people with house chickens

[Ponyfeather]

Thank you!! We adore them!!
Yep!!! Set her up a comfy nest box or she will find her own "perfect" place!!! And their idea of perfect is usually less than ideal for us....LOL!

Your welcome! I love fluffy hens, they're just so cute. Last time I had a hen who laid inside she laid her eggs in my dogs crate which wasn't a horrible place for her to lay. Inconvenient for my dog at times but he loved her. But yes I need a nice nesting box for Lulu, or I need to break out the doggy crate for her.

 

[Sylvester017]

• 
  
  
  Small Stacking Modular HOMZ Storage with Lids
  
  We have two of these stacking storage bins to use as nestboxes for the indoor chicken hospital pen. We put straw inside and the bantams love the perfect size, the lid comes off for easy cleaning, and there's a nice smooth lip at the entrance for the bantam to stand on. People will use regular totes and cut a hole in the side but these HOMZ totes already have the opening on the side. There's also a wider version of this tote for standard size hens.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I'm not judgemental on this issue in the slightest! I'd love to be able to have one of my girls live inside with us! But DH won't let me!

My argument is: Hey! The DOG gets to come inside! The CAT gets to come inside! Why not one of my girls? Huh? Huh? Why not Mr. I Wear The Pants In This Household? How come one of my girls can't enjoy all of the pleasures of indoor living? .............................He has never given me a satisfactory answer to this.

So, enjoy the companionship of your fine feathered friends being indoors, and know that some of us are terribly jealous!

I was raised by a farmer Father and "Animals belong outside!" He wouldn't even let me have a dog in the house. Finally when I was in high school, I convinced him to let my dog in the kitchen only. It was drummed into me that farm animals belonged outside. My dogs now own the house, the furniture, and the beds! My Husband is on the messy side so I don't really want my 28 chickens in the house, I have enough to clean, thank you very much! If you want them in, hey, it's your house, go for it as long as I don't have to clean it! Good luck with husband!

 

[Ponyfeather]

• 
  
  
  Small Stacking Modular HOMZ Storage with Lids
  
  We have two of these stacking storage bins to use as nestboxes for the indoor chicken hospital pen. We put straw inside and the bantams love the perfect size, the lid comes off for easy cleaning, and there's a nice smooth lip at the entrance for the bantam to stand on. People will use regular totes and cut a hole in the side but these HOMZ totes already have the opening on the side. There's also a wider version of this tote for standard size hens.

Where did you find them? I have looked on pretty much all sites they listed as carries of their products and have not found it!

 

[Sylvester017]

Where did you find them? I have looked on pretty much all sites they listed as carries of their products and have not found it!

There's only Walmart and Amazon that sell these online (other than the Homz website directly). They are about $16 at Walmart and $35 thru Amazon - take your pick! These are really WORTH the $$$ for indoor bantam nestboxes. My friend got 4 of these smaller totes for her actual standard sized hens for her outdoor coop and sometimes found TWO hens nesting in one box! Silly hens! For my really sick bantams I would drape a small kitchen towel over the top to cover half of the door to give the hen quiet time when she used the box. Our Silkies also slept in the box overnight so we had to clean out the old straw every morning. But the tote is so worth seeing a comfortable bantam hiding and feeling all snug and secure in her nest.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Storage-Tote-15-5-8-In-H-15-1-2-In-L-7710GRBK-06/228408877

https://www.amazon.com/Storage-Tote...rd_wg=fAhhv&psc=1&refRID=HDMCEY89WSCZS5QSS5S2

 

[Sylvester017]

I was raised by a farmer Father and "Animals belong outside!" He wouldn't even let me have a dog in the house. Finally when I was in high school, I convinced him to let my dog in the kitchen only. It was drummed into me that farm animals belonged outside. My dogs now own the house, the furniture, and the beds! My Husband is on the messy side so I don't really want my 28 chickens in the house, I have enough to clean, thank you very much! If you want them in, hey, it's your house, go for it as long as I don't have to clean it! Good luck with husband!

My Mom was a farmer Mom too and animals also belonged outdoors. When I had kids of my own they could keep a cat or small birds in the house but no dog -- we were never home to give a dog socialization. So when my DD grew up and made her own $$$ the first thing she bought was her first dog! Now that DH and I are retired in a small cottage with a small yard, we decided on one type of pet and one type only and DH was intrigued with having chickens so that's what we got as pets. The chickens could stay in the house for quarantine and for us to socialize them and then they went outdoors with the other hens. We're zoned for only 5 hens/no roos so we haven't gone crazy with chicken math. Still, 5 hens is a comfortable handful for just the two of us and they give us hours of chicken entertainment. We haven't needed to own a TV in the 7 years we've had backyard chickens and if they happen to want to pay us a visit they can come into the kitchen for a few minutes at a time! If they don't find food they usually go back outside soon.

We sadly lost this darling 6-yr-old Black Silkie last year to ovarian tumor

Our Cuckoo Breda as a pullet - indoors for quarantine when we first got her

Our Cuckoo Breda loved being an indoor chicken

Our 7-yr-old Partridge Silkie

Cuckoo Breda and Partridge Silkie

Darling Blue Breda pullet we lost before POL -- isn't she pretty?

Cuckoo Breda (white earlobe) coming to visit with our new Dominique pullets

 

[Sylvester017]

@Ponyfeather Found the HOMZ small modular tote on eBay also $16.78 + $5 shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HOMZ-7710G...15-1-2-In-L-/222387314695?hash=item33c7512007

 

[Sylvester017]

@Ponyfeather Just found another website that sells the HOMZ small modular tote:

https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-st...38110070301008005&CA_6C15C=120216680000074676

 

[Anansi]

Covered litter boxes work well for nest boxes, too.

 

[Ponyfeather]

@Sylvester017

Thank you so much!

@Anansi

If Lulu wasn't so tiny I would get one, but I think the tote size wise is a better option.

Today, Lulu had her first outside time with our other two hens and it went rather well. She and Dot got into it for about half a second before Dot was like okay you can be the dominant hen. Jet didn't even try and challenge Lulu, the other two did try and keep a decent amount of space between themselves and Lulu(about 5 feet) but has no issues scratching and pecking, and eating food. Jet even ate treats out of the same dish as Lulu for a bit. Lulu did get scooped up eventually to head back inside. We have a rather large lot and an ally running next to our house. Lulu has shown inside she in quiet adept at flying so until I get the guts to clip her wings she'll be only having supervised visits with our other two(who don't fly). Lulu is just far too curious for her own good and loves being up high.

Thankfully she had no issue with me and my mom picking her up outside to move her closer to the other hens or to take her back inside. My mom says she adores me and really seems to have no desire to not leave the house if it means leaving me 24/7. It is funny if I walk out of the room and she doesn't notice she starts calling for me. In the short time, she has lived inside she had a call she only uses for when she is looking for me and has another she does at my mom. I think it is rather sweet since she lived the last two+ years outside. I mean she has pretty much always seen me every day but I only handled her a bit when she was a pullet because we thought she might have to come home with us. Until she did come home with us because of being picked on and possible squished by the roo.