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.
--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.
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