Inside chicken home?

Right now, the Silkies are inside only pretty much, unless we are carrying them. I'm not sure about their prior history, but we got them when they were abandoned and they panic when they are on the ground. Grass is EVIL to them.

What they have right now is...

Night - an XL wire dog crate. They all run in when we call "Ladies, bedtime!", and they huddle up in a corner together to snuggle together to sleep. We can put them up on their roost, and they'll stay there, but they are pretty happy to be together in the corner.

Day - when DH and I are at work, we keep them in the master bathroom with the toilet lid down and latched. It's about 10x16, so I figure they are fine room wise. They have their food, water, the cat box to sandbathe in, a weird baking pan that's got grit, oyster shells, more sand, and we throw some treats in for them to dig up during the day, plus a treat holder DH jerry-rigged up to hang so they have to reach to peck at the veggies and such. Plus their crate if they want to go in that.

When we are home, we put their diapers on them, clean up the bathroom, and let them out to hang out in the apartment with us and the rest of the animals. The splotchy colored hen likes to get up on DH's shoulder and purr/cluck to him and snuggle. The gray one likes to sit on the arm of the computer chair and tattle on the cats or sit by DH and tattle on the cats. The extra fluffy black one bops around on the floor near DH or me, grooms the dogs who are thinking "Mom, do we HAVE to keep these things???", and likes to see what DH and I are doing. The less fluffy black one likes to get in my pockets or now her sling deal that she rides around in.

Until they get used to outside, if they do at all, do we need to give them anything more inside? The dogs and cats can't get near the chickens unless we are home with them. The dogs and cats are scared of these fluffy, chirpy things.

Thanks from the pretty Ladies and me!

Mollie

 

No, we don't mind them inside. They aren't terribly messy actually, and they like getting their bath weekly, so they aren't dirty or anything. They are hilarious at bathtime, we have to hold them up or they are relaxing out flat and blissed out. The hairdryer is the best thing put on the face of the earth.

The bathroom is easy to wipe clean, so it's not a problem that they don't wear their diapers in there. Then when we get home, they are ready and waiting to get dressed to come out.

 

Quote:http://www.hensaver.com/Hen-Holster.html Got my hens their diapers there. The girls weren't huge fans of them at first, but VERY quickly caught on that they could wear diapers or not get to be out as much. Out with people is worth the diaper to them.

But they don't wear them all day, just for 6 hours or so when we are home with them and awake during the week. Otherwise, they are in their "coop" or the bathroom, both of which are easy to wipe clean.

 

Quote:We are the building managers and I went through the apartment they were in. Found them, packed them up, took them home, never got their prior owners to contact us back. So we've had them for 5 months now and just finally are getting used to life