people with house chickens

[Sylvester017]

Yeah, I agree. I felt terrible for trying to put collars on Stephen. And I constantly worried about him choking. The lady who took him promised to send me lots of photos. She is going to put him in a pen with 7 female Sebrights, and she plans to breed him with them at some point. She told me I could have first pick of the babies

So I might get a pullet from her at some point and make it a house baby. We'll see

Cockerels are definitely sweeter. I have noticed they like to cuddle more and become more bonded to you. That's why it was so hard having Stephen here. He bonded to me, and then whenever I would leave for 8-12 hours per day for work, he would go nuts. It just wasn't good for him. He'll be much happier now. And I can't wait to see the babies she's hoping to hatch next year!

I hope the new owner introduces him slowly to her girls. Cockerels get throttled by pullets and hens en masse until the male matures and gets confident around hens. The cockerels are overly horny which is probably why pullets/hens throttle the young boys. My friend had to separate two EE cockerels that were getting picked on by 10 other girls. I am always happy to see sweet boys go to good homes!

 

[teslachick]

holy chicken that is awesome partydz!

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

Ok so, I have been informed that if I came to this thread, maybe you lovely people could help me!!!! I read about the first 20 pages of this thread, unfortunately I can't make it through all three hundred and something lol. But I definitely think I have found my people haha. I have a little bantam hen who used to be out with everyone else until she got stepped on by a cow and it really did a number on one of her poor little legs. I don't feel safe leaving her outside all the time, and its been so rainy and gross out there too. She has been inside most of the time for the last couple of months, but I would like to give her more freedom while inside without having to be on poop patrol all the time!! Also, I have carpet in my bedroom and there is no way I can handle poop on carpet, and she hangs out watching tv with me a lot at night.

SO! I have been looking for chicken diapers. I ordered one from ebay, Louises Country Closet I think? I'm going to give it a whirl. It's not here yet, but soon hopefully! But really, what I wanted to know, from people who use them on a regular basis, what is THE best chicken diaper? Especially for bantam size. Tell me everything I need to know about diapering a chicken!! I need a lesson in Chicken Diapers 101 and House Chicken 101!!

Any ideas for keeping a chicken entertained would also be amazing!


PJ's will thank you for helping her out!!

 

[Naliez]

Ok so, I have been informed that if I came to this thread, maybe you lovely people could help me!!!! I read about the first 20 pages of this thread, unfortunately I can't make it through all three hundred and something lol. But I definitely think I have found my people haha. I have a little bantam hen who used to be out with everyone else until she got stepped on by a cow and it really did a number on one of her poor little legs. I don't feel safe leaving her outside all the time, and its been so rainy and gross out there too. She has been inside most of the time for the last couple of months, but I would like to give her more freedom while inside without having to be on poop patrol all the time!! Also, I have carpet in my bedroom and there is no way I can handle poop on carpet, and she hangs out watching tv with me a lot at night. SO! I have been looking for chicken diapers. I ordered one from ebay, Louises Country Closet I think? I'm going to give it a whirl. It's not here yet, but soon hopefully! But really, what I wanted to know, from people who use them on a regular basis, what is THE best chicken diaper? Especially for bantam size. Tell me everything I need to know about diapering a chicken!! I need a lesson in Chicken Diapers 101 and House Chicken 101!! Any ideas for keeping a chicken entertained would also be amazing! PJ's will thank you for helping her out!!

We let our chickens come and go as they please. Sometimes it gets crazy in here, but we love it! All of my floors are hardwood, and my furniture is pleather, so poop isn't too bad to clean, but we do have a rug that gets pooped on sometimes. For that, I love the cans of upholstery cleaner from Resolve with the scrubber attached. It works amazing! I tried the diapers, but all my chickens walk in reverse with it on. I tried to leave it on, to get them used to it, but they seemed to get too stressed out. I know a lot of people have had success with them though. It probably depends a lot on your chicken's temperament. As far as entertainment goes, you can get refillable "treat balls" that they peck at or a box (we use a high edged cat-box) of sand and toss in sunflower seeds that they have to find. It can make a mess, but they love scratching and rolling in it. Also, there's swings for chickens, but mine love cat-trees to perch on and hide in. Another thing you can do to get her a bit of outside time, is make a tractor out of pre-cut PVC pipe from any hardware store and wrap it in chicken wire. It's not for predators, but works great to keep chickens safe from the flock while giving them a little socializing outside. The whole thing cost me less than 20$ to make. I even have one inside over my brooder.

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

We let our chickens come and go as they please. Sometimes it gets crazy in here, but we love it! All of my floors are hardwood, and my furniture is pleather, so poop isn't too bad to clean, but we do have a rug that gets pooped on sometimes. For that, I love the cans of upholstery cleaner from Resolve with the scrubber attached. It works amazing! I tried the diapers, but all my chickens walk in reverse with it on. I tried to leave it on, to get them used to it, but they seemed to get too stressed out. I know a lot of people have had success with them though. It probably depends a lot on your chicken's temperament. As far as entertainment goes, you can get refillable "treat balls" that they peck at or a box (we use a high edged cat-box) of sand and toss in sunflower seeds that they have to find. It can make a mess, but they love scratching and rolling in it. Also, there's swings for chickens, but mine love cat-trees to perch on and hide in. Another thing you can do to get her a bit of outside time, is make a tractor out of pre-cut PVC pipe from any hardware store and wrap it in chicken wire. It's not for predators, but works great to keep chickens safe from the flock while giving them a little socializing outside. The whole thing cost me less than 20$ to make. I even have one inside over my brooder.

I love the treat ball idea!! I am going to have to find her one!! I have been putting some alfalfa hay down in her little area she is contained in for her to scratch around in and she loves it. I really am not sure what to do with her while I am at work during the day. She really doesn't have that great of use of her little leg that got broken, she kinda hops around on one leg and uses the bad one for balancing, so she is somewhat easily contained. I used some of those metal cube kit pieces to make her an enclosure. It's about 4 or 5 feet square and about a foot high. She can really escape if she wants to, and has done it before. I cover the bottom in those big pads that are like a puppy pad, but they are for elderly people. That way i just roll everything up and toss it in the trash once it gets real dirty. I just hate to have to come home and find poop everywhere to clean up. I have enough to do when I get home aside from worrying about poop on the floor lol. I guess we will see how the diaper works for her. My whole house has laminate flooring, except for the bedroom. So if she *did* escape and poop, not really a big deal. My couch is really just a nice fouton (my son destroyed our two previous couches, he is autistic and rocks a lot, rocked all the screws out of them, and also had a lot of accidents on them... it was pretty gross, thankfully we have outgrown that now!) and it has a waterproof mattress protector and a sheet on it that is easily washed.

I have thought about the PVC enclosure... but really what I want to do is fix up this one section of my back yard as a "special needs" unit. Fully enclosed and covered, no worry about rain or predators. But it will be a bit before I can get that much done. For now, she just goes out in the back yard on nice days. There is plenty of room to hide from any overhead predators, and anything else would have to come through multiple sets of fence and my dogs to get to her so I think we are safe! She also has boxes of dirt out there for dust bathing, I might bring one in for her to scratch around in inside!

Thanks for the ideas!! I am definitely going to try some of them, and hopefully her diaper will work. I will keep yall posted once it gets here!

 

[Naliez]

I love the treat ball idea!!  I am going to have to find her one!!  I have been putting some alfalfa hay down in her little area she is contained in for her to scratch around in and she loves it.  I really am not sure what to do with her while I am at work during the day.  She really doesn't have that great of use of her little leg that got broken, she kinda hops around on one leg and uses the bad one for balancing, so she is somewhat easily contained.  I used some of those metal cube kit pieces to make her an enclosure.  It's about 4 or 5 feet square and about a foot high.  She can really escape if she wants to, and has done it before.  I cover the bottom in those big pads that are like a puppy pad, but they are for elderly people. That way i just roll everything up and toss it in the trash once it gets real dirty. I just hate to have to come home and find poop everywhere to clean up. I have enough to do when I get home aside from worrying about poop on the floor lol. I guess we will see how the diaper works for her.  My whole house has laminate flooring, except for the bedroom.  So if she *did* escape and poop, not really a big deal.  My couch is really just a nice fouton (my son destroyed our two previous couches, he is autistic and rocks a lot, rocked all the screws out of them, and also had a lot of accidents on them... it was pretty gross, thankfully we have outgrown that now!) and it has a waterproof mattress protector and a sheet on it that is easily washed.

I have thought about the PVC enclosure... but really what I want to do is fix up this one section of my back yard as a "special needs" unit. Fully enclosed and covered, no worry about rain or predators.  But it will be a bit before I can get that much done.  For now, she just goes out in the back yard on nice days.  There is plenty of room to hide from any overhead predators, and anything else would have to come through multiple sets of fence and my dogs to get to her so I think we are safe!  She also has boxes of dirt out there for dust bathing, I might bring one in for her to scratch around in inside!  

Thanks for the ideas!! I am definitely going to try some of them, and hopefully her diaper will work.  I will keep yall posted once it gets here!

Definitely let us know how it works! Right now, I have Silkies and Seramas in the brooder and cold weather is coming, so they're going to be inside for a while... My plan for them is to make a permanent indoor coop for night or when we're not home. My den is empty right now and I plan on making a game room out of it for my 3 sons, who are starting to bring a lot of friends over. I think I can put the coop down there if I design it to match the game theme. I mean, who WOULDN'T want a Super Mario Bros themed chicken coop in their den?! Lol
We also went through several couches with our sons. One in particular, who has ADHD, is incredibly destructive and rambunctious. I was shampooing the couch every couple of days but the stains and spills go deep into the fabric. The pleather one has been amazing. I just spray it down with Lysol and wipe! Doesn't help with the structural damage much though. lol Most of the furniture in my house was bought with durability in mind, rather than style, but it works great for ALL of our family members; fuzzy and feathered ones included!

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

Definitely let us know how it works! Right now, I have Silkies and Seramas in the brooder and cold weather is coming, so they're going to be inside for a while... My plan for them is to make a permanent indoor coop for night or when we're not home. My den is empty right now and I plan on making a game room out of it for my 3 sons, who are starting to bring a lot of friends over. I think I can put the coop down there if I design it to match the game theme. I mean, who WOULDN'T want a Super Mario Bros themed chicken coop in their den?! Lol
We also went through several couches with our sons. One in particular, who has ADHD, is incredibly destructive and rambunctious. I was shampooing the couch every couple of days but the stains and spills go deep into the fabric. The pleather one has been amazing. I just spray it down with Lysol and wipe! Doesn't help with the structural damage much though. lol Most of the furniture in my house was bought with durability in mind, rather than style, but it works great for ALL of our family members; fuzzy and feathered ones included!

Um, a Super Mario themed chicken coop?! YES PLEASE!! That is an awesome idea!! We have SO little room in our house its ridiculous! Maybe one day we can afford to build a new one. But for right now, single wide it is. With no storage space AT ALL. It sucks.

I am so glad i am not the only one that has had that struggle with the couch lol. We had a pleather one at first, but he just rocked the arm right off of it. But it sure was easy to clean. I bleached it frequently lol. Your house and your chickens are just too cute. I am super jelly!! I love your brooder you made with the swimming pool!

I have a rubbermaid box of 5 silkie chicks in my living room right now, and i find that I have to clean their box EVERY SINGLE DAY if not, I get a whiff if chicken when i walk in the door. They really are not THAT big yet, and I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them once they get bigger, I am running out of cages lol. How for the love of all that is holy, do you people keep your house from smelling like chicken?? I also have 2 cats and I swear even tho we have two litter boxes that I clean daily, I am always smelling poop or pee, not overwhelming, but just like a whiff. I just don't get it. I go to other people's homes that have cats and you'd never know. but at my house I feel like no matter how often I clean, it smells like a dang barn, with cats. I recently stopped using those blue and white crystals for cat litter because I swear it smelled like festering pee after a week. That helped tremendously, but that little whiff is still there every once in a while.

If someone told me tomorrow I could only have chickens as pets, I would totally be okay with that.

 

[Naliez]

Um, a Super Mario themed chicken coop?!  YES PLEASE!!  That is an awesome idea!!  We have SO little room in our house its ridiculous!  Maybe one day we can afford to build a new one.  But for right now, single wide it is.  With no storage space AT ALL.  It sucks. 

I am so glad i am not the only one that has  had that struggle with the couch lol.  We had a pleather one at first, but he just rocked the arm right off of it.  But it sure was easy to clean.  I bleached it frequently lol.  Your house and your chickens are just too cute.  I am super jelly!!  I love your brooder you made with the swimming pool!

I have a rubbermaid box of 5 silkie chicks in my living room right now, and i find that I have to clean their box EVERY SINGLE DAY if not, I get a whiff if chicken when i walk in the door.  They really are not THAT big yet, and I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them once they get bigger, I am running out of cages lol.  How for the love of all that is holy, do you people keep your house from smelling like chicken??  I also have 2 cats and I swear even tho we have two litter boxes that I clean daily, I am always smelling poop or pee, not overwhelming, but just like a whiff.  I just don't get it.  I go to other people's homes that have cats and you'd never know.  but at my house I feel like no matter how often I clean, it smells like a dang barn, with cats.  I recently stopped using those blue and white crystals for cat litter because I swear it smelled like festering pee after a week.  That helped tremendously, but that little whiff is still there every once in a while.

If someone told me tomorrow I could only have chickens as pets, I would totally be okay with that. 

Thank you! You are very kind! (I only take pictures of the "clean" areas; the rest is usually chaos!)
I get the whiff too! Although, sometimes it's more like a cloud of stink. 3 kids, 3 cats, 2 dogs and a butt load of chickens, there are many culprits for said cloud of funk. I think you're always more sensitive to the smells in your own home though. By the brooder, I had two air purifiers, but they clog with dust within a day no matter how much I clean. But for the smell, I found that mixing pine shavings and the paper bedding for small animals works best. I also put a fan in the window blowing OUT rather than in, and it helps pull the air out of the area. Really though, I think if you have any kind of pet, strange smells come with the territory. Of course, the same can be said about my kids and husband, so for me, there's really no escaping it! Lol
I'm loving having pet chickens. I definitely think they are becoming my favorite house pets. Some people give me a hard time about it, like my Dad when he comes to visit. He thinks we're all going to die from salmonella and he refuses to eat the eggs. If he knew the conditions of the chickens that supplied store bought eggs, he'd see how ridiculous he's being. My friends and neighbors are always surprised to see a chicken watching TV on the couch at first, but are usually more curious than anything. There's even a few who, after seeing mine and how they CAN make great pets, took the plunge and got a couple themselves. House chickens are actually becoming a thing, especially for city dwelling hipsters who want to take organic to a whole new level.

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

Thank you! You are very kind! (I only take pictures of the "clean" areas; the rest is usually chaos!)
I get the whiff too! Although, sometimes it's more like a cloud of stink. 3 kids, 3 cats, 2 dogs and a butt load of chickens, there are many culprits for said cloud of funk. I think you're always more sensitive to the smells in your own home though. By the brooder, I had two air purifiers, but they clog with dust within a day no matter how much I clean. But for the smell, I found that mixing pine shavings and the paper bedding for small animals works best. I also put a fan in the window blowing OUT rather than in, and it helps pull the air out of the area. Really though, I think if you have any kind of pet, strange smells come with the territory. Of course, the same can be said about my kids and husband, so for me, there's really no escaping it! Lol
I'm loving having pet chickens. I definitely think they are becoming my favorite house pets. Some people give me a hard time about it, like my Dad when he comes to visit. He thinks we're all going to die from salmonella and he refuses to eat the eggs. If he knew the conditions of the chickens that supplied store bought eggs, he'd see how ridiculous he's being. My friends and neighbors are always surprised to see a chicken watching TV on the couch at first, but are usually more curious than anything. There's even a few who, after seeing mine and how they CAN make great pets, took the plunge and got a couple themselves. House chickens are actually becoming a thing, especially for city dwelling hipsters who want to take organic to a whole new level.

Well, I am truly relieved to know that I am not the only one with the "WHIFF" and the "CLOUD" lol!! Anytime I am sick and feeling under the weather for a few days, we usually get visited by the dreaded "CLOUD". When I wake up in the morning and walk out of the bedroom, there is always an unsavory aroma greeting me. However, when I come home every day and walk in the back door, there usually isn't. It just a fresh smell, unless of course the chickens inside need changing, then its that yeasty bread aroma. I feed them a fermented mash and sometimes their poop smells like freshly baked sourdough lol. I guess it could be worse!

Several months ago, to make a long story short, a random cat showed up and my dogs treed it. I brought him inside and after a couple of months found him a home on craigslist. WELL, in those few months I was trying to find him a home, there was a world war 3 raging in my house. My 2 cats started a revolution in defiance of the new cat, and I am about 99.9% sure someone peed behind my washer. My "laundry room" is actually the hallway between my bedroom door and the kitchen, so every time I walk out of the bedroom, I think that is why I smell cat pee. Its just in that one area that its so bad. Everyone says I can smell things they cant, been that way ever since I had my son lol. I just call it the "mom nose". Maybe that is why I am so sensitive sometimes. We have 2 cats, a snake, and 2 parakeets in the house, aside from the house chickens. Really the only thing that smells are the cat boxes. Well, and the chickens when they need a change. So I don't know why we have such a barnyard aroma at times! I try really hard to keep my house clean. it may not be the most picked up house in the world, we dont have much storage space anyways, but it is at least clean, messy sometimes, but clean. My mom always makes sure to tell me that my house smells like a zoo and that I am messy lol. but this is a woman who worked out of her home most of her life and cleaned any time she was not doing something else. I just don't have that kind of time. As long as I can walk across the floor without something sticking to my foot, or cook and eat without cat hair being in my food, I don't really worry too much!!

It really is amazing to me how much more popular chickens are now than when i was younger. I really do think if more people knew where their eggs were coming from, they would own their own chicken or two or 3 or 20. It really is such a shame how they house those chickens. I have watched several shows where they rescue those chickens and find them new homes, it is amazing how much abuse and neglect they can tolerate and still lay eggs. I wish I lived back in a time of self sufficiency where everyone tended to animals and gardens all day for a living instead of sitting in this office in front of this computer doing paperwork! I would be much happier AND much healthier!! I kinda hope to one day make it to that point, where we raise a lot of our own food!

But anyways, back to chickens. What do your chickens like to watch on TV?? Me and PJs usually watch TV every night and she really truly does seem to enjoy it. It really cracks me up. Last night we were watching netflix and some show they were talking about mantis shrimp. They showed one zoomed in close and PJ's was not really sure what to think about it. I couldnt tell if she thought that was the biggest bug she had ever seen and she wanted to eat it, or that was the biggest bug she'd ever seen and she wanted to hide from it!! but she sure did vocalize about it lol.

I have noticed that she makes different noises than the other chickens. Her noises are very quiet and short, little berrrr ber berp sounds. There the other chickens are loud and drawn out and crazy. I wonder if she just "talks" to me differently than she talks to other chickens? Idk, she sure is a sweetie tho, I am smitten!

 

[Naliez]

Same thing happened with my cats! My oldest female cat was peeing in our laundry room every single day! Cat pee is probably the absolute worst thing to clean. The smell NEVER goes away. I spent tons of money on "miracle" cleaners, only to have the smell come back when it dried. You know what works better than anything store bought? Vinegar and baking soda! It actually dissolves the microscopic urine crystals that leave the smell behind. The vinegar smells for a little bit, but it neutralizes the odor AND helps keep the cats from going back to that same spot. works on old and new spots. I was told that most cleaners have ammonia in them which attracts the cat back to that area and can make the urine smell stronger. Another thing we did to keep the cat out of that room completely, was to get one of those automatic spray air fresheners (you can even get one with a motion sensor) and out in on the floor. Every 8 min or so, it sprays and makes a "psssssst" noise that sounds like a hiss and scares the cat away! Totally worked!
Some of our chickens like being inside more than others. Our SS who is an internal layer and often feeling unwell, likes to come in the most (I think because the others pick on her). She loves sitting by her people flock. Here are the kids watching a (too scary) movie and she seemed to be concerned that they kept yelling. Lol

Our absolute fav (and first) house chicken was an overly flighty EE named Hoot, who was being bullied by the flock. We brought her in to give her a break and her little personality blossomed. She used to purr constantly and snuggle. We loved her so much! Sadly, a hawk got her. Everybody who met her was so sad!