people with house chickens

[Attila the Hen]

When my turkeys first arrived it was too cold out for them and I was told to keep them inside. They were fully grown--just under a year. I swear they were watching the TV with me.

 

[Brandi9]

My Buff Orp hen got injured by a predator, and she was a house chicken for a while, while she healed. She's been integrated back in with the flock now

 

[Vida Tranquila]

I have found my people!

 

[HugHess]

I have found my people!

x2!

 

[TOOCLOSE]

Yes Vida! We too love our house chickens!

TC

 

[Vida Tranquila]

They will actually still try to come in if the back door is open - so sometimes we let them!

 

[Reinsaway]

Is there any trick to diapering finicky and high strung birds? Little Radbird has tried both pampered poultry and Louise's country closet diapers , and even after careful adjustment and many hours in them, she never would tolerate them. I really want her back inside but my mother can't stand the poop

she is super high energy and can wiggle her way out of the country closet ones.. Are there just better diapers I can use? And I would love to see where your guys' babies sleep, that Is also something I need to figure out

 

[TOOCLOSE]

Wherever Maria wants to!

TC

 

[kendradillon]

hi peeps! we have a newby. we lost our baby Lacey she was blind and I had been putting her out with the flock during work hours to graze and play. the neighbor dogs got her throught the fence.... at auction we found this little fluff. Dyomi. shes still skiddish. dosnt like being picked up either.. we are working on that lol

 

[Sylvester017]

Is there any trick to diapering finicky and high strung birds? Little Radbird has tried both pampered poultry and Louise's country closet diapers , and even after careful adjustment and many hours in them, she never would tolerate them. I really want her back inside but my mother can't stand the poop

she is super high energy and can wiggle her way out of the country closet ones.. Are there just better diapers I can use? And I would love to see where your guys' babies sleep, that Is also something I need to figure out

I couldn't afford the chicken diapers online because I needed 3 different sizes and at least 2 of each size. So I went to youtube and found chickenmom's sewing pattern and instructions on diapering. The pattern was so simple I made a couple without even a sewing machine. It took a few tries to get the fit correct for each breed of chicken because my 5-toed Silkies really fought getting into the diapers and their 5-toes really worked hard to get the diapers off. My Ameraucana never adjusted to wearing a diaper - she sat and moped all day if the diaper was on her so after a week we stopped trying to keep her in the house.

I line the diaper pouches with trimmed-down sandwich baggies and a strip of paper towel and pin them inside the pouch -- I had to change out the diapers in the middle of the day because they got soaked through -- usually had to change them out about every 4-5 hours which is why I needed several chicken diapers. If the diapers get uncomfortably wet that's when the chicken struggles to get out of it.

hi peeps! we have a newby. we lost our baby Lacey she was blind and I had been putting her out with the flock during work hours to graze and play. the neighbor dogs got her throught the fence.... at auction we found this little fluff. Dyomi. shes still skiddish. dosnt like being picked up either.. we are working on that lol

So sorry about your Lacey. Your new chicken looks like an Easter Egger. Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas are the sweetest birds but they have jittery kooky spooky jumpy personalities and they seldom outgrow that alert feature. Just because they are jittery doesn't mean they won't make a nice pet. Just be aware that it's the nature of the breed. Our Ameraucana will not tolerate a human hand but will eat treats out of our hand. If we want to hold or handle her it's best to get her after roost-time. Then she lets us hold and pet her and she coo's to us as we talk to her. She let's us bathe her when she needs a tush wash, and she'll take vitamins from a dropper. There were times when she flew to the coop roof and was willing for us to pick her up gently and put her back down. She doesn't fly up onto things in the yard any more. She continues being a spooky kooky hen running to-and-fro in the backyard but we've gotten accustomed to the nature of this breed. EEs and Amers are some of the gentlest non-combative breeds in the chicken world. OurFlyBabies.com say they always keep a flock of Amers because they are so nurturing and willingly accept orphaned chicks or injured birds into the flock without incident where other breeds are not so nice.