people with house chickens

[jossanne]

Chicks&chihuahuas, I'm so sorry to hear about B! Poor baby. I lost my polish in my avatar to a rescued Jack Russell terrorist before we got her broke in to chickens. It is heartbreaking to lose a favorite pet to another one, and I'm so sorry that happened to you.

 

[iluvcks]

C&C I am soooo sorry for your loss. It would be hard for me not to be bitter toward that dog. It is very big of you to forgive. I know it is instintive but ....

t4dbirds I am sorry that i didnt even put it together that you have a parrot. I knew that.

I feel silly drawing and posting that when of course you know what it is. Anyway if you are concerned about them being up before you it wouldnt work. A brooder probably wouldnt work either. When my girls are ready to be up it doesnt matter how dark you try to get the house. They know its morning. They start clucking and ppecking at the slider untill you let them outside. Gabby will actually come into the bedroom and fly on the bed and sit on us and cluck untill we get up and put her out. She doesnt seem to mind that its 6 am on a Saturday. We just let her out, open up the outdoor coop and go back to bed...untill the dogs stare at us for breakfast at 7:30 am. LOL

If you are willing to get up with them for a minute or if they will be strictly inside they will be fine. My bet is that a strictly inside chicken will not cluck about what shes missing if she doesnt know what shes missing.

 

[t4dbirds]

LOL, iluvcks, I'm glad you did add the drawing. There are so many different styles and that one looks less difficult to make myself. CJ, my grey never liked having a stand and the last one I had was a big tree branch. He prefers to crawl all over outside his own cage and down into the tray to dig for stuff he dropped through while he was in his cage and or clean it himself by dumping the newspaper, droppings, food etc all over the floor

So I haven't paid much attention to parrot stands in years. I did have one that suction cupped to the window but he just could never resist chewing on the suction cups. Bad design flaw, always ended up dumping himself onto the floor!!!

He's always good for a laugh.

At the moment they are pretty much indoors. We've only managed a few outings. They will not stay out if i'm not out and pretty much stay near me. They think worms come from the refrig and chase me to the kitchen each morning once I let them out. Now that finals are over and they are older they will get some more out time (if its warm and not raining, I don't like sitting outside in the rain My sister is going to build them a shelter that they can roam around in during the day while I'm gone so they will figure it out soon. As for now, they have no clue what time the sun comes up or goes down. I have two sheets and a towel that covers them and they get up when I get up and go to bed when I'm tired of poop patrol (diapers on order!). Oh and my dogs no longer stare at me at the crack of dawn for food, now half the time I get up they are still asleep LOL.

I'm sure I can get used to getting up with them to let them roam the house and or go out. Hmmmm wonder if they can be taught to use the doggy door

 

[iluvcks]

I am sure they could be taught to use a doggy door. LOL

 

[jojo54]

Quote:
Wish I was that lucky! Maybe it's my starter feed, but Trophy's poos smell as bad as the cat's! GAG!

And every time she sits on my lap, she leaves at least two deposits there...

Well I finally understand what people are talking about the smell!!

Yesterday I was laying on the couch reading and Lulu was in the kitchen having a snack (a bit of bread plus some sunflower and pumpkin seeds I picked out of my raw trail mix for her) when I got a whiff of something awful! I thought the smell might be coming in from outside but NOOO Lulu had left a deposit!! Boy, that one made my eyes water. She must have eaten more bugs, etc and less pellets.

 

[VelvetDragon]

What does everyone think are the best house-chicken breeds? I am sure a lot of this comes down to personal preference of course! But I think there are some traits that would make a chicken better suited to living as a full-time house pet:

* Quiet
* Docile
* Gentle
* Not flighty or wild
* Doesn't mind (or enjoys) being handled
* Bears confinement well

I really want silkies, which I think many agree make good house pets. The hard part is getting a young female, if you're not raising them already, since they're so hard to sex until they're laying! I'd love to raise a hen from a chick, but unless I go with sex-links, that seems iffy. (I really can't have a rooster here. My neighbor would be all over me.)

What are some other breeds people enjoy as house pets? Any you would recommend against?

I had RIRs as part-time house pets in the past. They were not nearly as cuddly and docile as the silkies I've worked with, and tended to be a bit grumpy sometimes. Hehe.

Edited for spelling.

 

[iluvcks]

My cochins are great. They tend to go broody and don't lay as many eggs as some of the other breeds. About 2 to 4 a week is what ours have been averaging.

Tilly is a white cochin. She spent a month in the house and layed her egg on the couch every other day.

Capri is a partrige cochin. Shes so loveable. They are so soft everyone says shes a cat with beak. LOL

My buff orphintons love to be held and they are great layers about 4-5 eggs a week

My Gabby is my sweet baby. She lays on her back in my arms like a baby. She is the only one I will let out of the fenced in yard and I know she will follow me around and not wander off more than a few feet. Most of my girls come when they are called and will talk with you at least part of the time. Gabby does it about 95% of the time. For just about everyone. She is an Ameracuna, which I understand tend to be a little standoffish. But she isent. She lays everyother day like clockwork.

 

[t4dbirds]

Don't forget curious and playful to the list. My two bantam Cochin keep me in stitches watching them run around chasing each other and checking out new stuff. They funniest thing is when I sneeze or my cell phone goes off. They run and slide across the hardwood back to their crate as fast as they can. They just make it to the door of the crate then turn around like nothing going on.

LOL, JOJO54, they are stinky!!! If it's because of eating bugs then I may never give them another worm again

though they love their morning refrigerator worm meal worm

. They would probably peck the refrig all day until I gave in

 

[jossanne]

I loved my white polish as a house pet. She was curious, pretty and funny. But now I've got a 6wk old bantam cochin, and she's the friendliest chick ever. She follows me around like a dog. They're pretty easy to sex by 3 or 4 weeks old, too.

 

[mylittlechickpea]

I have a very heart-breaking decision to make. I think I may have to give up my beautiful little Chickpea..

I know that I shouldn't have brought her home in the first place, but I don't want anything to happen where my husband can end up getting into trouble. I've emailed him about it and I'll wait to see his answer, and I know it may also be better for her in the long run...

I just don't know if he'll want to see her before hand or not. He knows I love her so much, but I know he can get into trouble if anyone knows there is a chicken living in our house... So I have made the heart breaking decision pending my amazing hubby's approval to find a new home for my little darling..


In the end, I know it will be the best.. She will get the chance to be a normal chicken, and live a happy long chicken life