people with house chickens

[nicole camp]

Hello everyone! I have a three week old Buff Orpington chick who is mentally disabled and the flock picks on her so I decided to raise her as a house chicken. Does anyone know a good chicken diaper company? I hoping they have them for chicks, but adult would be nice too. Thanks for all your help!

 

[PBGGG]

Hello everyone! I have a three week old Buff Orpington chick who is mentally disabled and the flock picks on her so I decided to raise her as a house chicken. Does anyone know a good chicken diaper company? I hoping they have them for chicks, but adult would be nice too. Thanks for all your help!

Welcome! Chickendiapers.com has the best diapers in my opinion, and I think you can put them on chickens when they are 4 weeks old or whenever they have stiff tail feathers.

 

[nicole camp]

Awesome thank you! My little chick is so friendly probably due to it disability, however she is going to be treated like a queen now, lol!

 

[Amykins]

Amykins.
I agree with OzarkCountryGirl that you know your animals and what their temperament is. I think sometimes people feel VERY passionate about their opinions(being personality or life experience) and it can come across as harsh ! I do think most people on this site have good intentions in helping people who are asking for advice

If you think mixing your animals would work, then I say try it slowly with caution and see how it goes. Let us know how their friendship comes alongs and some pics would be GREAT

Thanks so much, Cali. Obviously I wouldn't dream of leaving all three alone while the ducks are growing, but when they're big enough to hold their own I'd like to be able to watch them around one another in the main part of the house. I don't plan on wing-clipping either, so they can fly away if one of the cats DOES get rough. Also bought the vaccines, antibiotics and anything else I'd need in a worst-case scenario.

And of course I'll post pics! Oh, I just hope that they like the lil' guys.

 

[Sylvester017]

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.

You said so eloquently what we all were trying to convey. Yes it's possible for odd pairings of animal friends but let them choose and not force it upon them and be prepared for the consequences should it not work out. Thank you for the way you presented that.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hello everyone! I have a three week old Buff Orpington chick who is mentally disabled and the flock picks on her so I decided to raise her as a house chicken. Does anyone know a good chicken diaper company? I hoping they have them for chicks, but adult would be nice too. Thanks for all your help!

Just be aware to get several different sizes as chicks grow very fast and outgrow each size up.

 

[Amykins]

Just be aware to get several different sizes as chicks grow very fast and outgrow each size up.

On that same topic, the only "grow-out diapers" I've found for babies are on GooseMother.com. Is there a better one available or did I make the right call in ordering from her? I have two left thumbs when it comes to sewing, unfortunately!

And yes, I know animal pairings can never be forced, they choose their friends and that's that. As a vet assistant I'm well aware of the dangers, but just wanted to confirm if the techniques for introducing other animals would still apply for birds. My hope is that I can be able to relax in my living room and keep an eye on all four animals without having to worry about keeping them separated in different parts of the house since I can't be in two places at once. To be honest, I'm flabbergasted how hard it is to find Pasteurella shots! I gave up and had to order mine from a livestock vet supply website. You'd think it'd be more widely available since it's pretty common for people keep cats, dogs and birds together in the home!

 

[calichicken]

Thanks so much, Cali. Obviously I wouldn't dream of leaving all three alone while the ducks are growing, but when they're big enough to hold their own I'd like to be able to watch them around one another in the main part of the house. I don't plan on wing-clipping either, so they can fly away if one of the cats DOES get rough. Also bought the vaccines, antibiotics and anything else I'd need in a worst-case scenario.

And of course I'll post pics! Oh, I just hope that they like the lil' guys.

Me too! My little Peep has become friends with a little bunny from the neighbor. She will run over to the bunny when she sees it! At first they were both very suspicious of eachother, but now they nibble in the same grass and follow each other through the bushes...totally adorable!

 

[Sylvester017]

On that same topic, the only "grow-out diapers" I've found for babies are on GooseMother.com. Is there a better one available or did I make the right call in ordering from her? I have two left thumbs when it comes to sewing, unfortunately!

And yes, I know animal pairings can never be forced, they choose their friends and that's that. As a vet assistant I'm well aware of the dangers, but just wanted to confirm if the techniques for introducing other animals would still apply for birds. My hope is that I can be able to relax in my living room and keep an eye on all four animals without having to worry about keeping them separated in different parts of the house since I can't be in two places at once. To be honest, I'm flabbergasted how hard it is to find Pasteurella shots! I gave up and had to order mine from a livestock vet supply website. You'd think it'd be more widely available since it's pretty common for people keep cats, dogs and birds together in the home!

If you find chick/duck diapers order them because not too many people bother making them - for one they are so tiny and not easy to sew them (I tried - I'm a seamstress of wedding dresses) and for another the chicks grow too fast. It's costly to order a diaper used only for 1-3 weeks before the chick needs the next size so is not ordered much. Grab the chick/duck diapers if you find them when you see them.

Let us know how your pet introduction goes since many of us wouldn't do it. Monitoring/supervising is the only way you'll know how it goes. Babies around full adults has never worked for us even just between birds. Even with English Budgerigars that we adopted from time to time we kept in separate cages but next to each other and then introduced them both together in a 3rd different cage so neither one had the "home" advantage to lord over the other. Birds are territorial and if a foreigner is introduced will fight to preserve their home territory. Throw them all in a new environment at the same time and it's a fairer advantage for all of them.

Years ago we had a male Rott who was a hyper watchdog and went everywhere in the car with my teenage daughter (on a leash and seatbelt). When she bought another 8-week-old Rott puppy we wondered about the intro between them. Through an iron screen door the two would look and sniff at each other. After a few days we chanced letting the puppy in the backyard with the 2-year-old adult. We never expected that the adult male Rott would stand over the male puppy and hover over the pup everywhere it went never leaving it. It was like saying this is MY puppy now and no one else can have him.. The older Rott was protective of the younger for another 8 years until he passed on. The younger Rott who was excellently obedience trained had to put to sleep 2 years later suffering from a crippling spinal deterioration. Lovely breed but so rare for heavy breeds to live past 10 years. It's been 15 years since then and still can't get over those 2 lovely pups. However we never could break the older Rott from catching and killing Mourning Doves in the yard. The younger Rott never bothered but the older one wouldn't leave them alone. Same breed but two different personalities.

 

[brekke69]

I have rarely had a problem introducing different species to each other. Lots of close supervision and don't leave them alone for a half second; just in case. Once they are comfortable with each other you can try small time periods as a test, but watch around the corner or through a window. I have never had a death, only 1 time did one attack another and that was 2 savannah monitors that lived together for over 1 year without incident. I think Isabel outgrew Ruth. (If it fits in your mouth it is food.)
I have never had any disease transfer from any of my critters, unless you count couch potato disease. I have had bearded dragons, iguanas, guinea pigs, sugar gliders, dogs, cats, chickens, dove, chinchilla, all running around together, sleeping in a pile on me at night; no fighting other then fighting me for space and the pillow (which can be lumpy as the monitor liked to sleep inside the pillow case.)
Animals surely have different dispositions. I once had a ball python, Gothmog and savannah monitor, Meatball live together in peace. They all know I am the food giver and they don't see each other as prey. That is very important. Food is often a trigger to dominate for.
I get my adult chicken diapers from Crazy K Farm.
Good luck with your duck adventures.