people with house chickens

[PBGGG]

Hi, mrs1885!

I have a house rooster, Finn.
I use a small dog cage for him to sleep in at night, and I put him in there when i'm out somewhere. We get the chicken diapers from chickendiapers.com. But he broke both of them, so now he is running around free.



Chickens are awesome house pets. There are no downsides!

 

[duckncover]

Hey mrs1885!

Having a chicken in the house is very easy. Especially with the adorably small breeds you are considering. My hen is a little bigger than your breeds, but not by much. A dog crate is probably your best bet. Chickens don't require 24/7 care, even if they are alone. My hen is pretty much content in her cage for most of the day. I let her out after we eat dinner to stretch her legs and run around. She isn't destructive and the poop situation isn't as bad as you may think. She will even go back to her cage when she is done roaming around. The dust comes with any pet bird. It isn't an unbearable thing but you will notice it. If your husband has breathing problems the bird dust might make it worse. But do a test run if you could to see how he handles it.

 

[MaddiesMum]

Just thought I'd ask a quick question here to see what everyone else does, on the important topic of grit. What do you guys do for grit? Does it come it their food, have it as an added supp, do they get it outside, or do you keep their diet as strict chicken feed so the grit is not needed to grind up other foods? Or something else?

 

[BellChell123]

Just thought I'd ask a quick question here to see what everyone else does, on the important topic of grit. What do you guys do for grit? Does it come it their food, have it as an added supp, do they get it outside, or do you keep their diet as strict chicken feed so the grit is not needed to grind up other foods? Or something else?

Usually when they are outside, they pick up tiny rocks as they eat bugs, or grass etc. With Crooky, I usually take some of our Zebra Finch's grit and sprinkle a tiny amount in his food. I think if you were to leave your chicken outside for a bit and let him/her forage for a bit, it wouldn't be needed.

 

[kendradillon]

Loves her car rides

 

[PBGGG]

 

[MsChickenMomma]

This is great!!!! I just started a thread last night about house chickens. I wish I'd seen this first!!!

I'm thinking of getting a house chicken or two and wanted to hear from others with them. I'm looking at either Silver Sebrights or Seramas. Does anyone have experience with either?

Also, I was told that they create a tremendous amount of dust and I'm worried about that. Do you have a lot of dust in the house from them? Hubby has COPD so I worry about that.

What do your chickens live in when they're not running around the house or hanging out with you? We're both retired so they'd be with us pretty much 24/7. It's common for us to not leave the house for three weeks at a time. I usually spend one day running errands and shopping, a few hours once a month doing some follow up shopping, and one day taking hubby to Dr appts. Other than that, we're both always here. Hubby only goes to Dr appts so likely, other than bedtime / over night, chickee would only be in the cage a few hours once a month!

Any other pros and cons you have on keeping a house chicken would be great. Like where do you get the chicken diapers?!

Sunni (my house hen) creates quite a bit of dust, but it is mostly just in her little coop. A few of my things next to her coop have some dust on them, but it's not bad. I have to keep up on washing the walls of her coop with paper towels, otherwise the dust gets really bad. I'm not sure if every chicken is like this, or if it is just Sunni.

Sunni stays in a modified plastic outdoor dog igloo. It is for medium sized dogs. We used this because it was something we had bought when I had ducks. We cut two windows in it and some holes in the top for airflow so she doesn't get too warm. We hung a roost in it and attached an old water bucket to the side for her nest box.

(the photos were taken before we cut the second window and drilled the holes in the top for airflow)





I keep Sunni in her coop whenever I can't keep an eye on her, when I'm not home, and when she is sleeping. Sunni is a lot like a toddler, so I have to watch her at all times when she's out.

I get Sunni's diapers from http://www.hensaver.com/ They are a bit pricey, but they are really good quality, and they are a great fit. It comes with two plastic liners for the poopy pouch, which make clean-up really nice. Whenever she makes a mess, all I have to do is take out the liner and wash it. In between the thorough washes, I just wipe it out good with a baby wipe. Her diaper stays very clean and it smells nice all the time. I have never had to machine wash it, thanks to the plastic liners. I tried ordering diapers from someone here on BYC, but they weren't a good fit, and Sunni was constantly slipping out of them or pooping outside of the pouch. Sunni was very sick when she was really young, so she is small for a Buff Orpington. Which made it hard for me to find a diaper that fit her. The diapers from hen saver fit her like a charm.

There are so many pros to keeping a house chicken, that I could go on and on! I just have one con. Our dog. He has some anxiety problems, and he attacked and almost killed Sunni in December. So now I can't have her out unless the dog is put away in his crate. It can be a bit of a challenge and times. We never would've imagined that our dog would hurt any of our chickens, so if you have a dog, please be careful.

-Ashley

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I just gave Sunni a bath. She loved it. She wasn't so sure about the blow dryer, but she loved the warm water.

 

[Didymus]

Sunni is darling. I have never tried to give ours a bath. But when it rains, they just get sopping wet, so I guess they don't mind water too much. Does she lay eggs? What kind is she?

Luckily, our Sheltie has never, ever showed any animosity towards any other animals. He is a herding dog, and sometimes herds the hens. Sometimes, the girls chase him. He thinks it is fun. He acts the same way with our 20 lb Maine Coon. He is often hurt when other dogs (or cats) don't like him.

Best of luck with your Sunni. She is certainly a sweetie.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Sunni is darling. I have never tried to give ours a bath. But when it rains, they just get sopping wet, so I guess they don't mind water too much. Does she lay eggs? What kind is she?

Luckily, our Sheltie has never, ever showed any animosity towards any other animals. He is a herding dog, and sometimes herds the hens. Sometimes, the girls chase him. He thinks it is fun. He acts the same way with our 20 lb Maine Coon. He is often hurt when other dogs (or cats) don't like him.

Best of luck with your Sunni. She is certainly a sweetie.

Thank you. Sunni is a Buff Orpington. She lays eggs quite often. She lays an egg 9 out of 10 days usually.

I'm glad your dog does so well with your chickens. I bet it's cute watching him herd your chickens around.