people with house chickens

[Ponyfeather]

Pancake is such a silly girl, she loves my dad and misbehaves to get his attention.

 

[Reinsaway]

Okay so I have a question for you guys.. is there any way to teach a hen to better tolerate confinement? I have a spoiled rotten Modern game/ hatch cross hen that HATES anything less than freeranging (or cuddles) She has a minimum of 50sq feet all to herself, and STILL paces to be let out.. If I let her free range she wont eat any feed and will just go after worms and freshly sprouted grass.. Could she just be a picky eater? Or even more likely is she mad she isnt being let inside and doted on at the moment I am just so afraid she will escape (Even with clipped wings she can clear 6ft fences) and get eaten up, she's my baby cakes

I had to move in with my dad who graciously let me keep her.. but she has to live outside for now :/

She NEVER had any problems indoors!

 

[Ponyfeather]

She might be lonely before she had you for company. Now she is fussy because she isn't with you, like you said she is your baby. You might look into finding her a companion. Also maybe put something out in her yard that smells like you.

 

[Reinsaway]

She might be lonely before she had you for company. Now she is fussy because she isn't with you, like you said she is your baby. You might look into finding her a companion. Also maybe put something out in her yard that smells like you.

Thats the other issue.. she HATES other chickens! We bought some chicks that I hoped would be her companions.. but the roo (A barred Rock) overstepped his boundaries and she nearly killed him! Since then she doesnt tolerate other chickens very well.. she forces them onto the highest roosts and wont let them eat or drink.. she is a real drama queen

I will try putting an old tshirt in her coop, see if it consoles her at all.. I may just have to go out more often to give her cuddles

These game breeds though.. they have QUITE the attitude Her momma was from a line of Hatches that where actually used for fighting.. Wouldnt let anyone near her babies long after they where big enough to fend for themselves, I had to wait until roosting time and pluck Rad out of a tree

 

[Ponyfeather]

Thats the other issue.. she HATES other chickens! We bought some chicks that I hoped would be her companions.. but the roo (A barred Rock) overstepped his boundaries and she nearly killed him! Since then she doesnt tolerate other chickens very well.. she forces them onto the highest roosts and wont let them eat or drink.. she is a real drama queen

I will try putting an old tshirt in her coop, see if it consoles her at all.. I may just have to go out more often to give her cuddles

These game breeds though.. they have QUITE the attitude Her momma was from a line of Hatches that where actually used for fighting.. Wouldnt let anyone near her babies long after they where big enough to fend for themselves, I had to wait until roosting time and pluck Rad out of a tree

Ohh dear well I hope the old tshirt helps, also maybe try to find toys/things for her to play with in her yard? But yes you might have to go spend time with her, do you think your father would allow her inside with a diaper?

Silly roo, they do silly things. Maybe if she ever goes broody you could let her hatch some chicks? Let her raise them from tiny babies?

 

[Reinsaway]

Ohh dear well I hope the old tshirt helps, also maybe try to find toys/things for her to play with in her yard? But yes you might have to go spend time with her, do you think your father would allow her inside with a diaper?

Silly roo, they do silly things. Maybe if she ever goes broody you could let her hatch some chicks? Let her raise them from tiny babies?

She has a diaper.. and she tolerates it, but my dad still thinks she is "Just a chicken"

She has some toys, but I may find her some newer ones.. I go out and pet her for a bit at least once a day, but she is used to being spoiled absolutely rotten! She has never showed signs of being broody, but if she does I may try! The funny thing is.. she is a bantam.. just a little over 1lb.. and she nearly killed a barred rock roo!

 

[Xtineart]

thanks for the food tips, hens can be such little fuss pots. Mine dont like rice but they love curry and anything spicy (I found this out when I was trying to deter them from eating some things and they gobbled up all the curry spice and chilli like it was the best thing ever!)

 

[Xtineart]

Everyone seems to be either as paranoid as you or completely ignorant/unconcerned. I wish there was a good balance like with dogs. I was completely ignorant about all the different avian illnesses until last month when i brought home a sneezing chicken. I love going to farms and farm swaps and feeding the wild birds. Living in a very populated tropical climate i feel like catching something is inevitable, so i have decided to vaccinate. i dont want to stop living just because i brought home a few chickens. with the help of my avian vet, i am going to vaccinate as much as possible. as far as the sneezing silkie goes, he is still in the garage under good bio security. i havent decided what to do with him and his friend yet. i think i might give him back to the breeder that i bough him from.

yup ignorant is the main thing I find with people, and my more educated friends are the worst. In fact I've fallen out comletely with one of my oldest friends over my chicks as he's an environmental health officer who thinks they are some kind of disease ridden nuisance that shouldn't be let anywhere near a house, never mind the fact that mine are fully immunised, get screened every 3 months for salmonella/campilobachter/ecoli etc and are only let in onto the wooden floors with the stern warning that if they poo they get put out. 2 of them have learned to be almost completely house trained and get jumpy, irritable and run to the outside door as soon as they need to go, 1 is still learning and needs constant watch and a pack of baby wipes. Id rather they learned good manners than try to get them into chicken nappies. They do love to dust bathe on the hall carpet while I sit with them on the stair, and thankfully they've never ever pooped while there..... anyway....My friend flat refused to come to my house anymore unless I got rid of my chicks. Needless to say I still have the hens and am one human friend lighter.

All my hens are ex-farm eggers so have been innoculated already and I got my HN51 flu jag this week so we dont give each other any bird flu.

 

[Sylvester017]

thanks for the food tips, hens can be such little fuss pots. Mine dont like rice but they love curry and anything spicy (I found this out when I was trying to deter them from eating some things and they gobbled up all the curry spice and chilli like it was the best thing ever!)

Yeah, the food tips are fun and long to read. I just find my girls' favourite foods and usually stick with those. I add a little salt or broth to cooked brown rice and mix a little of it into fermented feed. Eventually the hens will look specifically for the cooked brown rice morsels. Hot pepper seeds, bell pepper seeds, even the pepper plants, are favourites of our birds. People who have low egg production sometimes use hot chili powder or hot seeds to stimulate egg production but I just feed it once in a while as a treat for our birds.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I absolutely love this thread now that I have found it!! I've looked at other threads that when someone even mentioned the idea of having a chicken in the house they were attacked by all the "radicals" in the group. I mean people get down right rude and spiteful in some of these threads when it is outside their "box" of what they think is right. This is refreshing.
So, I homeschool my son, (first grade this year) and our first unit theme for science this year was oviparous animals. My sister and her man have been raising chickens for a long time now and offered me her bator and some eggs. I accepted on the terms the chicks would go back home with her after...lol. The hatch was a bust. The new thermometer I had bought was (unbeknownst to me at the time) 6-7 degrees off. Temp was lower than it was reading. On day 24 I finally had a hatcher. Day 25 I had a hatcher, but he didn't survive 24 hours. I was left with one lone fluffball....and fell in love. First two nights I slept by the brooder to keep him/her quiet. After that I moved the brooder to the bedroom beside my bed so I could get some sleep. Peep became my baby. (Ten weeks old and I am still not sure of the sex.....lol).
I am a single mom and I take care of my elderly father. We normally get eating eggs from my sister, but it's gotten where we hardly see them so I suggested we go ahead and raise a few and we'll have our own eggs. We have a couple good size sheds that we can redo and make into coops. So I did a second hatch. They are 3 weeks now. I plan to keep the girls (maybe do an Easter hatch) and have two roos, so they are inside for the winter, but will be going to a coop as soon as winter breaks.
But, back to Peep. I keep hoping Peep is a she. Roo is getting the majority of votes, but I am still holding out hope...lol so I call her a she for now. She gets a good amount of time out of pen during the day and evening. She is a sweetheart. I just love her to death. (I never thought I'd be so attatched to a chicken.) We have not tried diapers. Usually her poo is pretty firm like slightly moist pellets so it's easy to scoop them up into the garbage. If she has a more runny poo, unfortunetly she is stuck in her cage for the time, but that is not the average. And I too have a dog, as much as it annoys and makes me sick, that if I don't get to it first will run to clean up after the bird. At times he even tries to clean her butt!!! It just grosses me out! She loves to lay on my chest and snuggle to sleep if I am on my laptop or watching tv. She's not super fond of having her back petted but loves her belly and neck rubbed. She's just fantastic.
I haven't decided what I am going to do at the end of winter when the others go to the coop. It'll probably depend on if she's a he and starts crowing...lol and what he/she wants. I'll probably give her a chance to try the coop scene and if she doesn't handle it, then she will probably remain a house chicken. Whichever makes her happy. (I am thinking that's going to be inside with us, lol, but we will see.

This is Peep with our pup, Spot (original names, I know...lol)






This is a better pic of just her: