Negative Chicken Comments

[NCnarrator]

Lol thanks everyone for the support. You would think I would be used to people making dumb comments about my animals. I get plenty of 'They are going to try and get your eyes!" comments about my pet rats. I should be used to all the crazy by now lol.

OMG - aren't rats the most amazing critters in the history of EVER?!? We fostered rats (and of course, ended up adopting more than a few

) for years, and they were absolutely the best pets we've ever had. I love my dogs and our new chickens. I also loved our cats, fish, ferret, guinea pigs, etc. BUT the rats have been my favorite of all - so smart and clean and deliberately loving. (You should have seen them open the puzzle boxes to get at their treats!) I still miss having one of the little fuzzbutts cuddled up on my shoulder, tail wrapped around my neck, while I'm on the computer. Oh, and the snuggles! I didn't even mind that they occasionally were a little naughty and chewed a tiny hole in one of my shirts.

Bruxing and Boggling are BEST! LOL


As far as the health thing (I saw some mention of ear infection/respiratory) - any critter (including humans) put off a certain amount of dust and other allergens. If you're sensitive or allergic, or your immunity is down, you would probably have a problem with ANY animal in the house. This time of year especially, when we're all having spring fever and the weather is back and forth, wet and dry. I don't think chickens pose any more of a hazard than anything else, especially if you're sensible about keeping things clean.

 

[fishnet1971]

i had a pet rat named George. Yup, always got negative 'ewws' and yeuch and stuff. he was the BEST pet!!!! he was potty trained and so cool. the bruxing just made my heart melt. little squishy bodies!!!

 

[bnjrob]

As far as the health thing (I saw some mention of ear infection/respiratory) - any critter (including humans) put off a certain amount of dust and other allergens. If you're sensitive or allergic, or your immunity is down, you would probably have a problem with ANY animal in the house. This time of year especially, when we're all having spring fever and the weather is back and forth, wet and dry. I don't think chickens pose any more of a hazard than anything else, especially if you're sensible about keeping things clean.

AMEN! The media always likes to use sensationalism - because it sells.

It's like the "outbreaks" of salmonella, e-coli, etc. OK, 5 people might have died, but they were people with compromised immune systems - babies, elderly, people with health issues, people taking steroid drugs, people taking chemo, people taking treatment for things like rheumatoid arthritis/psoriasis, peopel who had been recently sick to start with etc. When you look at how many people actually ate the affected item that caused the illnesses, the number of people that did not get sick and did not die are HUGE!

People just want to have something to moan, groan, and worry about. I tell people that our house is kept for the comfort of our animals, if you don't want to risk a stray cat or dog hair in the food, on your clothes, or have a cat follow you into the bathroom to watch you pee - don't come to our place.

(From the "old" cynical RN married to a veterinarian)

And yes, rats are neat. Ours lives in a condo next to the chinchilla condo.

 

[3LilBirds]

See how I keep my babies... You could imagine the comments I get. I just ignore them. They have been inside for 6 weeks now. No one has gotten sick. We are all healthy including my spoiled birds. LOL Yep that's a porta crib and it's working out great for a brooder!

 

[KellyGaCochinFan]

Don't worry about what other people say. I get so many reactions, all from one spectrum to the other. It doesnt matter if I am talking about bathing them for a show, taking my house chicken with his diaper outfit out to the pet store, or the fact I let him run around in the house, or that I have my chicks in a pack n play playpen in the house. Most people don't understand, but there are plenty of chicken people out there that DO! You do your thing and enjoy it! You know you have many that understand here.

 

[Milk Glass Chicky]

Yeah, don't worry. Someone who's just unfortunately ignorant about chickens (and no doubt other things). The thing is, people who are snobby about such things like that, they just very well might be nasty in some way themselves that they don't realize, whether it's personal hygiene, laundry, cooking or other areas of housekeeping. I could name several instances of people who either have (or had) just a dog or cat, or no animals, and they weren't so clean and perfect as they thought they were. One can be "tidy", but still be nasty in some way. Such as they have everything in it's place, whether it be books, clothes, etc, all in their proper drawers, shelves, etc. But, say they spill something like a sugary drink or some kind of gunky food. What do they do? They clean it up with a single, dry paper towel like in the silly, unrealistic commercials. Anything that's not plain water is going to leave residue behind, so of course you're going to have to get another paper towel (especially if it's a big mess), wet it, and wipe up the potentially sticky residue. That's just one of the examples I've witnessed, I'd rather not talk about the other.

We had chickens young and old, healthy and sick in the house, and we're cleaner and healthier than most people who don't have any animals at all. Heck, a favorite chicken of mine used to have sleepovers on my bed (on a towel of course)!

 

[Rachel96]

Usually if someone makes a nasty comment about my chickens, I just tell myself, "They're just jealous because their council area doesn't let them keep chooks." It's probably not true, but it helps me.

We've always kept chicks inside. We just don't have them in the kitchen or dining room, and we wash our hands before preparing food or eating. So far none of us have dropped dead from chicken germs. I also pick up and cuddle my grown chickens all the time. My sister doesn't like chickens or quails of any size "because of those awful sharp beaks!" but that's her problem (she keeps ducks because the beaks are blunter). I mean, seriously, it's only an inch and a half long from the tip of the beak to the rump, how dangerous can it be to her 'with that awful sharp beak'? Sigh.

Re the silkie foot, I have a funny story about that. Well, several, actually. The first and not-funny one is, I have some silkie/frizzle chicks at the moment and one has three toes on one foot and four on the other! It was a little freaky at first but she's cute. She also has balance issues and finds it difficult to perch, poor girl.

Anyway, the second and funny one is, my cousins got some chickens recently. Apart from the fact that they're pretty clueless and too proud to ask for advice from those members of their family who have been keeping chickens for yonks, which I was a bit peeved about (especially as my aunt kept complaining about her mistakes to me), they were... well, clueless. And weren't asking for help. Which I said. But they wanted chickens for eggs, and didn't really know where to get them (again, they could have asked someone), so when someone at my uncle's work said he had some chickens to give away, they took them, really excited because they got four chickens for FREE!!! Turns out, they were all roosters. Sigh. But onto the funny bit, when they got them (they must have been crosses for several generations I think, I never saw them so I don't know what they looked like), they found four toes and a thumb on each foot. So my cousins automatically assumed they were mutants chickens, which I guess I can understand. So a while later (before they worked out they were alll boys), my aunt was telling me about her wonderful new chickens, which were being named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because they were mutants with four toes. She didn't believe me when I said that some breeds of chicken are actually *meant* to have four toes.

The most recent nasty comment I got about chickens was a girl at French school who said something about chickens begin dirty and noisy... and then went on to say that her family kept chickens for cheap eggs, so she did know what she was talking about and she wasn't just saying things. Which is better than someone who doesn't have chickens saying it, I suppose.

The best and cutest comment I've heard about chickens recently was from a mother at Homeschooling Group. Her eight-year-old daughter was recently given a young Rhode Island Red chick (I think it's about two months old now), which she absolutely loves. It lives in her bedroom and follows her around everywhere. It can't come out because of the dogs, but it keeps trying to follow her out of the door. The girl's floor is covered in newspaper so that the chicken can stay on the floor and poop there, but the mother said that when she checks in at night, the chicken is in bed with the girl, snuggled up with her like a teddy bear. Now *that* is chicken-love.

 

[Featherland26]

That last comment is the cutest story ever !!!

 

[Wolftalk]

OMG - aren't rats the most amazing critters in the history of EVER?!? We fostered rats (and of course, ended up adopting more than a few

) for years, and they were absolutely the best pets we've ever had. I love my dogs and our new chickens. I also loved our cats, fish, ferret, guinea pigs, etc. BUT the rats have been my favorite of all - so smart and clean and deliberately loving. (You should have seen them open the puzzle boxes to get at their treats!) I still miss having one of the little fuzzbutts cuddled up on my shoulder, tail wrapped around my neck, while I'm on the computer. Oh, and the snuggles! I didn't even mind that they occasionally were a little naughty and chewed a tiny hole in one of my shirts.

x100000000000!!!!! I LOVED my rats. They were the smartest and cleanest pets I have ever had. I miss them... sorry this is off topic...I didnt think anyone liked rats on here....!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

OMG - aren't rats the most amazing critters in the history of EVER?!? We fostered rats (and of course, ended up adopting more than a few

) for years, and they were absolutely the best pets we've ever had. I love my dogs and our new chickens. I also loved our cats, fish, ferret, guinea pigs, etc. BUT the rats have been my favorite of all - so smart and clean and deliberately loving. (You should have seen them open the puzzle boxes to get at their treats!) I still miss having one of the little fuzzbutts cuddled up on my shoulder, tail wrapped around my neck, while I'm on the computer. Oh, and the snuggles! I didn't even mind that they occasionally were a little naughty and chewed a tiny hole in one of my shirts.

Bruxing and Boggling are BEST! LOL


As far as the health thing (I saw some mention of ear infection/respiratory) - any critter (including humans) put off a certain amount of dust and other allergens. If you're sensitive or allergic, or your immunity is down, you would probably have a problem with ANY animal in the house. This time of year especially, when we're all having spring fever and the weather is back and forth, wet and dry. I don't think chickens pose any more of a hazard than anything else, especially if you're sensible about keeping things clean.

OMG I LOVE RATS TOO! THEY WERE MY BFF'S IN KINDERGARTEN! I LOVE THEM!