Keeping an injured chicken indoors--advice please!!!

[chickygrrl]

We need to keep one of our girls indoors for the next few weeks or more until her feathers grow back and foot hopefully heals...

We have her temporarily in a large rubbermaid bin with hay, a light, food, water... she can move around but we want to give her more room to roam. We have a wire dog kennel that is 48x28x21 inches. The plastic tray for the bottom is missing, but we were thinking about making something else anyway with sides to keep in bedding, poo, etc.

Does anyone have experience with this? We had our baby chicks indoors in the spring but after a few weeks the smell and dust was overwheming, even with a screen on top and regular cleaning.

What kind of bedding to use?
Ideas to contain the "stuff" inside the kennel?
Thoughts about using the dog kennel?
Other options?
How to deal with the smell?

Any words of wisdom appreciated...

 

[SuperChixxx]

Either way should work. If girlfriend's foot is hurt, she doesnt need to roam anyhow. You need to make sure it isnt anything worse. another easy thing to do is to get the antibiotics that you add to her water. it really helps with alot. Shell want to feel safe, even if shes in a tub, if you can put it on a table top or higher, she'll feel more secure. and cover it at night. sometimes for whatever reason their feet just go funny. We have a spaztic Key West hen with TOTAL club feet- no toes, no shape whatsoever. Little girl was born all clubfooted- badly- we thought shed die-- oh hell no! Girlfriend had 2 hatches this year and makes her way all over the place on 2 little clubs. GOOD LUCK!! The fact that youre caring that much about her means she'll probablu be just fine. I hope )

 

[vermontgal]

I've had a chicken in the bathtub for a couple days at a time. Only a few poops a day are the really stinky cecal poops. Using a cat litter scoop to clean up poops out of pine shavings could help. Good luck.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Do you have any plastic rubbermaid tubs? Those work great for housing sick chickens.

 

[team_realtree]

Quote:

 

[B'villechicken]

 

[teach1rusl]

Well if you were closer, I'd loan you my big plastic slide out tray that you're missing...lol. I think I'd just get some big cardboard boxes and smash them/cut them to fit in the bottom, plus extend up the sides about 4 or 5 inches. Or you could just get some plastic drop cloths or or small tarps, lay it out, and zip tie up along the sides/back several inches???

 

[Terri O]

I kept CHarlie(the legless chicken--RIP) in the house all winter for two winters. I used a wire dog kennel to house him so he'd be safe from the dogs. Under the front (where I put his food and water dishes) I kept newspaper. I kept a folded towel for him to sit on in the rear of the cage. The whole thing I set up on a box to avoid drafts. Each day I took the towel outside and shook off the poop and folded it a different way so he'd have a clean place to rest. When all the sides got dirty I washed it and started over. The only problem I had was with the dander,,,the room got pretty dusty! I also used "Press and Seal" plastic wrap around the cage to keep stuff in. I use it on my finch cages too (they are really messy!) It works well as a draft blocker and as a shield.
Good luck! Probably you will enjoy a house chicken so much you will want one all the time! I know I sure miss my Charlie! (not the crowing at 5AM though....) TErri O in WI

 

[possumqueen]

Whatever you do, don't put her back out before it warms up in the spring. The shift from warm to cold will knock her off.

Take it from personal experience. (experience is what you get when you screw up -- like I did.)

 

[technodoll]

Find a large cardboard box, cut out a piece to fit the bottom of the dog crate.

Use the leftover pieces to wedge between the crate bottom and sides, to form a barrier to keep the wood shavings (bedding) inside the crate.

Works beautifully, it's cheap and easy to set up!