Are bantam breeds better suited for indoor setups?

[fat brown hen]

They are not!
Chickens are flock animals. The rooster surely gets depressed (and aggressive) if he can’t live a more natural life with flock mates.
(No experience, sucked up a lot of info over the years from reading/others)

Humans are his flock. I have a house serama right now. He's 100% happier indoors with me, than outside getting his butt kicked by other roosters every few minutes.
None of my roosters are aggressive. That's genetic, and has nothing to do with living indoors.

 

[FrostRanger]

I will warn about the 2-4 year aggression most roosters get when maturing because unfortunately it happens to every rooster but doesn't last forever. I

Human aggression is never acceptable in a rooster. Yes, some roosters will go aggressive due to bad genetics but most are perfectly fine. Human aggression in roosters shouldn't be tolerated in a rooster any more that it would be in a dog

 

[Thiccen]

Human aggression is never acceptable in a rooster. Yes, some roosters will go aggressive due to bad genetics but most are perfectly fine. Human aggression in roosters shouldn't be tolerated in a rooster any more that it would be in a dog

I meant the general increase in aggression when they really start getting hormonal shifts, most roosters go through this and its up to genetics and general personality how bad it will be but from my experience it always happens in really all boy birds at some point.

Edit: I meant to say they usually mellow out around that age after going through puberty, it was late and I was mixed up with the age that macaws go through puberty. Apologies!!

 

[Thiccen]

They are not!
Chickens are flock animals. The rooster surely gets depressed (and aggressive) if he can’t live a more natural life with flock mates.
(No experience, sucked up a lot of info over the years from reading/others)

PS this thread is rather old. Not sure if the OP is still active atm.

I have years and years of experience with lots of birds and yes they are flock animals but they will consider you their flock just like a parrot would. Of course the qol for the chicken is most important but in my experience its absolutely possible to have a happy enriched indoor chicken saying its not possible because their flock animals is like saying a dog could never be happy without other dogs because their pack animals, you just have to do it the right way. Also your right its pretty old I just got excited since I never see indoor chicken enthusiasts

 

[BDutch]

I have years and years of experience with lots of birds and yes they are flock animals but they will consider you their flock just like a parrot would. Of course the qol for the chicken is most important but in my experience its absolutely possible to have a happy enriched indoor chicken saying its not possible because their flock animals is like saying a dog could never be happy without other dogs because their pack animals, you just have to do it the right way. Also your right its pretty old I just got excited since I never see indoor chicken enthusiasts

Yes. Parrots are a good example. Many parrots are frustrated and misbehave bc of the way they have to live alone and inside a house with human company.
Dogs are a very different species.
Maybe it works with Serama’s.
But probably not with small Dutch bantams.

 

[Appalachickens]

Yes. Parrots are a good example. Many parrots are frustrated and misbehave bc of the way they have to live alone and inside a house with human company.
Dogs are a very different species.
Maybe it works with Serama’s.
But probably not with small Dutch bantams.

Since dogs evolved from wolves over tens of thousands of years to live alongside humans, they have a very different reaction to being kept singly in spite of being pack animals.You're right that it is very different from birds, who did not have a similar evolution.

 

[Thiccen]

Yes. Parrots are a good example. Many parrots are frustrated and misbehave bc of the way they have to live alone and inside a house with human company.
Dogs are a very different species.
Maybe it works with Serama’s.
But probably not with small Dutch bantams.

Parrots can also be very happy and enriched when kept in singles you just have to do it right. I’d argue many dogs are also frustrated and destructive from improper husbandry. My Belgian quail D’anver is an excellent indoor rooster, very sweet cuddly and shows no signs of distress. Certain breeds may be better suited for it then others I wont argue that but from personal experience its very doable

 

[fluffycrow]

In the last few years I’ve had the privilege of working with hens with minor and more major disabilities. Breeds ranged from serama, to ISA brown.
Injuries and other conditions unfortunately left them with mostly mobility issues. Both the hens that I’ve cared for with mobility issues were bullied by some or all of their flock mates. Despite the bullying, not once did they prefer me for company. Both of them found at least one hen that they clicked with, and stayed close to her.
I have also had the pleasure (and at times, annoyance) of working with a hen with what I can only imagine is a mental disability. Still, she’s managed to earn herself the top position of her group, and has even raised quite a few chicks. She too, prefers the company of her flock mates, over me.

The chickens I have the pleasure of caring for all have the chance to choose between me and one of their own, and I have never been the first choice. I can imagine that a single chick raised indoors would not have much of a choice in choosing what to consider as its “flock”. I hope to never find out for myself.
At the same time, seeing as I’m unwilling to set up this sort of environment for any of the chickens (future or present) under my care, I can’t deny that it might be possible for a chicken that has not known anything else, to be sufficiently content in a solitary, indoor prison.

I was under the assumption that most of us now realise that parrots make terrible “pets”. Their domestication has been rather non existent, and as such, they are still largely wild in both body and mind. Countless parrots end up homeless or released into the wild annually, because the average household can’t keep up with their needs.
I hope I am not offending any parrot owners here.
I certainly can think of at least five on our very own BYC that have done an excellent job of caring for their parrots, but it is not an easy task. The mental stimulation needs, the energy levels and space they require is limiting for most. Heck, we have to completely change the diet of most of them, since a natural diet would be too high in fats which the birds can’t burn off properly as the average home can’t provide nearly as much flying time and space as what would be observed in a wild parrot.
There are also countless rescue attempts each year for breeding facility birds, most of which develop plucking behaviours due to the lack of space and boredom.
All THAT to say, I’m not sure parrots are the right example of a successful pet , in most cases. I certainly know I failed my own, during what should have been a longer life.

Bringing up dogs is certainly interesting. I think @Appalachickens covered most of it in much fewer words than I could

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

In the last few years I’ve had the privilege of working with hens with minor and more major disabilities. Breeds ranged from serama, to ISA brown.
Injuries and other conditions unfortunately left them with mostly mobility issues. Both the hens that I’ve cared for with mobility issues were bullied by some or all of their flock mates. Despite the bullying, not once did they prefer me for company. Both of them found at least one hen that they clicked with, and stayed close to her.
I have also had the pleasure (and at times, annoyance) of working with a hen with what I can only imagine is a mental disability. Still, she’s managed to earn herself the top position of her group, and has even raised quite a few chicks. She too, prefers the company of her flock mates, over me.

The chickens I have the pleasure of caring for all have the chance to choose between me and one of their own, and I have never been the first choice. I can imagine that a single chick raised indoors would not have much of a choice in choosing what to consider as its “flock”. I hope to never find out for myself.
At the same time, seeing as I’m unwilling to set up this sort of environment for any of the chickens (future or present) under my care, I can’t deny that it might be possible for a chicken that has not known anything else, to be sufficiently content in a solitary, indoor prison.

I was under the assumption that most of us now realise that parrots make terrible “pets”. Their domestication has been rather non existent, and as such, they are still largely wild in both body and mind. Countless parrots end up homeless or released into the wild annually, because the average household can’t keep up with their needs.
I hope I am not offending any parrot owners here.
I certainly can think of at least five on our very own BYC that have done an excellent job of caring for their parrots, but it is not an easy task. The mental stimulation needs, the energy levels and space they require is limiting for most. Heck, we have to completely change the diet of most of them, since a natural diet would be too high in fats which the birds can’t burn off properly as the average home can’t provide nearly as much flying time and space as what would be observed in a wild parrot.
There are also countless rescue attempts each year for breeding facility birds, most of which develop plucking behaviours due to the lack of space and boredom.
All THAT to say, I’m not sure parrots are the right example of a successful pet , in most cases. I certainly know I failed my own, during what should have been a longer life.

Bringing up dogs is certainly interesting. I think @Appalachickens covered most of it in much fewer words than I could

Thank you for writing this! I've tried before to "fix" the parrot-chicken comparisons on this topic but it never quite seems to get there (I must've made a post earlier in this thread, hence why it's in my watchlist).

I'm more than happy to be a fence sitter on this subject but all the facts need to be brought to the table and not just people's opinions on whether it is or is not possible.

 

[fluffycrow]

Thank you for writing this! I've tried before to "fix" the parrot-chicken comparisons on this topic but it never quite seems to get there (I must've made a post earlier in this thread, hence why it's in my watchlist).

Ah, I’m very glad one of the parrot experts I was thinking of agrees! Oops, apologies for missing your post! I admit I did not read the first few pages of the thread very thoroughly, as it appeared to be focused around OP. I will go back and look for your reply!

I'm more than happy to be a fence sitter on this subject but all the facts need to be brought to the table and not just people's opinions on whether it is or is not possible.

Agreed.