Help with questions about a house chicken

[gpamela3499]

This is Jenny. She is a house chicken. She grew up in a pre school classroom with another chick. in the classroom they would perch an the side of the playpen brooder. The children would pet them, paint their pictures, etc. When the semester ended I brought the two home and the other chick integrated back into the flock. My daughter felt sorry for Jenny and brought her in where she seems happy. We take her outside for sunshine once or twice a day, and when we leave the house we turn on the radio so she won't get lonely. She poops on the litter side of the play pen. She is eating and pooping normally.The questions I have are ......
Is this enough for her to be a happy chicken?
What about eggs? Will she lay eggs? If so what kind of things do I need to do? Does she need a nest box? Does she need a dust pan?

We are so in love with her that if something happened we would be heartbroken especially if we caused it. She acts like a really friendly parakeet.
We need advise from people who have or who have had a house chicken.

 

[KattyKillFish]

wow! she reminds me of Haiyup, my inside chicken! yes, that looks like a great setup. i am positive that she will lay eggs if you give her a nice little spot to lay them.

you might even want to get her a chicken diaper so that she can have free run all over the house without you following her around with paper towels

what a sweety! she's beautiful!


edited to add: oh, you might want to raise her water bowl on blocks or something to prevent litter from getting in there. 3 inches off the ground should be enough

 

[I'M On Island Time]

I had a house chicken for 2.5yrs. She would go outside in nice weather with the other girls where she could run away, but could never live in the coop with them because she would get terribly beaten up. She was a lone chick that just could never get integrated with the others because she was a little Phoenix, and the others were all giant birds.

So......

She had a cage in the house with food and water and shavings, but I bought a chicken diaper for her so she could roam around the house at night. She laid her egg during the day, so she stayed in her dog cage then because the egg in the diaper with the poop was really disgusting (we just threw it out, but then she would be dragging around this egg behind her). She got along fine with 4 cats (they were actually scared of her), liked to perch on chairs, looked out the window, etc. The only problem was she loved to eat cat food, and would find the litter boxes and dig around in those.

I called her the poor-man's parrot. She was a very easy pet to have.

Unfortunately, she got eaten by a raccoon outside, so that was the end of little Thora Dora.

But it was fun while it lasted!

 

[GoldenSilverLaced]

She beautiful! I'm glad you're keeping her indoors where she's happy. My DF won't let me keep the girls inside. They spent their first 4 months with us in the kitchen and I let them out every night to play. I wish I had put diapers on them as it would have stressed him/us out a little less.

 

[gpamela3499]

Thank you all for your advise and responses. I do have diapers but she hates them. She never leaves the side of the playpen she sits there all day listening to the radio. We put a old shower curtain under the playpen to catch the poop that falls on the outside but that is rare. Mostly it falls on the litter inside.
I am a little worried that she doesn't eat enough (she never gets offf the side unless I take her off, or she will get fat (may not get enough exersize) or can she get egg bound if she doesn't have a nest box. What did everyone else use? Think a clean strw filled litter box will do?
She is a sultan so do they get broodie much?

 

[GoldenSilverLaced]

Hm....I'm pretty sure she won't become egg bound by not having a nest box, as mine girls actually don't have a nest box and lay right onto the coop bottom (I only have two so this isn't really an issue). I think she would be ok but hopefully a more experienced person can also confirm this.

I think the litter box would be fine, with maybe a covering over the top...what I do know is that they prefer to lay in the dark, in an enclosed space, without humans watching (at least these are my girls' preferences). They make do in the coop as it fulfills all of these, but they do lay out in their tractor.

I would think she eats less because she doesn't move around as much as an "outdoor" chicken does, but as you know her habits you would know best. I think they'll self-regulate eating when they're hungry unless they are ill.

I don't know about sultans' broodiness, another breed-specific trait. Neither of mine are broody at all...it's like "what just fell out of my butt? oh look a worm."

 

[jenni2142]

I use a cat hidey hole from walmart for a nesting box. at about $12 it is cheaper than a covered litter box and takes up less space, it is made of fabric and plastic and fits in the corner. mine also enjoy the shelf on top because it is soft and a nice play to perch. I currently have 5 silkies in a special 2 floor cage we made that will be forever house chickens and 9 more in 3 other cages that will soon go outside. There is a yahoo group for people with housechickens, great group.

 

[KattyKillFish]

Quote:
the litter box is a great idea

not sure if sultans like to go broody though. i don't think she'll get too fat or skinny, chickens know when they need food and eat what they need. you might want to worry about her getting fat if you give her a LOT of treats though.