Chicken vs The Diaper

[Mandolyn776]

We have a 9 week old chicken named Phoebe (unknown breed) who we are trying to diaper train. We have tried for a month now, but she is no less comfortable in it. Every time results in a storm of squawks and sounds that can only be described as screams emerge with much jumping about and flapping. She will quiet down in-between fits with her beak open, but another will soon occur. She jumps into everything - she will get up under the coffee table or his bike and continuously jump, hitting her head. It's why we always end up taking her out of it after 3-4 hours because we are afraid of her hurting herself. We don't have a fenced in space outside for her to safely figure things out. We have tried putting her food or treats just out of reach but no luck. She mostly acts like this blog said she would: https://www.pamperyourpoultry.com/blogs/news/what-to-expect-when-diapering-a-chicken
(we even have the same diaper as on the chicken in the first picture on the blog, as pictured here:

We are sure we are putting the diaper on correctly. Any chicken diaper veterans have any advice?

 

[Acre4Me]

Is your plan to keep her diapered 24/7 or will she have a cage to be free of the diaper?

Does she have any other chickens to socialize with?

Often chickens settle down more once they begin to lay. Since she is young, that may be partly why she is acting this way.

 

[Mandolyn776]

No, Phoebe is the only chicken we have. We found her alone in a park one day as a chick, and we were not able to find her companions. (We could do 2-3 chickens but 4 is too many for where we live)
We do have a cage for her with a perch and food/water where she can be without the diaper. Do you think we should stop for now and try again when she is older?

 

[Acre4Me]

You can put it on her for shorter periods. Might get used to it. She would love a companion however. Since you are new to chickens, some might try to sell you a male but tell you it’s female. A chicken similar to her age would be best, if possible. You could check CL or fb marketplace to see if anyone has young chickens they are getting rid of.

On BYC forums, under “social” is “where am I, where are you” and within that thread is a pinned post at the top containing state threads. You could ask here to see if anyone nearby has a young pullet they would like to part with.

You could order a single chicken from a hatchery to pick up (if you are driving distance) or get mailed. Often need to order in advance of needing them, and they are usually between 16-22 weeks old when shipped. Maybe they require you to buy more than 1, I don’t know, but websites should tell you.

Good luck!!