Willow the House Chicken

[TN Chick Mom]

I have a singleton who is 3 months old and still in our "brooder" aka watermelon and cantaloupe boxes in my office. We're working on merging her with our other 5 girls but they are relentless at picking on her so it's slow slow. She won't leave my feat and will totally head back to the house when she's done with outside time. She loves to swing. And she's figured out she can jump to the box ledges and walk around, even with the cats below. We just went out of town for 4 days and it was the first time she was truly alone.

She definitely surprised me when I sat down at my desk today for my 2:30am conference call....

I checked my office cam, and she's there again tonight.

 

[Callender Girl]

First off, Willow is adorable!

Don't be surprised if you see a lot of posts telling you that Willow needs to be with other chickens and that she can't be happy in the house. I won't be one of the people who tells you that.

I ended up with a lone chick three Septembers ago, when a feed store employee "kindly" gave me the last layer chick in a brooder of broilers. The others were bigger than her, and she spent her time hiding in a corner or under the light fixture.

It was too late in the year for her to be brooded outdoors, and there weren't any other chicks available to put with her indoors. I tried to integrate her into one of my other coops, but I failed every time. She is terrified of other chickens --even my Welsummer, who was the lowest in the pecking order,

She is not scared of the house cat or the two rescue dogs, although she finds the larger one annoying. Dottie lives in a large dog crate in the dining room and is happy to go outside for field trips where she dust bathes with glee, pecks at the grass and chases bugs. Dottie also likes to "swing," but for her that means perching on the back of a rocking chair and making it go back and forth.

Dottie is not subjected to rainy weather, snowy days or predation. She seems perfectly content to be a house chicken and knows to perch on command when it's time to walk her out past the dogs.

She quickly learned to escape the rest of the flock by flying over the deck railing (most of my girls are too heavy or too lazy to try) and is the only chicken who plays on the north side of the fenced yard -- away from the birds that scare her.

Yes, chickens are flock animals, But they're also individuals. I wish Dottie could be part of a group, but she isn't. It's been her choice, really. Having a chicken living in the dining room puts a damper on dinner parties, for sure.

I hope Willow can become part of a flock, but if she can't or won't, it doesn't mean she's miserable. She may just be a loner who likes people better than other chickens.

 

[TN Chick Mom]

First off, Willow is adorable!

Don't be surprised if you see a lot of posts telling you that Willow needs to be with other chickens and that she can't be happy in the house. I won't be one of the people who tells you that.

I ended up with a lone chick three Septembers ago, when a feed store employee "kindly" gave me the last layer chick in a brooder of broilers. The others were bigger than her, and she spent her time hiding in a corner or under the light fixture.

It was too late in the year for her to be brooded outdoors, and there weren't any other chicks available to put with her indoors. I tried to integrate her into one of my other coops, but I failed every time. She is terrified of other chickens --even my Welsummer, who was the lowest in the pecking order,

She is not scared of the house cat or the two rescue dogs, although she finds the larger one annoying. Dottie lives in a large dog crate in the dining room and is happy to go outside for field trips where she dust bathes with glee, pecks at the grass and chases bugs. Dottie also likes to "swing," but for her that means perching on the back of a rocking chair and making it go back and forth.

Dottie is not subjected to rainy weather, snowy days or predation. She seems perfectly content to be a house chicken and knows to perch on command when it's time to walk her out past the dogs.

She quickly learned to escape the rest of the flock by flying over the deck railing (most of my girls are too heavy or too lazy to try) and is the only chicken who plays on the north side of the fenced yard -- away from the birds that scare her.

Yes, chickens are flock animals, But they're also individuals. I wish Dottie could be part of a group, but she isn't. It's been her choice, really. Having a chicken living in the dining room puts a damper on dinner parties, for sure.

I hope Willow can become part of a flock, but if she can't or won't, it doesn't mean she's miserable. She may just be a loner who likes people better than other chickens.

Thank you for this.
We do hope we can get her integrated. I work a lot of hours so she's used to having me around and our family tends to congregate in my office, too. If I have a day without a ton of calls, she hops up or stretches tall to make sure I'm still here. I'd be destroyed if my other girls hurt her badly. At worst, she'll have always have human and feline friends.

 

[Anime2lover]

Thank you for this.
We do hope we can get her integrated. I work a lot of hours so she's used to having me around and our family tends to congregate in my office, too. If I have a day without a ton of calls, she hops up or stretches tall to make sure I'm still here. I'd be destroyed if my other girls hurt her badly. At worst, she'll have always have human and feline friends.

How is she now??

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Willow is very cute. Do you know what breed she is? I have a chicken that looks almost exactly the same that I bought at Rural King. Thx,

 

[TN Chick Mom]

Willow is very cute. Do you know what breed she is? I have a chicken that looks almost exactly the same that I bought at Rural King. Thx,

Thank you! She's a prairie bluebell egger

 

[TN Chick Mom]

How is she now??

My husband built her a transitional condo (more like a shack but it served its purpose) for her to be out there during the day. After a very long transition and just having to let her figure it out, Willow is officially an outside chicken and with our other girls! Saddle jackets are helping for sure! She's still skittish and gets the occasional reminder to stay out of their way but her "ouch" squeaks are getting less. She won't roost with them, but she started laying last week so seems to be doing well enough.

By the end of her days outside/nights inside, she was very well trained. She would be at my office door in the morning waiting for us and then would walk down the 2 sets of stairs and out to her chicken condo. After their free-range time, when she was done for the day, she'd walk back up to the door, walk back into my office and with 2 claps, hop back on her box butt in.

We are dismantling the chicken brooder boxes in my office this weekend. It will be weird (but nice) for my office to just be an office again! <3

 

[Anime2lover]

My husband built her a transitional condo (more like a shack but it served its purpose) for her to be out there during the day. After a very long transition and just having to let her figure it out, Willow is officially an outside chicken and with our other girls! Saddle jackets are helping for sure! She's still skittish and gets the occasional reminder to stay out of their way but her "ouch" squeaks are getting less. She won't roost with them, but she started laying last week so seems to be doing well enough.

By the end of her days outside/nights inside, she was very well trained. She would be at my office door in the morning waiting for us and then would walk down the 2 sets of stairs and out to her chicken condo. After their free-range time, when she was done for the day, she'd walk back up to the door, walk back into my office and with 2 claps, hop back on her box butt in.

We are dismantling the chicken brooder boxes in my office this weekend. It will be weird (but nice) for my office to just be an office again! <3

Nice. Good to hear she's doing well.

 

[Callender Girl]

Sounds like Willow is on her way to life within a flock. Good for all of you!