It sounds like you're well on your way with your rescued chook! The more you interact with her, the more you deposit into the trust bank. She sounds like she wants to be like your other hens, she just isn't sure how just yet. She'll get there! Good luck to the both of you.
What a sweet and amazing chicken you have!I have a house chicken, and though I have to clean 3x as much, I wouldn't change a thing. She's a big ol' Light Brahma hen, because of course she couldnt be a bantam like normal people have.
Her crate is in the living room, on top of the dog's crates, so she is never alone. I have MS and am on disability, so I'm home 90% of the time. I have an old cat tree that sits in front of the front door that Coconut hangs out on most of the day. We go outside almost every day, so she gets outside time, even though im not sure she enjoys it. She is a very happy chicken. I think she is under the impression she is more dog than chicken, though. She has a diaper, but she's not a huge fan of it, so she goes without it most times. The cat tree she hangs out on is covered with a puppy pad and an old towel. I clean up her poo when I see it, she normally just poos on the towel covering the tree. The reason Coconut is a house chicken is because she was a "failure to launch." She was raised in the house, like all my chicks are, with 5 other chicks. It makes it so I can interact with them throughout the day and makes the chicks very friendly and laid back chickens. I physically can't go outside as much as it is required to care for tiny chicks, because of the MS, especiallywhen it's hot. My husband also doesn't like me outside alone incase I fall and can't get back up. It's happened. We live on a few acres in Kentucky where our neighbors can't hear each other, and 911 is 30-45 minutes away. I can get heat stroke and die before they could rescue me. So anyway, We put the 6, 12 week old, chicks outside into Gen Pop. Coconut freaked out and got stuck in the electric fence net, ripping out a bunch of wing feathers. She was trying to get away from all the other chickens, even though introductions started weeks prior and went well. The other chickens couldn't care less. Coconut just wanted to come back inside with me. So, she got her wish while she healed. Two weeks later, we tried again to reintroduce Coconut. Have you ever heard a chicken scream in terror before? Yeah. It was heart-rending. My husband told me to just put her back in the house. That's how I ended up with a giant, messy, lovable, house chicken.
I'm not exaggerating when I say Coconut is an introvert. She refuses to even be near the other chickens when we go outside and let the outside chickens free range. Coconut goes as far away from them as she can get, and if one gets to close, she screams and pecks at them like a little psycho! Otherwise, she is very quiet in the house. When we go out to our fenced in front yard, she hangs out with my 4 dogs. Never unattended! I'm always right there, and the dogs leave her be. She's pecked the crap out of them before, so they are all a bit cautious around her, and actively ignore her.
The only time she gets loud is when the dogs are loud, it's like she is joining in on the barking. I find it hilarious! Her crate is almost as large as my two big dog's crates, I think her's 42x28x30 and the dog's are Great Dane sized. She has mirrors, a roost, a swing, pumice stone for her beak, and a xylophone. She's pampered, for sure! She gets all the good snacks, too. I'm sure she knows how amazing she has it, and that's why she refuses to assimilate with the other hens. House chickens aren't for everyone, and not every chicken is happy to be in the house. So if you want to have a house chicken, I'd advise you to seriously evaluate the chicken you want in the house.View attachment 3519245View attachment 3519250View attachment 3519251View attachment 3519253
Yes she is trying to figure it out the other chickens are a good influence!
