are chickens pets?

[BantamFan4Life]

All my sweet hens are pets! I work super hard to tame all of my chickens pets. I've tamed about 85% of my flock including a silkie,polish bantam,orpington,Australorp, and even a Hamburg!
The only one I haven't tamed is my leghorn, she is sooo flighty and mean! Its a good deal for pet chickens they suppy eggs and companionship.

 

[missypebble]

Chickens are definitely "under-rated" pets. Most people that I've personally known, considered them to be nothing, but dinner , 7 days/ week. I'm glad to see the votes attached show, so far, most BYC considered them to be sweet pets. Mine are definitely all pets - I love them sincerely and would not trade anything otherwise to be without them.

 

[chickenlover89]

Pets!

 

[Peepsicle]

Ours sure are. They have names and we love them, and we'll NEVER eat any of them. We just got to attached!!!! We saved some of their lives a couple times, and that just made us even more attached. Here they are!!!!

Sunny, BO pullet, and Peep, RIR pullet.

Speckles, BR cockerel (left) , and Lady Lacey, BR pullet (right).

Speckles and Lacey.

Speckles and Lacey. (you can see a similar pic in my avatar!)

Sunny and Peep.

Sunny and Peep.

Speckles.

Speckles and Lacey.

Lacey.

Speckles, and Peep. (sort of)

The whole flock; Speckles, Lacey, Sunny, and Peep.

Speckles.

Speckles

Lacey.

 

[hangartnerchix]

Pets, definitely. My husband is allergic to traditional pets (that is, anything with hair/fur), but he can snuggle a chicken all he wants! Plus, since they live outside, they don't pee on my carpet, beg at the table or shred my drapes. They also make really cute noises when they see you - coos and trills and cheeps - we love it!

 

[jsin]

My daughter's favorite "hen" turned out to be a him. We had Velma for dinner after learning Vern was a better name. Perhaps some fodder on being sure you want to keep the bird before making it a pet

 

[Rachy]

Why shouldn't they be pets? Just because we, the human race, have decided they are a disposable commodity and as a result are treated horrendously by some commercial companies that abuse them for the eggs they lay and meat they provide?

They deserve the same, if not more of a chance, to be called a pet and enjoy the life that status brings.

 

[Y N dottes]

Im gonna have to say mine are pets too. I mean, when u give them names and pet them...well, u know.
The only thing is they are leaving after they stop laying because i dont have enough room to keep them when they arent.

 

[DaniellePage]

mine didn't start out as pets till those cute little pullets showed their "chicken-alities".

Like others have said - they have different traits, they come running when called, they jump onto a lap or a shoulder, they side-eye you intensely and "talk".

They are more difficult to keep as pets because of the emotional attachment and since we only had 5 4 (soon to be 3 because of a mystery illness) hens.
We have no rooster and are not "breeding" so, culling for health and resistance is not an immediate solution for us. It becomes more emotionally, financially and time consuming if one gets under the weather.

If I had a much larger flock and could "cut" my losses and breed for strength and traits then they would not be pets - That doesn't mean I stop treating them with respect and giving them healthy food and shelter - just means I would most likely cull at any sign of weakness rather than try to find the problem and spend the energy I do with the "pets" to find a cure before euthanizing.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Bein' farm-raised tends gives me a different perspective than most, in regard to distinguishing between pet and product ...

We buried our milk cow upon her favorite hill, next to the tree she'd torment just prior to chasin' everyone away from our barnlot ball games. But, we often sold others we'd named. Don't believe any of us named anything we planned eat.

It's not an absolute, in that the lines often blur. I'm fortunate, in that this farm requires protection from taxation far more than any need for profitability (can't imagine many here could justify keepin' chickens by arguing economics). I do try to guard my heart by stickin' to my more reasonable perceptions that my chickens and guineas are to serve this farm's need for documentation of productivity, but there's a few of 'em that just keep peckin' right through this armor of logic I cling to ... tryin' my best not to even have fovorites, but I'm failin' terribly. However, I've still not given any of 'em names.

And, in determining which one's which, you might start by asking folks their chicken's name ... if they've got an answer? It's most probably a pet ~'-)