How many people have chickens indoors

[Chukar man]

No bad critasiam

 

[chooks4life]

At the time of me posting, you have 22 views and no replies. This would likely be because of the 'no bad criticism' line.

Not all criticism is bad. There's constructive criticism; you can't properly take on the task if you don't know the potential issues with it.

People don't tend to keep adult chickens indoors because it's not healthy for them. It's very, very difficult to make an environment indoors which will be healthy for them and you. Ventilation is a big issue, and so is waste. The sheer amount of chemicals we live amongst is also a big issue. We are much larger than chickens and can take more exposure than them before showing symptoms. For example chickens and cage birds kept indoors commonly die when people cook with non stick cookware. We're also being poisoned by it but we're larger so don't notice as quick.

People often keep baby chickens inside during brooding times, and they almost always look poorly compared to free-range-reared chicks. But, they do survive in most cases, and some people just don't have any other options due to weather etc. The main reasons indoor reared chicks look so bad are lack of real sunlight and greens. With those two things added to their lives they do better. An adult chicken needs much more sunlight and greens, and exercise.

In a house they can't dustbathe and will become overridden by lice and mites. If they did have a dustbath in the house, they will spread dust everywhere, making it unhealthy for humans particularly those with allergies. Some chooks walk meters from the dustbath before shaking the dust out of their feathers. If you use only chemicals to dust them or keep the parasites off, you're harming the animal as well as its parasites.

Also, in the average house, there are many, many threats to a chooks' life. Toxic carpet underlays, 'mortein-ed' or bug-sprayed insects galore, rat or mouse poisons, aggressive fungi etc in walls and floors that have to be seriously nasty to survive the chemicals we use to kill them, toxic paints, inedible objects, and so forth.

It's not impossible to keep chooks indoors but it's very, very unlikely to result in truly healthy animals, never mind ones that live for more than a short period of time.

There are 'nappies' etc for them, but that's also not healthy for them to live in permanently. Unlike dogs and cats, nobody's perfected a universal method of training them to only eliminate in one area. It's probably doable though.

Also, humans can become sick from living with poultry. There are a few serious and potentially fatal diseases we can catch from them, made all the worse because of the overuse of antibiotics, so these are now 'superbugs' which can't be conquered by artificial antibiotics any more.

These are all actually more along the line of facts and reasons rather than 'bad criticisms' but they're all things you would have to take into account if you wanted to keep chooks inside as adults.

Best wishes.

 

[stacieish]

My husband brought our 5 (now 4 girls) into the house last week, due to the thunderstorms. Never again, they seemed to like the brief relief and getting dry/warm but I didn't like the poop. They have all since been at the kitchen door wanting to come in, I think they enjoyed the remnants of dog biscuits they found in the kitchen. I am planning on raising the new chicks in the house until they're big enough to free range with the other girls though


P.s the hens loved looking at themselves in my mirrors haha x

 

[Hokum Coco]

It will hopefully make your immune system stronger you will find out if anyone in your household is allergic to feathers.
On another note:
Cows and chickens get along famously. If you decide to have cows indoors keep in mind they will need ramps to descend stairs (they can climb stairs no problem.)
It has also been reported if you keep horses indoors chickens will also bring down their stress levels.

 

[stacieish]

The poo was my only issue, and they obscured my view of the TV haha

 

[Hokum Coco]

Listen up hokum coko this thread was ment to see who caried on a Long tradition that a lot of people from the 1800s and 1900s and don't you know what no bad criosiam means

I humbly apologies for any criosiam I may have posted. Some of the advantages to keeping chickens in your house would be no frozen locks to deal with in the winter. Knowing the exact temperature your birds are subject to. Able to feed your birds fresh table scraps direct from the table. No need for alarm clocks you are up with the chickens. Kids would have egg hunts every day. You would have chicken entertainment if the hydro goes out. Able to keep track of chickens health by inspecting their droppings at any time. A larger tolerance for the smell of ammonia. Able to dust and vacuum your home more regularly. More knowledge on average of getting chicken stains out of a variety of fabrics. .

 

[chooks4life]

I think you're not understanding the meaning of 'bad criticism', Hokum Coco. The OP has started this thread because clearly they know they need to learn about keeping chooks indoors, and they are asking for information. Addressing the facts of the situation is the only way they will possibly succeed in this.

Here's an example of 'bad criticism', i.e. the stuff that doesn't really help anyone: 'You're silly for even thinking this, in fact if you go ahead with this you're cruel, your birds are going to die horrible deaths if you do this, it's unfair to them, it's inhumane, you're going to make your whole family sick as well as the chooks'. Nobody actually attacked the OP in such a way.

The points myself and stacieish raised are just facts that the OP would have to deal with. They're not actually 'bad criticism'.

I wouldn't advocate harming animals or humans just on a whim, so if this idea is going to be made to work, it needs more than just plain positive thinking and refusal to accept or address negatives, it needs logic and addressing the many potential issues unflinchingly.

There are enough troubles with keeping them healthy in an ideal environment, never mind in a non-ideal environment, and to choose to ignore potential issues because they aren't happy/positive is akin to basically deciding to commit animal abuse.

Now that's a bit closer to bad criticism but still not quite there, in my opinion.

Best wishes.

 

[Liselle]

I keep Chicky inside, but I REALLY want her to be outside. The only reason she isn't is because I don't have a coop built for her. I have either been broke or sick or working, and don't have the time/energy/money to build an outdoor enclosure for her.

I haven't really noticed a problem with her yet, other than the fact that she's loud and messy in her cage. But so far, not so different than my parrots.

 

[stacieish]

Who wanted indoor chicken pics? It was a one off, I promise haha xx

 

[chooks4life]

Ah, lol, a few things are cleared up... Apologies to Hokum Coco for the misunderstanding.

I think many of us have brought injured or ill chooks inside temporarily but as soon as they start getting better they make obvious in every way possible all the reasons they're not suited to being indoors pets.

If you had a large house and the resources you could make a semi-decent little habitat but I'd think you're better off using the old barn style setup many of our ancestors used, where you sleep in a loft and the animals live below and have access to outdoors. It's better for their health, but really defeats the concept because they're not 'in a house'. A few of the modern houses 'green' folks are designing are very interesting, I like the idea of having a more natural house. They incorporate streams and grassy areas, small crops, trees, etc into parts of their eco-friendly houses.

Anyway, best wishes.