Chickens as house pets?

[dfreas]

Anyways with talking to the talking to the town hall, by law person, to own chickens you need 3 acres of land and since she doesn't have that much... I will be asking the neighbor who owns several hundred acres if we can 'rent' a small piece of land close to the back of my sister's property to build a hen house... He is an older gentleman who seems very nice so hopefully we can arrange something...

Has she considered quail? They would be better suited to that spare cage she has, and require much less maintenance than an indoor chicken. Most of the same benefits of a chicken - you still get eggs, you could hatch out new quail, some are remarkably attractive birds. And they are small enough that the law would never take an interest if you just had a few of them indoors.

 

[DorothyH]

Has she considered quail? They would be better suited to that spare cage she has, and require much less maintenance than an indoor chicken. Most of the same benefits of a chicken - you still get eggs, you could hatch out new quail, some are remarkably attractive birds. And they are small enough that the law would never take an interest if you just had a few of them indoors.

If it's a cage for a big parrot then the bar spacing would probably be too big for quail. You've got to be careful that the bar spacing is appropriate to the bird being housed in it. I was thinking of maybe putting some quail in my big bird cage but then I'd have to put tight hardware mesh over the entire thing.

 

[dfreas]

If it's a cage for a big parrot then the bar spacing would probably be too big for quail. You've got to be careful that the bar spacing is appropriate to the bird being housed in it. I was thinking of maybe putting some quail in my big bird cage but then I'd have to put tight hardware mesh over the entire thing.

Huh, I didn't think of that. Wire mesh is pretty cheap though so it would probably still be a lot easier than everything required to keep indoor chickens.

 

[DorothyH]

Huh, I didn't think of that. Wire mesh is pretty cheap though so it would probably still be a lot easier than everything required to keep indoor chickens.

I'm not so sure. These big cages would be hard to adapt even working really hard and knowing the dangers - especially with teeny tiny babies. The thing is that if you use a cage for a big bird there are all sorts of big spaces like around the doors that are too hard to make small enough that a chick will not only not be able to get our of but won't be able to stick a head or claw into and get into serious trouble in.

Maybe the jumbo quail could work depending on the cage. Mine I don't think would even work with the larger breeds of quail though.

 

[kendradillon]

I use a pet taxi for muffy that way its comfy n nothing can get her. also easy to move

 

[GD91]

I have kept chickens indoors....

Mainly cockerels. They walk about acting like they own your home while pooping all over the floor. The poop then sits there just waiting for you to march through & stick your foot on it while the cockerels eye gleams.

They poop all in their cage & despite daily cleans or even twice daily the smell of the ammonia is still present. The worse is the Cecal poop (look it up) which is like diarrhea & smells really, really bad.

They flap onto your sofa & settle down crooning... ahhh, sweet!

Then the bloody thing starts preening! Feathers & white dust everywhere within a 2 ft radius! And of course then when the blessed bird has finished it stands & flaps its wings. There goes the lot all over your room.

You call your lovely house pet into the kitchen. "Come here Tweety" You say & He bobbles through talking to himself. You put a dish of food down.... There it goes, flying across your kitchen as he excitedly scratches & flicks the lot out of the dish & then proceeds to eat it off the floor. Does he eat all of it? Of course not.

So now there is bird food mixed with the bird poop everywhere as it WILL tread through your home.

I would not have survived except my flat is all hardfloors.


But you are not about to give up. You fit him with a diaper for the poop. He then looks shocked & walks around the house backwards for 24 hours, crashing into things, breaking them & wedging himself into tiny spaces that a mouse would struggle to reach.

"Poor boy" you think "He'll get used to it. And believe me he does! I would never have believed the amount of poop that one chicken can produce if I hadn't seen (and smelt) it all with my own eyes & nose. He will fill that diaper with a sloppy, rank mess that you then have to empty often. Also you have to clean the diaper or replace the liner.

Nothing stops him flicking food across the floor either.

Wait until your sister gets her new birds & follows her new birds around with bleach & a cloth (or keeps the mop on standby) or just lets them drag a rank smelling bag of gloop around with them, & then show her this post.

She may hit you around the head

And to the person who keeps what.... FIVE CHICKENS INDOORS?!! Seriously PM me, photo's the works, start your own thread & tell us all HOW you do it. I have tried many things & nothing works. We aren't even houseproud, we have 2 dogs & a cat that moult & drool all over the furniture...... but the chickens just never seem to work indoors.
They just stink!

Soon our standard rooster will have to come in when he starts crowing, so I need to know the best way or at least a good way.

Also parrot cage, as others have stated is a no, no. Buy it a large dog crate. Tame chickens think they are dogs anyway. The bigger, the better. Give plenty of toys like preeners toys, mirrors, rattly balls etc.

 

[kendradillon]

Lol wow yea 5 indoor chickens is rediculously! My little hen is so plenty of work

 

[kendradillon]

My hen dosnt smell tho. She's bathed once a week and I clean her diaper often enough she dosnt smell. Plus mine has the water proof liner so I can rinse fast in between if the tissue dosnt catch it all. Dog crates work best for indoor coops. But the sooner a diaper is on the better too but yea the first few times is hell hahha back words brodies

 

[GD91]

My hen dosnt smell tho. She's bathed once a week and I clean her diaper often enough she dosnt smell. Plus mine has the water proof liner so I can rinse fast in between if the tissue dosnt catch it all. Dog crates work best for indoor coops. But the sooner a diaper is on the better too but yea the first few times is hell hahha back words brodies

Does your chicken just float in the bath going to sleep enjoying it? Mine do

its hilarious.

Got my fav pullet Nugget snuggled in my fleece hoodie now

shes watching DH on the x - box. She's the only pullet allowed in because she behaves herself indoors. She is an EE & very pretty. She just had a bath before because she fell into something in the garden,

I'm not against House chickens btw anyone

just every new owner should of course know what it can be like. I'd hateher to get the birds & think we all tricked her into thinking it would be easy.... NUGGET< GETYOURSELF OFF THE KEYBOURD AND STOP FLOPPIMG ABOUT!

 

[kendradillon]

haha yes she sleeps in the tub I have to hold her up lol! she loves being blow dried too. and loves my keybord.. peck peck.. all pages deleted thankyou muffy