Do chickens like pillows?

[Tigerjane]

I've read some stories and seen some pictures on here that are making me think chickens probably like comfort a lot more than most people assume. Would they enjoy having pillows or blankets in their coop? Would I have to worry about things such as them tearing them up, or is this personality dependent like it is in dogs? If they would like it, I would gladly do it and change it out to keep everything clean. Can you put a chicken poo covered blanket in your washing machine without damaging the machine (or should I use a laundromat for this, hee hee)? Please share your personal experiences!

ETA: Maybe I'm a little too eager to spoil the chickens I don't even have yet! I'm picking up chicks from Ideal on Wednesday, and all my conversations have revolved around them. I mentioned the pillow idea to some friends we have over, and it's unanimous I've "crossed the line", lol

 

[m2wandc]

mine are completely content with shavings.

I have put an old flannel bed sheet in the brooder when I ran out of shavings and they certainly poop all over it and lay in the poop without a problem. If they were more like dogs, then IMHO they'd find a bush and keep their bed nice n clean like a dog.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they don't really care about it. In the wild birds don't use pillows, they sleep in straw, string, random bits & poop stuck beds.

 

[HerAlterEgo]

I just moved my 8 week old chicks to the coop from inside. I used a large wire frame dog kennel and twistied cardboard walls around the base to keep the poop inside the kennel. 2-3 times a week I would pull everything out and lift out the plastic floor and take it outside and spray it off with a hose. When they started trying to fly, I just covered it with the wire top of the dog kennel to keep them in, because they would scream if they got out and couldn't get back in.

On day one I threw one of my husbands dirty tshirts in there to try to get them to imprint on us. Then after a couple weeks and several used t-shirts I switched to clean shop towels. They seemed to enjoy the extra warmth from the towel under the warming lamp when they were little and they gradually stopped caring that it was there as they got older. The towels you can just take outside, shake off, and wash with dirty blue jeans or towels.


Here's a picture of the set up, chicks in this pictures are 4 weeks:

 

[oldchickenlady]

I have 12 10 week olds that I free range during the day. The other day I walked outside and at least 10 of them were laying on my Chesapeake Bay Retreiver's old dog bed that I had put on my porch to air out (it's just a big square foam stuffed pillow). It was so cute! I had to laugh!

 

[Patchesnposies]

My hens absolutely love anything soft to lay on. If the kids are playing "fort" outside and leave an old comforter that I have given them to play with laying on the ground or laid over something, I will go out to collect it and all of the hens that can possibly fit will be laying on it.

This goes for our large dog beds. I have found more eggs laid in the middle of those two beds!

My personal belief is that hens DO like a pillow or soft comforter....however, they won't be getting one from me until they can keep from pooping on them! LOL Way too much bother to clean as often as they'd need to be.

If I have a sick chicken in the house I always lay it on an old towel or torn up t-shirt in a crate.

 

[noodleroo]

Mine like lounging in my collie's long hair. I guess that's kind of like a pillow:

 

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
What a great dog! That picture is too cute!

And it did remind me though, that I have a cuckoo marans hen who loves to ride on the back of our Nigerian dwarf buck. Not exactly like a pillow but they both seem to enjoy it!

 

[noodleroo]

Quote:
I've got to take some more pictures; they really like laying on her tail and hind end where the hair is the thickest this time of year. Its cute to see them all next to and on her and she doesn't seem to mind...

 

[m2wandc]

I had a couple chickens that may have considered the dog as a comfy spot, but quickly learned the hard lesson that our dog is not chicken friendly

It would be great to have a dog that was AOK with small livestock hanging out on them...our dog spends 90% of her day stocking, chasing and killing whatever moves on the property...mice, gophers, lizards, birds, etc...I don't think I could train her to like chickens this late in her life.

 

[sourland]

They really love pillows but prefer artificial stuffings. Feather filled pillows have been known to cause psychiatric problems with requisite therapy.