people with house chickens

[calichicken]

I've literally only had him one day and he's my first. I rescued him. So does he need to spend a certain amount of time outside? Can I bathe him so he won't stink like he currently does? Should he have a different diet if he's a house rooster?

I have a bantam cochin that is a house chocken, but she goes outside a couple of times a day to forage and get a good dust bath. Once she got past the chick stage, she was pretty good about grooming herself, so she didn't smell or really need a bath. But until she was about 4-5 months old I did, especially since she is feather footed and would step in her poo sometimes

I see, welcome to chicken ownership. It would be good for him to spend time outside everyday, but Pancake my house chicken doesn't. She'd much rather be inside with everyone. Also YES you can give him a bath. Google 'how to bathe a chicken' and you'll find many helpful links on the subject and even a video. Sometimes chickens need human baths, but once he isn't smelly and wet you should offer him a nice clean dirt for him to dust bathe in.

GREAT advice!!!!

Dust bath is good for hygiene and very relaxing/enjoyable for your bird!

 

[Ponyfeather]

Pancake is so cute, today we sat in the living room and she sat in my lap on a towel her chicky diaper I bought her last week still hasn't shipped. Well no accident so I placed the towel on the back of my chair to save it for another day. I will note I place lots of things on the back of this chair, often when Pancake has free rein in my room. Well she has never pulled anything down until yesterday. Which was the towel she sat on, pulled it down so she could scoot it around on the floor and play with it. I think this shows how good our chickens are at recognizing individual things.

 

[Mskayladog]

I have had a chicken in the house for a couple weeks as she was sick and the girls were attacking her, she is feeling better but every time it try to put her with the flock one girl attacks her and the other girls join in. I have very large fenced in run and a big coop.
I keep her in the back yard with the dogs but she follows them through the dog door when she wants in. I have a cage in the living room she goes in and out of. I'm afraid I'm never going to get her back in the coop. Any ideas, putting on the roost at night gets the poop beat out of the next morning before I get out there.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Quick question for everyone....... Are dust baths still a necessity for house chickens? I have tried taking Sunni outside, giving her dirt, etc. And she refuses to even stand in it. The only dust baths she will take are the ones on her favorite brown dog bed.

So is it still necessary for her to have real dust baths sometimes, or does it not matter now that she's in the house?

I actually can't even get Sunni to go outside. She'll go out for a few minutes, eat a bit of grass and a couple pieces of grit, and then she comes back over to me and asks to come inside. She's a very stubborn little chicken.

I was also wondering if there is anything that can be used to replace grit for chickens. I know it's good for chickens to have it to help with digestion, and I even bought a bag of grit from TSC for Sunni, but she cant eat it! Since she doesnt have her tongue anymore, any small foods or the like get stuck in her wind pipe, and it makes her sound really raspy for several days after. Would just sand be enough to digest food? Because I could always mix that in with some yogurt for her....

Thanks guys!

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Quick question for everyone....... Are dust baths still a necessity for house chickens? I have tried taking Sunni outside, giving her dirt, etc. And she refuses to even stand in it. The only dust baths she will take are the ones on her favorite brown dog bed.   So is it still necessary for her to have real dust baths sometimes, or does it not matter now that she's in the house? 


I actually can't even get Sunni to go outside. She'll go out for a few minutes, eat a bit of grass and a couple pieces of grit, and then she comes back over to me and asks to come inside. She's a very stubborn little chicken. 

 I was also wondering if there is anything that can be used to replace grit for chickens. I know it's good for chickens to have it to help with digestion, and I even bought a bag of grit from TSC for Sunni, but she cant eat it! Since she doesnt have her tongue anymore, any small foods or the like get stuck in her wind pipe, and it makes her sound really raspy for several days after. Would just sand be enough to digest food? Because I could always mix that in with some yogurt for her....

 
Thanks guys!

They should. It helps to keep them clean and the chickens just enjoy it too

 

[threadcrafters]

Hi folks,
I totally get why you enjoy your hens so much and are keeping them in the house. They are just so much fun....but what do you do about...well you know. I mean our girls come up on the patio at night and get snacks while we eat and then I have to hose the patio after they go in. It's pretty much non stop...eat..poop, eat...poop.
Glad you are enjoying them as much as I am...people think I'm a bit nuts cause I talk about them all the time but they are a joy but I couldn't have them in the house.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have had a chicken in the house for a couple weeks as she was sick and the girls were attacking her, she is feeling better but every time it try to put her with the flock one girl attacks her and the other girls join in. I have very large fenced in run and a big coop.
I keep her in the back yard with the dogs but she follows them through the dog door when she wants in. I have a cage in the living room she goes in and out of. I'm afraid I'm never going to get her back in the coop. Any ideas, putting on the roost at night gets the poop beat out of the next morning before I get out there.

That is a sweet photo. She doesn't look well. Is she an older hen? a RIR? a NHR? a Red Sexlink? As long as she gets bullied I would not continue trial periods with the hens that are picking on her. You may have a permanent house chicken that goes in and out your doggie door - ha! I won't tolerate bullies in my flock. If there is an aggressive hen she is rehomed immediately before she teaches the others the same mean behavior. Once we rehomed our mean hen the rest of the flock settled down. It's worth getting rid of the one for the benefit of the many.

 

[calichicken]

Quick question for everyone....... Are dust baths still a necessity for house chickens? I have tried taking Sunni outside, giving her dirt, etc. And she refuses to even stand in it. The only dust baths she will take are the ones on her favorite brown dog bed.

So is it still necessary for her to have real dust baths sometimes, or does it not matter now that she's in the house?

I actually can't even get Sunni to go outside. She'll go out for a few minutes, eat a bit of grass and a couple pieces of grit, and then she comes back over to me and asks to come inside. She's a very stubborn little chicken.

I was also wondering if there is anything that can be used to replace grit for chickens. I know it's good for chickens to have it to help with digestion, and I even bought a bag of grit from TSC for Sunni, but she cant eat it! Since she doesnt have her tongue anymore, any small foods or the like get stuck in her wind pipe, and it makes her sound really raspy for several days after. Would just sand be enough to digest food? Because I could always mix that in with some yogurt for her....

Thanks guys!

Hi! Most chickens do enjoy a bit of outside time and dusting. How old is Sunni? Maybe if she hasn't been outside a lot, it is new and scary for her. Chickens are very cautious creatures when it comes to new adventures. Slow and little chunks of time are best. However if she is not really enjoying it then she probably doesn't have a huge need to do it...just my opinion

My girl loves her outside time in good weather, but won't be outside much once it gets cold. Such a life she has...LOL Not sure about your grit question...sorry! Maybe someone with more knowledge can help with this.

 

[Ponyfeather]

I have had a chicken in the house for a couple weeks as she was sick and the girls were attacking her, she is feeling better but every time it try to put her with the flock one girl attacks her and the other girls join in. I have very large fenced in run and a big coop.
I keep her in the back yard with the dogs but she follows them through the dog door when she wants in. I have a cage in the living room she goes in and out of. I'm afraid I'm never going to get her back in the coop. Any ideas, putting on the roost at night gets the poop beat out of the next morning before I get out there.

I think you might have a new inside member of your house hold. I wouldn't keep risking her physical and mental health. If she is happy with the dogs I wouldn't worry to much, you could always lock the doggy door and only let her in on your own terms that way you could diaper her if mess in your main issue about her being inside. But obviously she has found the comforts of inside and doesn't want to join the flock outside because they have decided she is chicken non grata.

 

[Mskayladog]

She was not well but slowly getting better, a week ago she passed a awful mess of egg, I had been treating her as if she was egg bound. I took her to the vet but he had no idea and charged me 85$ Which included a fecal she was worm free. As of yesterday I have started putting tetracycline in her water. While she was sick she got down to skin and bones but is starting to put weight back on. She has been sick/ egg bound for 5 weeks how long before that I can't guess. She has been in the house that whole 5 weeks.
She is a 3 year old sex link one of my first chickens. If she is/was not egg bound then the only other thing I can think of is she is having kidney problems.

When she is in the house she sits on the coffee table on news papper and trills and purrs. I did build her a small in closed and covered space in the back yard yesterday so if I have to run errands I don't have to lock her in the cage in the house. She does sleep in the house in her cage at night.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...o-help-my-egg-bound-almost-3-year-old-sexlink