people with house chickens

[Sylvester017]

Thanks! I am a teacher and my students named her

she is so friendly and great with them when I bring her in...I have a pre-k/kinder special education class! We hatch chicks and ducks every year! When Peep hatched, she was so different from the others...followed me around, looking to sit in my lap, chatting away ect. When I researched and found out what type of chicken she was and what was required to care for her we decided to keep her and her sister...its been love ever since. Unfortunately we had to rehome her sister...Chirp. She was a Bantam Silkie and they did not get along. I have tried to get Peep a buddy several times, but it hasn't really worked out well and Peep was never even interested in the other chickens. Funny enough...our neighbors have a bunny that hops around and Peep loves her! Go figure

Just like people chickens pick their own friends!

 

[calichicken]

Just like people chickens pick their own friends!

LOL....that's the truth!!!

 

[Amykins]

Hi guys, I need to ask my fellow house-fowl owners something. How do you introduce your pets to existing four-legged ones? My cats both bonded with the rescued gosling we fostered and released last year, but this'll be the first time either have them will be around a newborn hatched bird. I assume the standard pet introductory steps must be taken, such as bringing them one another's objects to sniff, letting them smell one another through the crack under a door, giving them treats to associate one another with yummy things, etc. But since I'm keeping a house-duck I'd like to know if any other house duck (or chicken) owners have had successes merging their furry flock, so to speak.

 

[Skink]

Hi guys, I need to ask my fellow house-fowl owners something. How do you introduce your pets to existing four-legged ones? My cats both bonded with the rescued gosling we fostered and released last year, but this'll be the first time either have them will be around a newborn hatched bird. I assume the standard pet introductory steps must be taken, such as bringing them one another's objects to sniff, letting them smell one another through the crack under a door, giving them treats to associate one another with yummy things, etc. But since I'm keeping a house-duck I'd like to know if any other house duck (or chicken) owners have had successes merging their furry flock, so to speak.

The way to do it is: you don't! Feline saliva is laden with disease lethal to avians, and if your cat takes to grooming a chicken, there is a very real risk of them falling terminally ill. More so, it only takes one claw snag or bite for the to introduce nasty, deadly bacteria of all sorts right in to an open wound. Cats and birds do not mix, and for the safety of the birds, should not. A lot of people would say "well I've done this and that and not lost a bird-" but the fact is they mean not lost one yet. It's not a problem 'til it's a problem, and then it's too late. By the time you know something is wrong, there's little to be done for the poor bird. It might seem cute to look at such interspecies relations, but it is a dangerous risk.

There is also your cat's safety to consider: the first time Pepper ever got to see our cat, both of them being held, she scrambled loose to take a peck at his oh-so-shiny and tempted eye like a magpie at heart. Even if you have a claw capped blind cat that stays aloof and on the other side of the room, it's not as if a bird is an unmoving lump that never takes interest in their surroundings.

Conflicts can, and will, happen. I don't know a cat keeper in the world who could promise their cat would never mouth or claw any animal that descended on them or spooked them. You can't trust that you will simply stop it, because you won't- a paw will get thrown or teeth will come down before one can react, and it only takes a nick. It might not happen the first time, but for all intents and purposes, it's russian roulette. You don't tempt a rattlesnake to bite you because you know most bites are dry, for instance. For the health and safety of both animals involved, they should never mix. Dogs actually pose the same risks, sans claws, but are much easier to train to keep off poultry, and are usually in a weight class above the fowl. Human saliva is also dangerous, so birds should never be allowed to peck at teeth or in mouths or to share from eaten-off food.

Our cat only gets to see the chicken when one of them is being held far out of reach. He is permitted to look in to the brooder, but not sit upon it. He gets run of every room except the one the chicken is in. He is only made aware of the chicken's presence so that she is a familiar entity, so that the situation isn't a ticking time bomb of the cat slipping in unnoticed and taking a shot at her in curiosity. He's no longer interested in her and is kept far, far away. I'd call that success, and anything else an unnecessary risk.

 

[Amykins]

Well...keep in mind ducks are different than chickens. I've heard of many instances where a pet house duck got along swimmingly with felines. And the only lethal bacteria I can think of is Pasteurella, and there's a vaccine for that. It's not even present in all cat's mouths.

I've also seen photos of BYC members with happy kitties and chickies snuggling with them in bed, so I know it's possible.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi guys, I need to ask my fellow house-fowl owners something. How do you introduce your pets to existing four-legged ones? My cats both bonded with the rescued gosling we fostered and released last year, but this'll be the first time either have them will be around a newborn hatched bird. I assume the standard pet introductory steps must be taken, such as bringing them one another's objects to sniff, letting them smell one another through the crack under a door, giving them treats to associate one another with yummy things, etc. But since I'm keeping a house-duck I'd like to know if any other house duck (or chicken) owners have had successes merging their furry flock, so to speak.

I'm of the old adage that an animal is an animal is an animal. After 70 years of having farm animals, outdoor and indoor pets, and now chickens I'm on the side of caution. Eventually the call of the wild can make pets go berserk. Read a few weeks back where a chickeneer had their dog and cat accustomed to being around their chickens for YEARS. They came home from an outing to find the cat AND the dog had killed their flock. I see photos and videos all the time with mingled pets (i.e. Pitbulls, Mastiffs, Shepherds, Guard breeds, housecats etc) and babies and toddlers, etc. Just a couple months ago a house cat attacked the family's infant and in a frenzy had blocked the family in another room while it went on an attack rampage that necessitated a 911 call. A couple days later it was back to being a cuddly housepet again. If it were me that cat would never be allowed near my baby again or anywhere on my property for that matter. People take chances and if lucky nothing will happen but who knows what can trigger a sudden impulse? Just me - but to each his own.

 

[Amykins]

I can't help but feeling that I'm being attacked. :/

I wish you guys could meet my cat - one is an absolute moron, the other is afraid of his own shadow. They're both very, very sweet animals - Stupicabra, the one that was attacked by a raccoon, never went after a thing in his life. He doesn't even chase cat toys - maybe it's because he can't see out of one eye and has no depth perception. The other just never bothered. They also wear soft-paws, so who knows.

I guess you guys must think I'm terrible for even chancing it. I'm building an indoor closure for the duckies, but I still dream of a happy home with my motley zoo snuggling me to sleep each night.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well...keep in mind ducks are different than chickens. I've heard of many instances where a pet house duck got along swimmingly with felines. And the only lethal bacteria I can think of is Pasteurella, and there's a vaccine for that. It's not even present in all cat's mouths.

I've also seen photos of BYC members with happy kitties and chickies snuggling with them in bed, so I know it's possible.

Possible - but for how long and how safely. Don't be an animal hoarder LOL and use good judgment gleaned from all these advices. Don't mix so many pets all at once. One at a time is snuggles enough.

 

[Sylvester017]

I can't help but feeling that I'm being attacked. :/

I wish you guys could meet my cat - one is an absolute moron, the other is afraid of his own shadow. They're both very, very sweet animals - Stupicabra, the one that was attacked by a raccoon, never went after a thing in his life. He doesn't even chase cat toys - maybe it's because he can't see out of one eye and has no depth perception. The other just never bothered. They also wear soft-paws, so who knows.

I guess you guys must think I'm terrible for even chancing it. I'm building an indoor closure for the duckies, but I still dream of a happy home with my motley zoo snuggling me to sleep each night.

You have the choice to make your own decisions. Advice is cheap yet the actual rose-colored glasses action may have consequences. Remember the sweet cat who attacked the family's infant and then blocked them in a room with an attack rampage that necessitated a 911 call and then the cat was back to being "sweet" again a couple days later? Cats can have soft paws and be blind but my daughter's blind/de-clawed paws cat still had sharp teeth and her brain tumor caused her to hiss and spit and growl - eventually had to put her down before she really hurt someone. You could be one of the fortunate non-incident example and then again who knows? Out of the blue your ducks could be "sitting ducks" to your cat. Everyone on here loves animals but experience has caused some to pass on their cautionary knowledge. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed and it's passed along with the kindest intents.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

I've a Beagle whose best bud was a Holland Lop rabbit (they even slept together in the same dog bed on the deck) and they remained such up until the Lop died of old age, had a Shepherd mix (I got her from animal shelter as a pup) that adopted three orphan opossums, and a pet raccoon (rescued as a baby after coon hounds killed the mother) that was raised around chickens and yet never bothered them (although I didn't leave them alone together unsupervised....why tempt fate). Some of the best friends in the world are the most unlikely duos. You know your animals better than anyone, and if you think they would get along, I say try it. And if turns out that they do, then wonderful! But just be prepared to accept it if it doesn't. Friendships like that have to come naturally to both. It cannot be forced, no matter how much we would wish otherwise, else the end results could be disastrous. I wish you the best of luck.