people with house chickens

[SarahGfa]

this is a great thread! For those who have full time house chickens, what do your chickens do all day??? I have a disabled bird who will probably need to become a permanent house chicken. But she can't scratch or dustbath in the house, so how do chickens stay entertained in the house?

And do you guys trim your house chickens toenails?? if so how often?

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

this is a great thread! For those who have full time house chickens, what do your chickens do all day??? I have a disabled bird who will probably need to become a permanent house chicken. But she can't scratch or dustbath in the house, so how do chickens stay entertained in the house?

And do you guys trim your house chickens toenails?? if so how often?

I gave my girl a plastic tub full of dirt, grass, and bugs. That kept her busy! I never cut her toenails, but I did bath her often. I like a clean birdie!

 

[Michelle Guynn]

I clip my inside chickens nails. I let mine outside weather permitting. That gives them time to do outside chicken stuff. They come to the door when they want in.

 

[Sylvester017]

this is a great thread! For those who have full time house chickens, what do your chickens do all day??? I have a disabled bird who will probably need to become a permanent house chicken. But she can't scratch or dustbath in the house, so how do chickens stay entertained in the house?

And do you guys trim your house chickens toenails?? if so how often?

I love that you care so much for your disabled girl! Many more people than you think have to keep a disabled bird in-house. For dust-bathing, give your girl some time outside in the yard to find a bathing spot. Otherwise she will use your carpet, area rug, or a pile of newspapers to take a "mock" dust bath. Chickens are absolutely intuitive about dust bathing so a little time outdoors a couple times a week would be nice. My chicks would dust bathe in their grit dish as babies so it is a natural thing for birds to do. One Silkie I had in-house as a young pullet, I made chicken diapers, and once she escaped out the door and took a dust bath with her diaper on -- what a mess -- a cup full of dust in the diaper!
THERE SHE GOES RUNNING STRAIGHT TO THE OUTDOORS!

House chickens will need toenail trimming. I trim nails from the tips of the toenail at a slant -- I never cut straight across the top of the nail so as not to possibly "crack" the nail. I do a little on the tip 2 or 3 days in a row to allow the vein to recede back into the nail. I always have peroxide and a styptic pencil on hand in case of nipping the toenail vein but so far never had it happen. Sometimes the chicken's top beak can get too long and hooked and I use a metal file tool to file/shape back the extra growth of top beak. It's amazing what our in-house chickens get accustomed to what we do to/for them! GL with your girl!

 

[Anansi]

For entertainment while in their pens, I put some bird toys. Mine are lucky in that we have other birds to keep them entertained plus I have the tv on kids shows during the day. For the nails, I use the rotary file I have for the dogs. I do use a file for their beaks since they aren't out scratching. They also get treats during their daily out time, to include live insects.

 

[SarahGfa]

THERE SHE GOES RUNNING STRAIGHT TO THE OUTDOORS!

That is such a cute picture! I am still figuring out a good routine for my girl. She used to free range with the flock before she became partly paralyzed, and can't stand being in a cage (even though it's an XL dog crate). I am tempted to put a diaper on her and let her walk around the house...

How often are nails trimmed? Every few weeks, or just when they look long?

 

[SarahGfa]

I gave my girl a plastic tub full of dirt, grass, and bugs.

That is a good idea. Are you worried about bugs escaping in the house? I used to give my hen dishes of black soldier fly larvae when she was refusing to eat, because she loves those. A couple weeks later I kept finding big black flies all over the house - turns out she didn't eat the larvae, they crawled out and hid somewhere dark until they turned into flies

 

[Sylvester017]

That is such a cute picture! I am still figuring out a good routine for my girl. She used to free range with the flock before she became partly paralyzed, and can't stand being in a cage (even though it's an XL dog crate). I am tempted to put a diaper on her and let her walk around the house...

How often are nails trimmed? Every few weeks, or just when they look long?

Some people might argue that it's not cruel to keep a chicken penned in a cage -- but I only do that for a hen that needs to be kept quiet during injury or illness; otherwise, I don't believe in confining a hen. But that's JMHO.

I made 3 chicken diapers for our Silkie and washed them in baby shampoo and line dried them overnight. We had to keep her 3 months indoors until she was old/big enough to incorporate into the outside flock of 3 other hens - another Silkie, a Leghorn, and a Marans (eventually we re-homed the Marans and Leghorn -- they were too assertive aggressive toward the gentle Silkies).

Anyway, having diapers on our indoor Silkie gave her all the freedom she needed to toodle around the house. But I had to change out her diaper at least once a day, sometimes twice, because diaper pouches do fill up with all kinds of different types of poop -- from cecal smellies to watery to firm clumps. I washed poop off her vent feathers -- the poop waste stuck to her fluff -- and then blow-dryed her washed vent before putting on her new dry diaper. It was a struggle first few times to get her used to wearing/walking in the diaper. My DH would get hold of the diaper straps across her back and gently pull her forward to force her to walk. For some reason chickens want to roll over or walk backwards in diapers for the first time so it takes trial and error to find the perfect diaper. I had a stubborn Ameraucana that refused to walk in her diaper. She would sit and mope around all day long -- wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, just moped for days. After a week we gave up but she was our only hopeless diaper case.

I wound up making my own diapers since velcro straps tangles in Silkie fluff feathers -- so I just safety-pinned the straps together. Yes, it was a bit of getting used to doing this everyday for both the chicken and myself but after a while we both got accustomed to the routine and it worked for us. We got pretty fast at taking off the dirty diaper, discarding the poop, washing just the vent feathers w/baby shampoo, blow drying (this was Mini's favorite part -- she loved fans), and then figuring a good fast way to put on the diaper without 10 Silkie toes pushing the fabric out of the way! At first it took DH and me to figure out what we were doing but after 3 months I was able to one-handed hold onto Mini while with the other hand slipping on her new diaper and pinning the straps together. But be prepared for a struggle in the beginning. It was all worth it to have a free-roaming chicken in the house. I never caged my English Budgerigars or Cockatiel either - they had an open cage door all day with a bird play gym above it and flew in and out as they felt. I just hate caged animals. It takes their spirit away.

As for toe trimming -- look at your other outdoor chickens to see how short their toenails are and gauge your trimming length that way. If you see toes curling funny then you can be pretty sure they need trimming.

BTW, how paralyzed/disabled is your girl? Did she have a leg injury or something like that?

 

[Anansi]

I trim the nails when they get long or sharp, and with the rotary file it's pretty easy to make sure I don't damage the quick. The insects are super worms and when I can, crickets. They also get freeze dried meal worms, grubs and crickets. Those I give in the morning, and the live are when they're out in the evening. They will also go after flies and spiders, and they love when a cricket escapes and they find it later. I've watched then actively hunting for escaped treats, looking in every nook and cranny, as well as along baseboards and under appliances. I do give them scratch, but it comes out to less than a tablespoon a week. They get lots of love and attention, and there is always something going on to keep them stimulated.

It is fun to find out what they like and dislike for stimulation, especially when there are 2 parakeets and a pigeon sharing the living room. They have their preferred shows and let us know when they want the channel to be changed. The parakeets have been mimicking the music from their favorite shows, as well as the chickens and pigeon, and provide entertainment by playing with their toys and bouncing around their cage. They've taught the chickens and pigeon how to play with toys. Add to all of that 3 dogs and a cat. The cat leaves the chickens alone, and the dogs herd them back to their allowed roaming space. The birds are never out unsupervised, since I refuse to risk any of the animals getting hurt, and having potential hunters and prey together unsupervised is inherently dangerous.

 

[SarahGfa]

Some people might argue that it's not cruel to keep a chicken penned in a cage -- but I only do that for a hen that needs to be kept quiet during injury or illness; otherwise, I don't believe in confining a hen. But that's JMHO.

I made 3 chicken diapers for our Silkie and washed them in baby shampoo and line dried them overnight. We had to keep her 3 months indoors until she was old/big enough to incorporate into the outside flock of 3 other hens - another Silkie, a Leghorn, and a Marans (eventually we re-homed the Marans and Leghorn -- they were too assertive aggressive toward the gentle Silkies).

I agree with you! The cage made sense when she was too sick to move, but now she wants to be out and about. That is so great that you made your own diapers for the Silkie, I was inspired and made a diaper out of a sock. She did not mind it too too much because it is very lightweight. But the sock doesn't stay in place over her vent and most of her poops ended up on top of the sock. I might buy a premade one instead but the ones for sale all look so bulky and heavy.

BTW, how paralyzed/disabled is your girl? Did she have a leg injury or something like that?

I think it is Marek's but am not sure, because no other chickens in the flock have symptoms. She became fully paralyzed a couple months ago. Since then her right side is mostly recovered, but her left leg is unsteady and left wing doesn't have any strength.