll around the utility room, wing to wing (holding hands, so to speak) chatting together. They fly up on a shelf while I'm doing laundry and watch every move I make. Some days I feels like they're telling me how to wash the clothes! They have toys to play with and seem to love to look at the chickens in the mirror. The only time they wear diapers is when I bring them into the living room. They go outside to scratch in the dirt and hunt bugs and such nearly everyday, under my watchful eye. So far I have had any big messes to clean up.

 

[mskluck]

Awe, I'm so sorry about Blue.

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!

She sounded lovely! Your a good chicken mommy

 

[drumstick diva]

Nowadays there are threads : "people with house chickens," and "show us your house ducks." Some even have geese in the home and that is a whole lotta poo poo. My friend has had house chickens for probably close to 30 years - various breeds but mostly bantams. Currently she has 2 matronly serama hens & 1 silkie hen. The seramas don't like the silkie and harass her until she runs off screaming.

 

[ChickenyChickeny]

I like my chickens outside or in the freezer where God intended them to be

but chickens are to cute to eat

 

[extrememainer]

I have chickens too and I would love them to be in the house but I think they would feel a little bit closed in. I highly encourage the experience of the great outdoors for everyone but if you let them out it would be just great but I'm not sure that chicken diapers are good for a permanent situation and I entirely agree that the smell wouldn't be all that great but I love that you are thinking about that for your chicken. Maybe you could get them paper trained. That would be awesome! Good luck

 

[extrememainer]

lol

 

[PeepersMama]

but chickens are to cute to eat

I love my chickens TONS, but they are a food source - any nasty roos get sent to freezer camp, and we've got 2 hens we're gonna eat this year too.

 

[extrememainer]

I agree I'm a vegetarian but I like to eat fish but I don't think that I could eat a chicken.