How many hours spent with your chickens?

[parvani]

So i have two d'Uccles that i gave so much attention to, they are the ones that are potty trained. The cochin, unfortunately i got her later and she didn't get as much training/handling, so she is a poop machine. So i trust the d'uccles out with me... cochin not so much...

If it will be more than 10 minutes, i put them in chicken diapers that i line with a panty liner. I would do that in your case, i think they need to learn the potty training in the first few weeks. The diapers i got are from pampered poultry on etsy.. they have that baby swimming diaper material in the poop pocket

I only buy indoor/outdoor rugs that you just spray and wipe, but nothing sticks or stains them. But some of them are very pretty, so no one would be the wiser.

You're my HERO!!

I was so afraid that I was going to be the first one to say it. Yes, we too are with our chickens 24/7.

We have incubators and brooders in the bedroom, a giant cage with young Isbars in the living room, and Lacey the silver-laced Barnevelder in her own box.

Lacey decided by herself that she belonged with the people flock, not with the other chickens. So unless we can convince her to integrate with our two other Barnevelders, she's probably going to become a house chicken.

Every evening, Lacey throws off the cover of her box and comes out for some quality time with us. She's remarkably well-behaved, especially considering that we didn't raise her to be a pet. We have four cats, so Lacey will never be allowed to free-range in the house without supervision, but she seems very happy to be with us even though she's confined 23 hours out of 24.

Ah well. Some people have parakeets. Some people have cockatoos or parrots.

We have chickens.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

I'm retired and working more than ever! Definitely don't have hours per day to spend on the chickens, though they do seem to enjoy watching me labor around the yard. Just as we enjoy "chicken TV," chickens like "human TV."

So true! Mine follow me around to watch me scoop poop. They don’t like it when I pick up debris in the yard tho, too much moving around.

 

[Anonymous2020]

A lot

my dog sniffs them and they love to hop around him one got on his back once

 

[Anonymous2020]

You always pick them up so they dont pack when they get older and so you can pick them up easier

 

[cgaylemedders]

my dog sniffs them and they love to hop around him one got on his back once

My juveniles follow my doxie around like he's momma when they are out. He does not like it when they crawl in one his bed...

 

[AngBantamLuv]

You're my HERO!!

I was so afraid that I was going to be the first one to say it. Yes, we too are with our chickens 24/7.

We have incubators and brooders in the bedroom, a giant cage with young Isbars in the living room, and Lacey the silver-laced Barnevelder in her own box.

Lacey decided by herself that she belonged with the people flock, not with the other chickens. So unless we can convince her to integrate with our two other Barnevelders, she's probably going to become a house chicken.

Every evening, Lacey throws off the cover of her box and comes out for some quality time with us. She's remarkably well-behaved, especially considering that we didn't raise her or train her to be a pet. We have four cats, so Lacey will never be allowed to free-range in the house without supervision, but she seems very happy to be with us even though she's confined 23 hours out of 24.

Ah well. Some people have parakeets. Some people have cockatoos or parrots.

We have chickens.

How wonderful! And yes, all those other birds are pets (i have a parrot myself), and are wild.. whereas chickens are domesticated. It is in their instict to think we are kind of cool Sounds like she picked you guys!

I have a large rabbit hutch with trays and wheels, same setup as a small coop/run, so they are enclosed as well, but it is located where they see me and we can catch up on gossip throughout the day. And when they come up to their door, i let them out and they run up for cuddles.

I would still try to integrate her, having more friends is great, plus then she had peeps to hang with if she needs to for the short term, where they are friends and not potential enemies. I only have my 3, so its easy to keep them together.

 

[parvani]

How wonderful! And yes, all those other birds are pets (i have a parrot myself), and are wild.. whereas chickens are domesticated. It is in their instict to think we are kind of cool Sounds like she picked you guys!

I have a large rabbit hutch with trays and wheels, same setup as a small coop/run, so they are enclosed as well, but it is located where they see me and we can catch up on gossip throughout the day. And when they come up to their door, i let them out and they run up for cuddles.

I would still try to integrate her, having more friends is great, plus then she had peeps to hang with if she needs to for the short term, where they are friends and not potential enemies. I only have my 3, so its easy to keep them together.

We never intended to keep "pet" chickens. The plan is to move to the country, increase our flocks of dual-purpose birds, and build a business selling gourmet poultry.

We know very well that we cannot bring ourselves to "process" (i.e., kill, scald, pluck, butcher, and freeze) individual birds with whom we have established a personal relationship.

But the Barnevelder eggs were a weakness -- I wanted some eye-candy for the yard -- and the Isbars are for their eggs alone. We won't be building large flocks of those birds to eat, just raising a few for pretty feathers and pretty eggs.

Regardless, we never planned on Lacey, who is so unhappy (or perhaps so non-assertive?) that she stops eating if kept with the other birds. She was always coming over to visit with me when I brought fresh feed and water, and I noticed she was getting skinnier and weaker.

The other two Barnevelders are holdng their own and growing well in a mixed flock with larger birds -- but Lacey lost so much weight that our only choices were to either just watch her weaken and die in the flock... Or remove her from the flock and feed and water her separately so she could regain her weight.

Though now kept "alone" in a box, she eats well and has grown into a plump hen with glossy feathers and a VERY fluffy butt. Her double-laced feathers are very beautiful, and she knows it!

The unexpected advantage to spending lots of time with chickens is the education gained by watching "chicken TV" and interacting with the birds. Understanding how chickens think will help us keep our flocks happy and healthy as we build up our business.

 

[Sally PB]

I feel for you. I was lucky enough to be able to retire early and can honestly say I’m enjoying every minute of it. One of my friends at work gave me the best advice during my very first week on the job - put more money than you think you can into your retirement account and keep adding more every time you get a raise. She said if I started doing it early, I’d never miss it and boy, was she right! I ate a lot of ramen noodles and lived in a craptastic apartment for quite a few years, but because of her great advice, I was able to retire when I turned fifty!! I hope you’ll be able to do the same.

If I had known 30 years ago what I know now about saving money, I would have retired 10-15 years ago. I got to retire at 58, though, so it's all good.

Now that the weather is warmer, I do spend more time with my chickens. I'm getting 5 chicks in June (can't wait!), and I hope to do better at having tamer chickens this time around. I would LOVE to have some lap chickens. The ones I have now will get on my lap for bread as a treat. But that's about once every 2-3 weeks.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

24 hrs.. they live in my family room
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Oh my!! How do you keep them from pooing all over? I want to convince my husband to let me have a house chicken

 

[Brooks_]

Minutes really, but a couple of the ladies walk right in the open screen door for a look-see. Almost to say "Hey, they live in a box too".