Best cage for indoor chicken?

[morrowtom63]

If the main issue is smelly poop, what about using fermented feed then?

 

[3KillerBs]

If the main issue is smelly poop, what about using fermented feed then?

Poop, dander, dust from the bedding, dried poop dust everywhere in your house because it gets sucked into the HVAC system, and, primarily, the fact that living indoors alone is an unnatural and deprived life for a chicken.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If the main issue is smelly poop, what about using fermented feed then?

The main issue is that chickens do not do well inside, especially alone. Smelly poop is just a poor side effect.

 

[ChickNanny13]

If the main issue is smelly poop, what about using fermented feed then?

It may help BUT NOTHING won't with the cecal poop and that is ALWAYS wet, mushy & stink. I know cause I ferment. It will leave messy butt feathers.

 

[nuthatched]

I like how you leave little angry faces on comments you don't like, shows an open mind and great maturity.
So you come to a chicken forum, seeking advice from experienced chicken owners from around the globe and now you're upset when most of them say that something you saw on Instagram/YouTube isn't generally a good idea and (heaven forbid) they gave you the truth about the reality of keeping poultry inside and now you're bashing them?!
What exactly did you want us to do? Agree with you and possibly lie to you so you can do what you want even if it's not healthy for you or your chickens? there are a quite a few serious respiratory illness both you and your chicken can get in confined quarters, no matter how clean everything is. They are hard to treat.
Chickens are birds, yes (duh) but that's certainly not a qualifier anymore than you can have a Leopard roaming around and say 'it's still a cat'.
If you really want to learn how to take great care of your birds and maybe find a happy medium, this a fantastic place for for it. You're going to do whatever you think is best, but you don't have to condemn and fight everyone that believes otherwise.

 

[WoDia]

If you have an attached garage, that‘s a real good possiblity for your new chicken. That way, you can keep any dust out of the house. Set the cage up with a heat lamp if you’re in a frigid climate at this time. Just make sure to firmly attach the fixture itself and not by the clip provided (they fail often). Enclose the sides as well if you prefer. This way, your chicken will still be close to you. You can let her out to roam during the day and cuddle with her all you want. I suggest with supervision if she’s the only one. I had a blind male Turkey for many years…. we built a special enclosure…. pretty big…. Turkey-sized…. on our rear porch. He had everything he ever needed. Safety, comfort, food, water, tons of attention from me because I had him out every day. Lived a good long life. Good Wishes! I hope you figure out what works best for you and your new chicken.

 

[Silexian]

To those that are willing to make sacrifices and put in the hard work. To give an animal that does not possess the physical or mental condition to be housed under normal circumstances. I applaud you. Keeping an animal in cramped, subpar conditions for our own enjoyment. In my opinion is no better than a roadside zoo or a commercial farm. It is our responsibility to give the animals under our care the best life possible. I don’t see many people building themselves a jail cell to live in.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Assuming you are being serious, perhaps button quail are something to consider?

 

[Iluveggers]

If reading through comments on here won’t change your mind, and you are going to do what you want, might I make a few suggestions.

1- Get 2 BANTAM chickens. They are about 1.5-2 lbs each and would take up much less space.

2- Have an indoor and outdoor space for them. It can be a small caged off area outside for them to get sunshine and poke in the grass. Let them out a few hours a day minimum. I’m sure even those full house chickens you see online are out a little. It will be better for their health and life in general. You can sit with them if you want to be near them. Dust bathing in dirt is crucial to chicken health, and I’m sure you don’t want to put a sandbox in your house to provide that medium for them. You can bring them in to roost in a large cage at night.

3- Really do your research before you get chickens. Rehoming older birds can often be difficult, especially if they don’t have experience with other birds and don’t know how to be in a flock.

I don’t agree with the decision to keep a single house chicken, but I am trying to help you figure out something that will be healthier physically and mentally for the bird(s).

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

Something that must also be considered when talking about keeping an animal or bird in the house -- especially something like a chicken, which naturally wants to live as part of a flock -- is that they need a lot of time and affection. If you have a single chicken, you need to spend time with it. It needs care, affection, love, and lots and lots of time, or else it will become depressed and miserable.
Chickens are like people -- the ones that can be happy all alone, with little affection from others, are few and far in between.

I've kept birds indoors for somewhat long periods in order to treat wounds and illness. They got restless, anxious, and would sometimes just start screaming for no reason, raising the alarm for their flockmates. They were lonely, and wanted attention, and that's just the noise -- they also reeked terribly, even with regular bedding changes.
This was just for a few weeks -- maybe a month or two, at most, and I sometimes brought in other chickens or let them outside to let them spend time with fellow birds.

You may have the space, equipment, and patience to take care of a gregarious bird such as a chicken indoors, but do you have the time? Hours each day spent playing with it, giving it the love and attention that it needs? If not, then it would be cruel to keep such a bird, as it would be lonely and miserable.

Even if you do have all of those resources and all of that time, keep in mind that you are not a chicken. You cannot talk to your pet chicken like another chicken can. Even with love and affection, your chicken may still become lonely and want another bird of its own kind to live with. There will always be a language and communication barrier between you and your bird.

If you are going to be stubborn and absolutely insist on keeping a chicken indoors, make sure that you have all of the proper equipment, and get at least two chickens. Bantam breeds are in general very small, and some bantams are tiny enough that you could probably fit two of them in a space that would hold one standard-sized bird.