Indoor Pet Chickens

[franklinstreetwest]

I had a house roo for a little while. It started out because he was special needs. He still isn't quite "right", and at the time we didn't think he would ever be ok to live in a flock. We never got as far as diapers...we just kept him in a pen with ample floor space and newspaper while we were away, and when we were home he was loose and we would follow around with the special chicken washcloth, put his poop in the toilet and spot-wash as he went. It wasn't to bad. No worse than the cats and their long hair that always seems to have poop stuck to it when they jump in our laps, or on the couch. Or when they spend all night vomiting on the floors and you play slip and slide to the bathroom in the dark....yuck! He didn't smell bad when we were custom blending whole grains and mealworms. When we started feeding him crumbles, he smelled like fermenting corn. As far as dust went, we vacuum daily and just slapped the curtain brush on to dust his cage and the surrounding area, piece of cake!!

--DO NOT leave the bird out while you're vacuuming and leave the vacuum handle on the floor while you move stuff...inquisitive little bird heads suck right into the hose easily! Learned the hard way, poor Weeble.

Weeble is no longer a house roo. He was adapting, but not happy. He needed more time to socialize and forage. We took a chance and re-introduced him to the Evil Dinka (showgirl) that beat him up and left him brain damaged. It worked out famously, and he is much happier being a surrogate dad and loving companion. They spend hours grooming.

I would totally keep a permanent house chicken, if I could find one that had the right personality for it. Or perhaps a pair of very small breed chickens like Serama. That way they could talk chicken to eachother and feel comfortable in thier own private flock while also being part of a household.

 

[faerylover02]

we have 3 chickens that are household pets. it isn't much different than having a parrot or any other big pet bird. they have diapers to wear when they are playing inside and a large hutch on the mud porch they sleep in. they go outside as they please, but are actually very spoiled and like to watch tv and listen to music with my daughters. their hutch is cleaned as needed and always has fresh pine chips so there is no smell. they are very pampered, well behaved, affectionate ladies. i do notice a little more dust, but that's about it. i wouldn't trade them for the world.

 

[Presidential]

"House Chickens"!! LOL!! Never heard of such a thing.

Not for me - but, I can see why some folks enjoy this type of house pet!
(Chickens are waaayy more affectionate than I ever would have imagined).

 

[renaissance]

hi im new to this site and have posted a question already. i couldnt help but comment but i keep my chickens indoors. they are not house trained instead i go around after them picking up there poo. you have to watch what they eat like veg/salad as this will make there poo runny. my flat is lovely and clean there is no smell thankyou very much. my chickens have never been outside in there life so when the back door is open they just sit there not wanting to go out. they are hand tame and very affectionate. raised by me love the company of humans, used to loud noise, hoover music etc, dont bother them. my friends somtimes bring there dogs round they attack the dogs there not scared. of an evening they roost on me while watching tv before i put them to bed. at night and when im out they go in there cage that is where there food/water bowls are and where they lay there eggs. i did have a pekin rooster (EMI) he was house trained but he went to a farm because of the noise at 5am. i live in a ground floor flat with a shared garden in portsmouth england but they dont go out. only my next door neighbours, family and friends no i have chickens. my eldest hen is just over a year and she is a bantam cross normal egg laying breed(Renaissance). my new hen which ive just brought is an 8week old polish bantam hen (Essence). ive posted a question on BYC HOPE ALOT OF YOU CAN HELP ME OUT thankyou

 

[Retvi]

I have an indoor pullet. She and her two sisters were in the coop outside with the other seven who are slightly bigger. They'd been out there for about a month. Then I went to feed them one morning, one of the three was dead, one was injured, and one was injured so badly, she had to be put down.
Needless to say, the one that did survive is an indoor chicken now. She's very sweet and not a bit scared of the seven cats!
The only problem is that her butt STINKS! It doesn't smell like any of the other chickens' butts. It's very lingering. I just made her her first diaper last night. It helps, but the smell is still there.
She eats the same food as the other seven.
Any ideas?

 

[swga]

Ok, I guess I qualify here... I have a coop outside, but I was injured and needed surgery, so it was never finished enough to be a predator-proof nighttime coop. So my 3 girls I let outside in the coop on nice days, and bring them in at night. I keep them inside when the weather is nasty, also.
I have a wire dog crate with their perches in it, and a wire dog run around it. I have heavy duty plastic rug runners I hot-glued together underneath the run and they come up the sides also to keep the chicken litter in. I use wood shavings for the litter. The run is covered with screen that is clipped to the sides of the run with butterfly clips. This is mostly to keep the cats out, not the chickens in! The cats love to get in there and sleep in the nest box. The chickens don't care, and don't even make a fuss. I'll go check on who laid that day, and surprise! there's a big fat happy cat keeping the eggs warm. Maybe I should have them hatch some eggs for me!
On cold nights when we need to bring in our big dog (who thinks the chickens look tasty) we close the dog crate door when they are on their roosts to keep them protected should she try to get them.
We clean out the dog crate more frequently than the big run, since they poop there more on the roost, and the big run whenever it needs it. It's really not that much work. The screen needs to be vacuumed every so often also because it does catch dust they kick up.
If you are ill like I was for a long time, nothing beats a house chicken run... it's a great way to keep them protected and your house from being a disaster, while making sure your chickens are well taken care of.

 

[AmyLM]

I had to keep one hen inside due to her having health problems for a while.... and let me tell you.. even though I cleaned her coop every day (multiple times a day) the smell wasn't pleasant. I wouldn't recommend chickens inside.... and not to mention the fact that she was miserable being kept inside. She hated it!

 

[Karamel Bunnie]

I have indoor chickens and I keep them as pets I got into chickens because I love animals and I have had the weirdest pets my dad have ducks so I start being interested in different kinds of pets
My chicks are very loving and very interesting to play with but I'm very new at this I don't know what to really say so I guess I can start with their names an what they are:

The Sugar Rush Gang

My Araucana: Hen

3-5 weeks old
Vanillope Von Schweetz

My Black Jersey Giant: Hen

3-5 weeks old
Twix Snowanna Winterdrop

My Silkie: I don't know I think its a rooster

lil ones 1-2 weeks old
Taffy Kotton Kandie

My might be Wihte Rockon't know yet but i think that its a rooster

4-5 weeks old
Peeps Lemonhead Woodstock

My feathered foot Bantam: Hen

lil ones 1-2 weeks old
Karamel Butter-Scotch

Yes they have middle and lastnames lol I call them the Sugar Rush Gang
I was watching that movie Wreck-it Ralph lol But Peeps was my first I called him peeps because thats all he did was peep peep peep
but the others was so sweet like kandie so I named them after sweet treats lol
They all get along great but because they have each other sometimes they don't follow me because they are trying to get into everything I made there cage up of things I found in petsmart I think that I did a good job give me your opinions I will love to have them also if you can give me some advice I will gladly appreciate it

So I'm happy to be a part of BYC

 

[Karamel Bunnie]

Thank you everyone for the greetings I got into chickens because I love animals and I have had the weirdest pets my dad have ducks so I start being interested in different kinds of pets
My chicks are very loving and very interesting to play with but I'm very new at this I don't know what to really say so I guess I can start with their names an what they are:

The Sugar Rush Gang

My Araucana: Hen

3-5 weeks old
Vanillope Von Schweetz

My Black Jersey Giant: Hen

3-5 weeks old
Twix Snowanna Winterdrop

My Silkie: I don't know I think its a rooster

lil ones 1-2 weeks old
Taffy Kotton Kandie

My might be Wihte Rockon't know yet but i think that its a rooster

4-5 weeks old
Peeps Lemonhead Woodstock

My feathered foot Bantam: Hen

lil ones 1-2 weeks old
Karamel Butter-Scotch

Yes they have middle and lastnames lol I call them the Sugar Rush Gang
I was watching that movie Wreck-it Ralph lol But Peeps was my first I called him peeps because thats all he did was peep peep peep
but the others was so sweet like kandie so I named them after sweet treats lol
They all get along great but because they have each other sometimes they don't follow me because they are trying to get into everything I made there cage up of things I found in petsmart I think that I did a good job give me your opinions I will love to have them also if you can give me some advice I will gladly appreciate it

So I'm happy to be a part of BYC

 

[KateR]

Well normally my chickens are outside once they have their feathers. However a friend brought me a 3 mo old chick that wanted to crawl everywhere. She wouldn't stand. Plus she is 1/3 the size of her sisters and not really growing. Other then that she is perfectly healthy. I'm afraid to put her out with the others scared she'll be trampled to death. So yep she's inside...in a bird cage that I clean out daily. Her name is Charlene and she is a joy to have. A little bit more work then your dog or cat but still I'm happy to have her inside.