I have a lone surviving 6 yr old hen. I brought her in because the coop is full of ducks and they just don't get along. She sleeps in a little room that used to be a bathroom, I use old towels on the spot she chose as her perch. I change them out every morning, shake outside and then put them aside to do a load of laundry about once every 2 weeks
During the day she hangs around with my old dog (13 yr old, 150lb, bull mastiff) she follows the dog around. If the dog sleeps, the hen is lying down nearby.
I have an old wood floor that we won't be changing/repairing until after the dog passes. (Her claws scratch so it isn't worth doing just to have it damaged)
For the poo, I have a bunch of rolls of toilet paper always within arm's reach and I scoop it up as soon as it is spotted. I put the poo/paper in my compost. It isn't as bad as I feared. Helps that she doesn't go outside of a 15'x20' part of the house. (She isn't allowed) I have an old puppy gate to keep her away from anything dangerous for her.
She is no different than a second old dog as far as care and trouble. She never flies up to anything higher that an old chair we "gave" her, on which I put a layer of old t-shirts to curl into when the floor is cold.
She is calm and easy to live with. In winter (when she can't go outside) I have a little tub with peat moss from the garden store in which she takes dust baths. I keep it in a corner of the mudroom.
When this started she would sing out in the morning when she woke up, but now she just goes to get breakfast and then finds a spot near the dog until I get up.
Keeping a hen in the house is just the same as keeping a dog in the house. Both are crazy really.... But both give you a little company as you go about your day.
