people with house chickens

[PBGGG]

Anyone with Serama (or serema, how do you spell it?!) house chickens? I'm trying to convince my dad to let me get 2 to keep inside, he said he'd think about it! What are they like? Are they noisy? I'd like to get 2 hens because we're almost overrun with roos!

 

[PBGGG]

Guys!! Remember Betty, the smallest chick outside? He crowed this morning!! It sounded terrible and a little scary but he crowed!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Anyone with Serama (or serema, how do you spell it?!) house chickens? I'm trying to convince my dad to let me get 2 to keep inside, he said he'd think about it! What are they like? Are they noisy? I'd like to get 2 hens because we're almost overrun with roos!

When I research unfamiliar breeds I go to youtube videos to watch a breed's behavior. Cackle Hatchery also has a lot of individual and flock videos of many breeds. I get a good feel for the temperament of a breed by watching their video behavior to see if I'm really sold on them before investing. I discovered how mellow Buckeyes were when I went to a website of a fellow who breeds them and he was able to walk right throught the middle of them without them spooking. I watched a Chantecler video and found how very skittish they were and decided they weren't human-friendly enough for us. A video is worth 1000 words.

As for hens - rarely are any breeds noisy except for when they are laying their egg and do their egg song. We have two Silkies and one cackles all day before laying her egg while the other Silkie is very quiet when she lays her egg and you don't know she's layed until you go into the collection nest and see her egg. Except for the possibly noisy egg song, hens are definitely quieter than roos.

If you keep house chickens be prepared for the juvenile moult of feathers around the house and every year thereafter. I'm still finding feathers in the house a year later after having two juveniles in a quarantine pen.

 

[duckncover]

I ordered a diaper from Louise's Country Closet for Frizzle so hopefully this one stays on so she can get used to it. The ones I have tried in the past have not worked. I hope then she can spend part of her day walking around the house freely.

This is her outdoor setup. My mom said I am not allowed to have a coop out there for her, just these two dog pens. So I supervise her from the window periodically while she is out and she never sleeps out there.


This is her sitting on my lap.

This is her hang out when she's not in her pen.

And this is where she sits to watch me on the computer

And this is her "coop". A large parrot cage with a modified bottom. I keep saying I'm going to make her something better but I'm so terrible at building that this is the best I have for her at the moment.


Anyways, let me know what you think of everything. And if anyone could tell me how their chicken made out with Louise's Country Closet diapers and whether they are good with exchanges if it doesn't fit. It'd appreciate it.

 

[PBGGG]

When I research unfamiliar breeds I go to youtube videos to watch a breed's behavior. Cackle Hatchery also has a lot of individual and flock videos of many breeds. I get a good feel for the temperament of a breed by watching their video behavior to see if I'm really sold on them before investing. I discovered how mellow Buckeyes were when I went to a website of a fellow who breeds them and he was able to walk right throught the middle of them without them spooking. I watched a Chantecler video and found how very skittish they were and decided they weren't human-friendly enough for us. A video is worth 1000 words.

As for hens - rarely are any breeds noisy except for when they are laying their egg and do their egg song. We have two Silkies and one cackles all day before laying her egg while the other Silkie is very quiet when she lays her egg and you don't know she's layed until you go into the collection nest and see her egg. Except for the possibly noisy egg song, hens are definitely quieter than roos.

If you keep house chickens be prepared for the juvenile moult of feathers around the house and every year thereafter. I'm still finding feathers in the house a year later after having two juveniles in a quarantine pen.

Ok, thanks! When Finn was a baby, his molt wasn't too bad, it was just a spot here and there that his feathers were a little bald.

 

[Sylvester017]

And this is where she sits to watch me on the computer

And this is her "coop". A large parrot cage with a modified bottom. I keep saying I'm going to make her something better but I'm so terrible at building that this is the best I have for her at the moment.


Anyways, let me know what you think of everything. And if anyone could tell me how their chicken made out with Louise's Country Closet diapers and whether they are good with exchanges if it doesn't fit. It'd appreciate it.

I think your Frizzle is very lucky to have you. Chickens are flock birds so without another chicken around you'll have to be her flock companion.

My yard has two doghouses in the backyard plus a popup canopy, a wheelbarrow, and 3 plywood planks on cinderblocks to provide shelter for our yard chickens in addition to their regular 4x6 coop. They never use the coop except to lay eggs and roost for the night so don't need a big coop. Your parrot cage is tight but she doesn't spend all day in it so if it's working for laying eggs or roosting it should work ok. I can't tell how big your parrot perch is but something around 3 inches diameter or a 4 inch flat platform to perch/roost on would be better for a chicken's feet/toes and about 8-12 inches from the wall to allow for tail room. Does she automatically go to the parrot cage to roost for the night around dusk every evening? We have a couple Kidz Homz storage boxes with lids (Walmart website) - one side is already open and has a little lip on the bottom and our inhouse chickens use the boxes (with straw bedding) to sleep in inside a 4x4 dog kennel set up in the living room as a hospital pen. At dusk they automatically toodle into the pen and each into a Homz bin. Occasionally 2 chickens will share one bin.

As for diapers every breed's feathers are different and one diaper could be great for one breed and not another or may need adjustment. I made my own diapers from watching chickenmom on youtube (she had bantams) and even in making my own diapers I had to keep making adjustments for my Silkies. 2 identical breeds could be different weights which makes a difference in sizing diapers also. I have 2 Silkies with different weights and one diaper fits perfect for one Silkie but not the other - one Silkie seems to have denser fur than the other one.

We had a Dominique chick that used go from her large budgerigar cage where her food and water was to run across the desk to our computer keys or to sit on our arm or shoulder and then run back to her cage for her treats or snooze next to her mirror. It's lonely for one little chicken so it takes a lot to keep them busy. It's nice to let them have outside time to forage as long as there are several shelters or bushes to hide/snooze under.

Years ago I had one lonely NHR that was given to me as a gift by a neighbor boy. She stayed in our backyard and used all the bushes against the house and especially at the back door to make her nest and to sleep for the night before the neighbor boy could build her little 3x3 coop. She lived with us a year running up and down my vegetable patch finding spiders, grasshoppers, worms and stuff. She never ate the plants, just the bugs.

 

[Ponyfeather]

Pancake is funny, she will hop up into her brooder which is an old fish tank because I keep shavings in their for her to play in/dust bath in. Then forget she can get out, and I have to go rescue her. She'll be walking along the long side calling out like she is stuck She is also been extra clingy, I think because of her age. It is like she knows she is at that age when mommy would push her away. Or past time. She has been extra cuddly and been trying to groom me lots. I have also noticed on her tail feathers she has a little brown, making her look like she has lacing.

 

[Nuggetirl]

I ordered a diaper from Louise's Country Closet for Frizzle so hopefully this one stays on so she can get used to it. The ones I have tried in the past have not worked. I hope then she can spend part of her day walking around the house freely.

This is her outdoor setup. My mom said I am not allowed to have a coop out there for her, just these two dog pens. So I supervise her from the window periodically while she is out and she never sleeps out there.


This is her sitting on my lap.

This is her hang out when she's not in her pen.

And this is where she sits to watch me on the computer

And this is her "coop". A large parrot cage with a modified bottom. I keep saying I'm going to make her something better but I'm so terrible at building that this is the best I have for her at the moment.


Anyways, let me know what you think of everything. And if anyone could tell me how their chicken made out with Louise's Country Closet diapers and whether they are good with exchanges if it doesn't fit. It'd appreciate it.

I love her little perch next to the computer! That's a really great idea.

 

[Sylvester017]

Pancake is funny, she will hop up into her brooder which is an old fish tank because I keep shavings in their for her to play in/dust bath in. Then forget she can get out, and I have to go rescue her. She'll be walking along the long side calling out like she is stuck She is also been extra clingy, I think because of her age. It is like she knows she is at that age when mommy would push her away. Or past time. She has been extra cuddly and been trying to groom me lots. I have also noticed on her tail feathers she has a little brown, making her look like she has lacing.

Chickens have plenty of clearance for jumping into/inside things but once inside there may not be enough space for them to feel comfortable to flap their wings to fly or jump back out. They're so silly!

 

[ChickenPeep]

Has anyone found that keeping chickens indoors is bad for their lungs? One of my girls has been sniffling a little lately and I'm not sure if it's just because they've been inside.