Cuddly Nellie

[scratch'n'peck]

I do think that Ranchhand brings up a valid consideration. From my point of view, it is not so much whether a chicken is considered an indoor pet or an outdoor pet. After all, dogs are pack animals and on many farms they were not considered inside pets until recent decades. The question is whether we can provide an environment for the animal that satisfies their psychological needs as well as physical needs. The dog gets their psychological need for the pack met to varying degrees through their humans. We have all heard of dogs that have adjusted well and others who have behavior problems because they have not.

So the question for a pet chicken is how well will the environment meet her natural physical and psychological needs? I can only draw from my experience raising my Silkies as a duo. They were used to life without a larger flock from a fairly young age, and even when they got a coop outside they did not join the larger flock and they seemed content. But when one of them died, of course the one left behind was lonely. But I don't really know how that applies to Nellie's situation.

That's why it would be helpful to hear more from people who have kept a chicken in a similar situation.

 

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Parrots, being very social, intelligent birds face similar problems if they do not have the attention, socialization, and activities of a group, or at least an individual. Self maiming, biting and other antisocial behaviors are common in parrots who are not cared for properly. While I love my parrot, I never really felt it was fair to keep a parrot as a pet. BTW, Elwood was a rescue. Too many animals need homes. When I have a "vacancy" I look for rescues.

Regarding Nellie. The only problem I have with leaving her outside is heating her coop in the winter. Of course if I did have her outside, I would have 1 or 2 other chickens with her. But I don't have electricity outside and I just can't make myself leave an animal out in sub freezing weather. I wonder if there's solar heating for chicken coops?

 

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Good news! Nellie's fecal sample was tested and came back negative, so no parasites! yay! We sat outside on the back steps together to celebrate. She snuggled down into my lap while I scratched her face and neck. She rewarded me with a big healthy poop on my shirt. Is that how chickens say they like you?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Chickens poop a little less frequently when they get older so lap time is less messy.

It is worth doing a search on solar heating for the coop.

We run a really long extension cord to the coops and put out shielded heat lamps. We make sure the water doesn't freeze. We made efforts to insulate and put on weather stripping, but the chickens are out in the run on subfreezing days. They don't seem to mind the cold much but they don't like the fresh snow on their feet or strong winds. Once I clear off the snow from the ramp to the run they choose to be out at least part of the day in the winter.