people with house chickens

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote:
Wow MG15, your white hen is beautiful! She looks like my White Cochin hen Faith I think....

But I think I got some of you guys beat for doing wierd things with your house chickens, I take Faith for walks! I put a toy dog harness on her and a leash. She hates it right now and stands and pouts then tries to back out of it so i usually have to carry her, but i think she will learn maybe,

 

[mg15]

I too want to take Dottie
For a walk to petco or shall I say a walk inside petco or petsmart , looking for chicken treats. I have two cute diapers for. She is so busy being the best mom.

 

[mg15]

Your girl is bantam Cochin? Do have more pics?

 

[Skink]

Hi Skink,
just wanted to say that i have two white cochin named Fath and Hope, aand love them dearly. My Gold Laced Cochin hen is Pepper. So if you need someone to mentor you I would be more than happy too. I kinda feel it is fate. Safe vibes to you and your chickens. I loveall of mine.

So sorry for the late reply! I missed this entirely, whoops. I'll let you know if I have any questions! She'll be 3 weeks old in a few days now, and she's been healthy. Just been rolling with the punches... I thought she might be a wee bit less needy once she started sleeping most of the night and being up most of the day instead of all those mini days tiny chicks have, but now all her big feathers are coming in with force that she seems miserable! She wants to be sitting on the bed where it's easier for her to be cozy with all those tender pin feathers sticking out, and she's learned that neck rubs = neck itch relief, so she's perhaps gotten even needier, ha! Hopefully there won't be any real problems (tiny fuzzy birds wanting to snuggle for hours and look adorable on blankets between play times is hardly a real problem!)

Have you taught your gals any tricks? I'm working on target training and recall with Pepper so I can maneuver her without touch or words when needed. Not too important for her, but I'm learning to train on her so I can do it with the backyard hens where it'll be much more important. She picks it up so fast! I'm curious if her retention for new information will vanish super fast.

I love the laced cochin varieties! I've got my heart set on some Partridge and Millie Fleur cochins next, but gold laced are right there after them. Those'll be actual backyard chickens, though.. I want to get in to Seramas, so if I have any more indoor birds, those will likely be it. I hope your gals are being good for you!

 

[Skink]

Wannabe chicken owner here. I was thinking of getting chickens for a while now but felt sobad about them staying outside freezing or being out at night with all the predators and then I found this thread! I have 2 bathrooms. One is mine alone and a pretty nice size. I wouldn't mind sharing with chickens depending on the smell. Its all tile, big stand up shower so think poop clean up would be easy but do chickens in general smell? How about their feed? I'm looking into 3 silkies for the kids, hopefully to show. I wouldn't mind them running through the house but would need to make sure the cats are out at the time.

It's much the same as most other animals, or so it seems to me so far: if it's wet, it stinks. Cat boxes, snake cages, tortoise pens, chicken cages... moisture = something to linger on your nostrils. If you have a humid day, odors might linger or come out of hiding despite your best efforts, and fresh, wet poop is always going to have a more obvious stink (though brief.) Also if your chickens have watery poops or have consumed something particularly olfactory-tingling, the smell is likely to linger, but that will just be until they get that out of their system. Bathrooms are pretty humid places... if that's going to be where the chickens stay and the shower gets ran at all, you're asking for stink! Ventilation will be one of your biggest allies, both for the sake of your nose and their health. For chickens, you want bone dry! Poops won't dry very quickly on something like a shower floor, and if you're running the shower head at all, you're probably going to have some stink.

For cooped up indoors anything, substrate is best. Think dehydrating when it comes to your substrate! Pine chips are great for this. They suck the moisture right out of poops and tend to coat them (extra good against the nose's #1 enemy: the cecal poop,) and they have a pleasant natural odor. Aspen should also work, it is just pricier! On rainy days when the humidity is high, it's only a little bit more help just as a warning. The smell isn't really terrible, just present. If you really wanted to use the shower stall instead of a ventilated enclosure with, I'd slap a plug on that sucker and put aspen or pine at the bottom. Say no to humidity and make it a dry environment. If you can, I'd also keep the shower door open and maybe cover it with a panel of chicken wire... ventilation is your friend to avoid smells! Shop vac out the substrate when you're cleaning! This also helps take care of chicken dust flying out while you do maintenance and sticking to the stuff in your bathroom. I change a fair amount of my bedding once a day, being sure to remove all visible poops, but that's for one small chicken. Once when you wake up and once before bed would probably be easier. To keep ambient humidity down, don't run the shower or sink, and keep the toilet lid down. All open water sources contribute to ambient humidity, and you want the only sources to be your chicken waterer (poultry nipples would be a good choice here) and your chickens themselves.

As for feed stink, if it's fresh and dry, it should smell just as it does in the bag!

 

[gonzochick]

I am so glad I found this group. I am getting some silkie hatching eggs shipped this week. I plan (if everyone hatches and is healthy, etc...) to keep 1 or 2 chickens in the house. Everyone I have told think I am absolutely insane but they also have very uninformed opinions of chickens. I plan to change all of their minds! ;-p

 

[christyschicks]

So, I'm not the only person in the world with an indoor chicken!
YEAH!!!

Is anyone else having a laying problem with their indoor girls?

 

[Ilovemyturkey]

My eggnog lays really well! Shes a joy to have in the house. What is your nesting setup. Eggnog has her own pen with a nest inside very safe and relaxing for her

 

[Ilovemyturkey]

Paul has chosen his weapon of choice! EGG thrower!

This chick dont care what you do with her! Shes so spoiled

 

[christyschicks]

She has cage, up on a shelf, with hay. I've tried an enclosed nest, but she doesn't use them. She's in my office, which is cool and quiet. She rarely goes back there to lay. She will lay anywhere. She's even laid while sitting on my chest. Since she went broody last August, she has been laying soft shelled eggs, or dried up eggs that looked crushed. I've tried everything. I guess she is just one of those that lays bad eggs.