chickens as house pets? Opinions and views

[MROO]

I think it is time for to the OP to let us know her age because my guess is 9 - 12 years old. All the points made here that speak of an indoor life being bad for the chicken should answer her question. Let the chicken be a chicken - outside! I love my chickens, and spend hours with them - out in the yard. Are you that afraid of being outdoors? If you want something to cuddle and care for in your house get a cat.

Play nice, now! We all have our own flavor of "nuts" around here. It's a prerequisite for being a card-carrying member of the BYC Crazy Chicken Lady Club!
And that's coming from someone who just finished a course of antibiotics for campylobacter - a chicken and food-borne gem that made me very, VERY sick. As it turns out, it was from chicken, but not MY chickens... store-bought chicken ... but it could just as easily have come from my backyard, if I wasn't so anal about bio-security and hand-washing. And that came straight from the Centers for Disease Control, which had to be called in. So, be aware that, having chickens inside and dealing with dirty diapers puts you and your family at risk. Herman is now the ONLY one of my chickens allowed inside, unless we're treating or showing them off, briefly. I don't EVER want to go through that mess again. It was awful!

 

[silkiemother]

I am allergic to even the smell of drugs+ cigaretts so I became addicted to chickens

 

[KentuckyRooster]

I have 2 bedroom chickens that are free roaming at all times. Both roosters. They wear diapers. Very lovable pets. I also keep all 20 or so of my breeding seramas indoors for their safety in a designated chicken room. I use large banks of cages and house a pair in each. They rotate turns outside to play in good weather.

The most common question I get is aren't they dirty? No. My two boys are super clean. They never go in a cage or see their own waste except when I change their diapers. I give them an occasional bath and keep them up on bug prevention and dewormed. They do not have an odor, they are soft and fluffy and very sweet.

 

[silkiemother]

my parents only allow them in when soggy or for grades or injuries

 

[Kessel23]

I don't and won't let my chickens have free roam of the house but I do keep very sick or injured birds in the house if they are to high maintenance. I do not like going outside every 30 minutes to help them. I also keep small broods in the house for a while. Right now I have 2 sick birds and 4 turken chicks in the house. I had a silkie bantam for a while that I kept inside during the very cold winters here, she died from marek's disease a few weeks ago though. I don't think you should put a diaper on your chicken's butt because that is kinda disgusting and is high maintenance. I also don't think you could ever housebreak one, most of the articles I have read make it seem like a miracle when someone has a chicken that won't take a crap on their lap, I would hate to see the reaction of those writers when they found a housebroken chicken.

 

[silkiemother]

thank you for helping to prove that point

 

[silkiemother]

mine are semi-housed trained

 

[roosterhavoc]

You guys should skip the silkies and start clothing and potty training guineas. They smell wonderful, generally are pretty quiet and are real calm. Plus they’re super pretty.

 

[silkiemother]

well silkies are all my dad will let me

 

[MROO]

I have 2 bedroom chickens that are free roaming at all times. Both roosters. They wear diapers. Very lovable pets. I also keep all 20 or so of my breeding seramas indoors for their safety in a designated chicken room. I use large banks of cages and house a pair in each. They rotate turns outside to play in good weather.

The most common question I get is aren't they dirty? No. My two boys are super clean. They never go in a cage or see their own waste except when I change their diapers. I give them an occasional bath and keep them up on bug prevention and dewormed. They do not have an odor, they are soft and fluffy and very sweet.

That's amazing - and really, really cool!