house chickens

[meandk0610]

sorry, not sure where to post this.

is it possible to keep a couple of chickens (2) in the house? maybe in a large cage or aviary. anyone done anything like this? how much space would they need, including vertical? how could i do bedding so that there's minimal smell?

our HOA won't even allow rabbit hutches or dog houses outside and chickens outside are out of the question.

TIA!

 

[tdgill]

it sounds like alot of people have kept chickens in the house for rehab or quarantine. of course you might consider banty chickens first. But I for one, think its totally possible! Look for a breed that takes confinement well for starters also. going to find link for breed info...

there are lots of breed sites, can't find the specific one I was looking for yet, but this is informative... note the behavior column

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[Attack Chicken]

I have house chickens

2 adults and 1 about 5 months old plus all the chicks we have lol

 

[tdgill]

I am surprised at how little the smell is if any!!! only notice it if someone does a stinky one, and then only for a short time, and I'm talking alot of poop. Pine shavings work wonderfully. You do end up with alot of chicken dust though so keep that in mind. A spare room would be awesome. or garage. either way, its worth a try.

will you be able to take them outside in the yard to graze? a small portable tractor would be useful and not a permanent structure. would you have a place to stash it away? I like the aframe type personally. i wanna make one that bolts together and comes apart maybe just folds closed with hinges and lays flat so I can take it over to moms. or lean it up against the back of the house

 

[allmypeeps]

HEY!!!

Check this out...it may help:

www.chickendiapers.com

Cheers,

e

 

[DarkWolf]

LOL... Reminds me of the House Rabbit Society.. We had a litter trained rabbit who hung out in the house all the time..

It's a shame that chickens can't be litter box trained.

There are people on here who make and sell diapers like that. You might put a WANTED ad in the sale section to see what pops up local to the forum, else the above website is a good source.

 

[jenni2142]

I have 2 adults and 12 4-5 week old babies inside at the moment. I made cages out of pvc and deer netting, the largest has 3 floors. The floors are covered in peel and stick tiles and each one has a tub with sand for bathing and a perch. The smell is minimal and not much dust since I use the tiles and not pine shavings. They do enjoy coming out to visit and field trips outside. The cages are cheap to build, easy to clean, can be broken down if not needed and are light enough to take outside if I want. Some are going outside but some(5 silkies) will always be housechickens.

 

[tdgill]

Quote:
cool! love to see pics

 

[meandk0610]

Quote:
how do you clean the floor? how often do you have to clean? do you feed scratch in pans or on the bottom floor? i agree, pics would be great!

as an aside, we have house rabbits, 3 does & 1 buck, in individual 3x5 pens on vynil flooring in the basement with straw in large, shallow storage bins.