people with house chickens

[calichicken]

Are Silkies and Cochins the mellowest pet breeds? I know Seramas are bred to be pets,but they are very uncommon where I live.

I have had Cochin and Silkies as house pets and yes they are both very mellow and friendly. I handles mine since they hatched so they were used to people and loved to be picked up and held! They both follow us around the house to see what s going on
Lap birds for sure!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Are Silkies and Cochins the mellowest pet breeds? I know Seramas are bred to be pets,but they are very uncommon where I live.

I would add Ameraucanas bantam or LF, and Easter Eggers bantam or LF, and Polish to the list of sweet personalities and non-combative.

For mellow there are more LF I could add to the list but all bantams are not necessarily mellow - they are fast, flighty, jittery, and quick. So are Silkies for not having flight wings. It just all depends on what breed takes your fancy. A bird might be "mellow" but if it's not your cup of tea you won't enjoy the bird. I happen to like Ameraucanas and Dominiques (both come in bantam) but you may prefer Cochins and Silkies. I happen to like eggs from my chickens so prefer the larger egg-laying Silkie over other bantam layers. Just depends on what takes your fancy and whether you are prepared to deal with feathered feet, crests, or beards. I was smitten with Silkies the first time I saw them and figured having bantams would be less troublesome and space saving than LF - but I have more work with my Silkies than I ever figured with all their fliuff and crests and beards and feathered toes but have found them so delightful that I don't notice any more work with them than my hard-feathered breeds.

People like their Cochins that are sweet but again I preferred the slightly larger Silkies for their slightly larger eggs (they lay 5-6 eggs/week when not broody). That's another thing about bantams - almost every breed of bantam are broody so realize that up-front.

Sometimes a chick captures your heart and you've just gotta have it because it bonded to you in the brooder.

 

[calichicken]

Sometimes a chick captures your heart and you've just gotta have it because it bonded to you in the brooder.

Totally agree...that's how I got my girl

 

[SunnyAlberta]

I can have a pair of Seramas shipped across the country, get a banty of many kinds or a Silkie locally. I'm torn. I'm guessing Jodie won't care the breed. I worry about the stress of shipping fragile birds. What extra effort does a silkie need?

 

[subhanalah]

I can have a pair of Seramas shipped across the country, get a banty of many kinds or a Silkie locally. I'm torn. I'm guessing Jodie won't care the breed. I worry about the stress of shipping fragile birds. What extra effort does a silkie need?

clipping their rear toe nails when necessary. Trimming their crest/beard if it is too fluffy and restricts vision.

As for feathered feet? Mine range all day long and keep their feet clean by scratching in the grass.
They do a really good job of keeping their froof very well froofed.

 

[PBGGG]

If my dad lets me keep him, we have a temp house chicken! This little guy was all alone at the neighbors place- peeping loudly all day and just standing in one spot. I didn't see any other chicks over there so I scooped him up and now he is sleeping on my lap. I guess this is like another Finn, hmm?

 

[calichicken]

clipping their rear toe nails when necessary. Trimming their crest/beard if it is too fluffy and restricts vision.

As for feathered feet? Mine range all day long and keep their feet clean by scratching in the grass.
They do a really good job of keeping their froof very well froofed.

LOL...that's the truth! They are very good at froof maintenance...LOL!! Love the term

 

[chrissy903]

If my dad lets me keep him, we have a temp house chicken! This little guy was all alone at the neighbors place- peeping loudly all day and just standing in one spot. I didn't see any other chicks over there so I scooped him up and now he is sleeping on my lap. I guess this is like another Finn, hmm?

Awww he's so cute. You can tell if it's a boy already?

 

[Sylvester017]

I can have a pair of Seramas shipped across the country, get a banty of many kinds or a Silkie locally. I'm torn. I'm guessing Jodie won't care the breed. I worry about the stress of shipping fragile birds. What extra effort does a silkie need?

Silkies surprised me at their hardiness in all weather (including tromping around in the rain with the LF). As a house chicken I had one for 3 months indoors with chicken diapers and I had to no-tears shampoo her butt if the diaper poop stuck and then blow dry her afterwards - and she didn't mind it at all. To this day if she comes into the kitchen she'll go to the floor fan and tap on it asking to turn it on so she can stand in front of the breeze. When bathing Silkies I find the Silkie fluff dries faster than hard-feathered chicken butts. Silkies walk on tippy toes so the back 5th toe doesn't get used much and needs a trim occasionally so it doesn't grow into a curl. Some people trim their Silkie or Polish crests but I find my Silkies do just fine without trimming. If they really want to see above or behind them they will tilt their head to see. I never found it necessary to trim their face. With or without trimming their feathers makes no difference in their skittishness - it's no reflection on their owner - it's just what they do to stay alert whether they have trimmed face feathers or not.

As for shipping birds I have never thought chicks should be shipped but feel comfortable with 2-3 months olds being shipped. I've had juveniles (usually in pairs to keep each other company) shipped from East Coast to West Coast and the shipments arrived overnight with birds in good health. We open the shipping box in their quarantine pen and let them come out on their own to explore their new digs and adjust to the light. Ordering from an experienced shipping breeder makes all the difference.

Once a month I use Poultry Protector on all my breeds (directions on label) for lice/mite prevention. And about once a month I use vitamin E oil ($4 at Walmart) to massage into the Silkie's feathered legs and feet, walnut comb, and beak - per my vet's recommendation. If used at roosting time the oil absorbs into their skin and makes it healthy and supple and the vit E is better than vaseline which is so heavily greasy that dirt will stick to the greased feathers - yet the vit E is so light and easily absorbed that it doesn't stain the feathers on the Silkie (or any other breed chicken either). Some people use vaseline on the combs of their Leghorns against cold weather and then the poor chicken is stained until the next moult. Vit E is healthier because it is a vitamin content and makes the skin soft plus helps against scaly mites on chicken legs.

 

[subhanalah]

Silkies surprised me at their hardiness in all weather (including tromping around in the rain with the LF).  As a house chicken I had one for 3 months indoors with chicken diapers and I had to no-tears shampoo her butt if the diaper poop stuck and then blow dry her afterwards - and she didn't mind it at all.  To this day if she comes into the kitchen she'll go to the floor fan and tap on it asking to turn it on so she can stand in front of the breeze.  When bathing Silkies I find the Silkie fluff dries faster than hard-feathered chicken butts.  Silkies walk on tippy toes so the back 5th toe doesn't get used much and needs a trim occasionally so it doesn't grow into a curl.  Some people trim their Silkie or Polish crests but I find my Silkies do just fine without trimming.  If they really want to see above or behind them they will tilt their head to see.  I never found it necessary to trim their face.  With or without trimming their feathers makes no difference in their skittishness - it's no reflection on their owner - it's just what they do to stay alert whether they have trimmed face feathers or not.

As for shipping birds I have never thought chicks should be shipped but feel comfortable with 2-3 months olds being shipped.  I've had juveniles (usually in pairs to keep each other company) shipped from East Coast to West Coast and the shipments arrived overnight with birds in good health.  We open the shipping box in their quarantine pen and let them come out on their own to explore their new digs and adjust to the light.  Ordering from an experienced shipping breeder makes all the difference.

my birds can't see in front of them or to the sides there is so much fluff. It wasn't apparent how bad it was until they all got startled and ran in all different directions...All bumping into something...so I took a closet look and their eyes were completely obscured I just cut a straight line from their top eye lid out, parallel to the ground and then again from the lower eye lid parallel to the ground until there are no longer any feathers left for that whole .5centimeter all the way out. I basically excavate a little peep hole through the wall of feathers.