enrichment/enclosure for indoor setup (plants,toys, etc)

[TOMTE]

I agree. The people in this forum are always saying that you need at least 2 or more birds. This is completely B.S.

No, it isn't, unless you have a special case where the bird is ill, injured, or aggressive to other birds for example. Chickens at their core are social animals and need a flock to really thrive. Humans can stand in for other chickens in a pinch but we are not chickens and we can't satisfy their instinctual and social needs. Even if we study their behavior and try to replicate it to the best of our ability to make them feel more comfortable, we aren't going to get it exactly right because they are so complicated.

A natural chicken is a happy chicken. A lone chicken is not natural. An indoor chicken is not natural (though, as stated in this thread, it can work. It just takes so much extra effort that you need to be 100% dedicated to, for the health and wellbeing of everybody inside).

 

[TOMTE]

Here's what matters more than other people's opinions: your joy.

Until your joy comes at the expense of the health and happiness of the animals in question.

Not aimed at you specifically! Just in general. Don't be selfish and disregard your animals' needs just because you think it would be fun. If you aren't willing to do all the extra work it takes to keep an outdoor animal indoors full time, you aren't doing yourself or that animal any favors. Brooding chicks indoors is normal and different from keeping them indoors as they get bigger and more active and destructive.

Personally, I'll die on the "chickens belong outdoors" hill. However I do love seeing people who do it differently, do it right!

 

[SilverBirds]

I agree. The people in this forum are always saying that you need at least 2 or more birds. This is completely B.S.

Looking at some of your other posts and threads, have you ever actually owned any sort of bird yourself?

 

[Appalachickens]

you can definitely raise chickens indoors! But, it's much more difficult.

Also, it's important to distinguish between what one CAN do and what would SHOULD do. You can raise a child in a cage in a basement, but should you?

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Also, it's important to distinguish between what one CAN do and what would SHOULD do. You can raise a child in a cage in a basement, but should you?

Good point. Very true. And yes, you should raise chickens outdoors. I just tried to say what I said before in the nicest way possible without saying that it cannot be done because I don't want to put anyone down. Because this person seems very excited about the possibility of getting new chickens and I didn't want to ruin that for them. I'm not one to usually call someone out on something unless it's very wrong.

 

[fat brown hen]

They're having a great time, scritch scratching around in the hay, and chatting softly while I work on my laptop. I'm remodeling my house, soon, and I fully plan to integrate an indoor coop into the remodel, with an auto door so they can go straight out to the run in the mornings.

Awesome. Back in the olden days, people lived in "barnhouses" alongside their livestock. These weren't pets, but there were many benefits like cost, warmth, safety, etc.

 

[Appalachickens]

Good point. Very true. And yes, you should raise chickens outdoors. I just tried to say what I said before in the nicest way possible without saying that it cannot be done because I don't want to put anyone down. Because this person seems very excited about the possibility of getting new chickens and I didn't want to ruin that for them. I'm not one to usually call someone out on something unless it's very wrong.

I agree - I'm just suggesting another aspect of this whole thing to consider.

 

[Appalachickens]

Awesome. Back in the olden days, people lived in "barnhouses" alongside their livestock. These weren't pets, but there were many benefits like cost, warmth, safety, etc.

True. One hundred years ago in Iceland people often kept livestock inside because all they had was their one earthen home. But they were also desperately poor. I recommend "Independent People" by Halldór Laxness (a Nobel prize winner in literature) for a fairly grueling understanding of what that life actually looked like in the early 1900's. Or "The Good People" by Hannah Kent, which was set in Ireland in the mid-1800's. Keeping pigs, cows and sheep inside is not as cozy as it might sound.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

No, it isn't, unless you have a special case where the bird is ill, injured, or aggressive to other birds for example. Chickens at their core are social animals and need a flock to really thrive. Humans can stand in for other chickens in a pinch but we are not chickens and we can't satisfy their instinctual and social needs. Even if we study their behavior and try to replicate it to the best of our ability to make them feel more comfortable, we aren't going to get it exactly right because they are so complicated.

A natural chicken is a happy chicken. A lone chicken is not natural. An indoor chicken is not natural (though, as stated in this thread, it can work. It just takes so much extra effort that you need to be 100% dedicated to, for the health and wellbeing of everybody inside).

They could’ve also been talking about parakeets, which are also very social animals who naturally live in a flock. It’s interesting how it’s socially acceptable to keep parrots (and finches, canaries, etc.) alone, but not chickens or ducks.

 

[TOMTE]

They could’ve also been talking about parakeets, which are also very social animals who naturally live in a flock. It’s interesting how it’s socially acceptable to keep parrots (and finches, canaries, etc.) alone, but not chickens or ducks.

It comes down to education. Uneducated people will also keep a lone chicken or duck or other fowl because they don't know better. They go off a romanticized video they saw of a duck cuddling with the family dog, living indoors, and take it as standard. Unfortunately, lots of people do minimal or no research before getting an exotic pet, and since it's common to see social birds housed alone, they just assume that's what's best/normal for the animal. On top of that, big box stores (like PetSmart for example) which sell budgies, finches, etc. don't actually care for the wellbeing of the animals they sell, they just want to make a buck. The animal care pamphlets they offer are full of misinformation at worst and are vague at best, and exist solely to sell more product.