Chicken spoiling too fast?

[1FlewOver]

I always heard that chicken spoils quickly....but I didn't realize how fast until I got one....LOL...

OK....Well...I DO carry this chicken inside every night and out every morning....Also...because I grow cherry tomatoes....(and don't have that much of a use for them....and something (most likely a mockingbird)....likes to take a bite out of one....then move on to the next)....I've taken to pulling the nibbled ones off and giving them to Rocky as a treat....also...I've been giving it bowls of ice water....(it's hot here)....

So now....when I go out to the garden....Rocky follows me around like a puppy...(I'm not sure she knows she's a chicken anymore)....

Anyway....I'm having a lot of fun with my pet chicken....

BTW: I just love the way it "talks" to me: very quietly: softly, in a semi-high voice: "moaaaakk mock".... (only makes that sound to me)....(almost like a purr)....

One of us is getting spoiled for sure.....

 

[N F C]

Sounds like Rocky is a happy chicken...is she your only one? Our girls love tomatoes too and just anything else in the garden they can get a hold of.

 

[1FlewOver]

Yes....Rocky ran away from home a couple of doors away...but likes my backyard better.....(besides...she lost an eye and most of her tail feathers where she came from....

Not that I haven't thought about getting chickens many times....but...this was an unplanned addition....so things are a little crazy.....

IDK....I've had chickens as pets....and this has me thinking about getting more.....but I also have kinda wanted quail and rabbits for a long time.....

 

[N F C]

I've always heard that chickens do best when they have more chicken buddies around but Rocky may be more of a house chicken by now. There's a fun thread to check out sometime if you haven't already seen it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/299187/people-with-house-chickens

Have fun with Rocky, it sounds like she has found the right forever home.

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm glad Rocky picked you as her next human. Do you keep her as a house pet? She may have been injured in a predator attack and managed to escape and get outta there!

 

[1FlewOver]

I'm glad Rocky picked you as her next human.  Do you keep her as a house pet?  She may have been injured in a predator attack and managed to escape and get outta there!

No....I don't really want a house chicken....I don't think it was a predator attack or she would have went home.....it was other chickens....JMO.....

Anyway....I want to make a coop and run....that are both highly mobile....and I want an automatic door on the coop.....I just gotta find the time.....

Meanwhile....taking her in and out isn't a big deal....

I did let her free range a bit in the house last night and she found Sammy's food bowl.....what a mess....she was slinging food everywhere....digging through the bowl...(Sammy is my cat)....

 

[N F C]

Free ranging in the cat bowl!

 

[1FlewOver]

So...I decided to let Rocky explore a little bit more around the house.....

Well...I go out every evening to get Rocky and bring her in....soooo...usually..at 7:30....she is up off the ground ...roosting on something...

Soooo....she's in the living room on thr futon....and she's looking up....guaging and squatting....and I'm freaking out....."NO ROCKY NO!!!!!"

So I get up and turn off the cieling fan....and then watch.....Rocky goes through a half dozen squats.....followed by a careful calculation of the distance required to covrr...and the altitude required....

And finally decides....."I got this!"

Rocky squats down.....springs up with every bit of power it can muster in those legs.....flaps those sorry excuses for wings as hard as it can.........

And hits the wall a full foot short of the height needed to land on the shelf....and slides down the wall.....

You gotta love an animal that can make you laugh!

 

[N F C]

Nothing can beat chicken tv!

 

[1FlewOver]

Sooooo.......Last night....I decided to let Rocky explore the house a little bit before I put her up in the pet carrier....

I fell asleep on the recliner and when I woke up several hours later....found Rocky sitting next to me....because my central AC is out....I sleep in the living room on a futon...and she was roosting on the bar of it...so I just walked around and went to sleep....

She was there all night....there was only one problem...it's a big steel bar....and as she was trying to sleep started slipping and flapped her wings for balance....(I felt the wind and it woke me up).... soooo...I think I'll mount a board on it and let her spend the night there until the chicken palace gets built....

I picked up a used dishwasher for $20....mentioned I needed to build a coop and got offered. 2 more chickens...Probably gonna take them up on that...if I don't have a coop and run ready....they'll slow roast on the grill just fine!