Chickens as House pet's- A guide.

[Hackles]

Quote:
This is awesome for urban homesteaders, Mark!

By the above, I assume you are saying that if hens are kept outside, and a pet rooster inside, the rooster wouldn't be a great house bird because he would only want to be outside with the hens--correct? Is there anyway it could work to let a roo be a part-time breeder (maybe keep him and some hens in a room together for a couple weeks to get fertile eggs), and keep him as the lone house bird the rest of the time?

Daniel

What I meant was, The male's should not be in the same area as the females. The rooster will become protective over the hens, and therefore will not make a good pet because he's liable to flog you. roosters will become territorial with more than 1,with frequent battles over who is to be the alpha roo.and the females will become bare backed from mating, You could keep your rooster inside, while having hens outside, or vise-versa.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

I had all 5 of my girls in the house when the temps dropped into the negatives. We are going to be building a more permanent coop/run in the basement for them. Just in case they have to go into hiding

They were down there for over a week and I can tell you that they were easy to clean up after(free ranged during the day) and easy to put into their cages at night. Only problem we had was locating the eggs a few times.

Audrey will jump out of the outdoor coop and take off for the house. She prefers being in with us. But sh has always been the one that wants to be held. She will sit and be patted for hours if allowed. She follows the kid around like a dog would. And last night was going for my Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate. She was worse than the dog when he wants something we have. But she reminded me so much of my pinto mare that I had years ago. Misty would do the same when I had a cup of hot coco from Dunk. It got so bad that I ended up buying her her own cup!

I even bought a large soft sided pet carrier for Audrey. Come spring we will be making the rounds

edited to add- we also have a dog(Border Collie) three cats and three house rabbits.
All of them get along well. The cats regard the chickens as "just another pet mom brought home"
The dog occasionally has to be reminded that they are pets and not cats(which he herds constantly) But he has never made a move to hurt them. The rabbits, well the youngest/smallest one is still scared of them. But he thumps less and less each time they come over to check him out

 

[The Gremlin]

Awesome! I've wanted a pet chicken for a while, but there aren't exactly many sites on raising a house chicken. I was extremely discouraged. Almost every single site said that 'chickens make awful house pets!'. My friend was skeptical about it, having watched 'Natural History of the Chicken' and believing that the only people who keep chickens indoors are strange eccentric people who talk funny (no offense to the owner of Cotton).

Then I saw this thread, and I saw that it could be done. Thanks a ton!

 

[BigSkyChickens]

I know this thread is old, but I just HAD to comment, becuase I am a big fan of the lady who owns Cotton, the indoor Silkie Rooster. I watch the movie sometimes just to see her and hear her talk about her rooster. It COMPLETELY lifts my spirits, and reminds me that there truly is JOY to be had in this life.

The Natural History of Chickens is a charming film. It's on YouTube:

 

[Nyrial]

Actually, I'm glad it got bumped because I have a little RIR roo that just gets too picked on by the other chickens, save the two pullets he's with, and I'm considering keeping him separate, but don't want to have to build another coop, when the one I am building isn't even done yet!

My concern though, is for my parrots. I worry about avian diseases being passed around. I about got sick the other day when I had to pick up my cockatoo and was unable to wash/sanitize my hands first. It started raining HARD outside, and I had to get her in the house in a hurry.

Maybe I'm just a worrier (ok, I AM a worrier) but I've had Sydney for more than half my life, and even though I know my chickens are healthy, who knows what they have that she shouldn't. I worry about this little roo though. He's so tiny still, but the two pullets he's with should be ok to go in the coop with my others. They're feathered, but he's still fuzzy under his feathers. I'd like to integrate the girls, but don't want to leave him alone. But then, if I did that, he would be the lone stranger and subject to more picking, when right now he has the girls who try to buffer him.

House rooster would be an ideal situation for him, but what could be passed to my parrots?

Sorry for the rambling.

 

[wildorchid053]

that chicken with no head... ewwwwww... but i do love my chickens.. and once in a while i sneek one in when hubby isn't around

 

[lordusiz]

I have a house chicken, she's the most amazing easy pet! Cochin Bantam. I couldn't ask for more! Snuggles, follows us around, cleans the crumbs off the floor, gives us eggs. She doesn't make a peep. Only thing is there's a lot if poop, so after a year I finally decided I should get a chicken diaper. Life is bliss! I do have to mention she is extremely happy indoors with us as when I let her out in the yard to play with us she scratches around for 15 minutes and then walks herself back inside lol
:->

 

[balbrt1]

I have a house chicken. Her name is Gabby and she is a Serama. She wears chicken diapers when out in the house. I take her outside with me watching over her because she only weighs 10.9 ozs. She is very sweet. Knows her name too. I never thought I would ever have a chicken as a pet in my home. Try it. You might fall in love with a chicken too

 

[brooklynbirds18]

I have a house chicken as well. Her name is Brighton and she is an Ameraucana. She's very sweet and loves us as her own people flock lol. She is outside a good part of the day but will come at the patio door when she wants to come back in. She sleeps inside on a single roost I made her. We just got her a diaper and she already managed to rip it
Still she's very sweet, quiet and friendly.

I know the thread is old, but she just recently became a house pet so I had to comment

 

[kendradillon]

I have a d'anver hen who lives inside and goes to work with me