people with house chickens

[Sylvester017]

@Skink - I kept aviary birds - parrots, cockatiels, canaries, English and American budgerigars in-house (not all at once but over the years) and I've had indoor cats and dogs. By far, our favourite are the chickens and they return kindness with eggs for our breakfast! And their poop is very useful for our raised garden beds! No other pet has been as entertaining and useful as our chicken flock has been.

I couldn't see spending $15 to $25 for each chicken diaper no matter who manufactured them. I made my own diapers by following chickenmom's "How to make chicken diapers" pattern on youtube. Every diaper I made custom fit each chicken -- because even Silkies have different size requirements - just a few ounces difference in weight and I had to use a different measurement. Then I made diapers for the Leghorn pullets and the Ameraucana juvenile. I couldn't find my sewing machine during our house remodel and actually hand-sewed one of the diapers. I modified chickenmom's pattern by adding a plastic pouch and lined the pouch with a strip of absorbent paper towel.

An Ameraucana diaper



A Silkie diaper


There goes the Silkie in her diaper - Silkies are so fluffy you can only see the backside of the diapers on them.

 

[Skink]

I agree! I've worked with and trained.. well, just about everything short of exotic mammals. Chickens are the best. I wish they were a more popular choice for people out there looking to have a pet bird! They're so easy to care for, give so much love back, and tolerate beginner mistakes very well. They're also very smart but without all that constant chewing and much simpler to appease foraging instincts, there's no risk of stuff like cage aggression, they are just as easily (if not moreso) trained.. the list goes on.

I am jealous of your sewing work! I buy my diapers because I can't sew for beans. I have a singer machine that was given to me when I was a kid, and try as I might, I can't understand the finer functions of it.. my thread always comes loose, my sewing is sloppy, I'm always breaking needles because of improper tension, and just MAN I do not have the patience for it! I can spend hundreds of hours painting and drawing, but put me down in front of a sewing project and all of a sudden I can't sit still. The $25 I spend on each diaper is saved money in heartbreak and rage LMAO. Your silkie is very cute!!

 

[Sylvester017]

I agree! I've worked with and trained.. well, just about everything short of exotic mammals. Chickens are the best. I wish they were a more popular choice for people out there looking to have a pet bird! They're so easy to care for, give so much love back, and tolerate beginner mistakes very well. They're also very smart but without all that constant chewing and much simpler to appease foraging instincts, there's no risk of stuff like cage aggression, they are just as easily (if not moreso) trained.. the list goes on.

I am jealous of your sewing work! I buy my diapers because I can't sew for beans. I have a singer machine that was given to me when I was a kid, and try as I might, I can't understand the finer functions of it.. my thread always comes loose, my sewing is sloppy, I'm always breaking needles because of improper tension, and just MAN I do not have the patience for it! I can spend hundreds of hours painting and drawing, but put me down in front of a sewing project and all of a sudden I can't sit still. The $25 I spend on each diaper is saved money in heartbreak and rage LMAO. Your silkie is very cute!!

We had chickens, ducks, geese, and other livestock on my folks' farm and eventually the livestock were sold off and not replaced -- except for the poultry because they were simpler to keep and provided eggs, meat, AND fertilizer. I never made pets out of any because they were utility animals but when I retired, I wanted to try chickens as pets. Just a couple Silkies to start. My DH was hooked! He never knew how unique chicken personalities could be, even within the same breed. The eggs and compost poop were bonuses.

Sorry you don't have the sewing thing going on. My farm Mom put me in front of her 25-yr-old Singer peddle machine and that's how I learned. She let me make doll clothes when I was only 10 - sewing machines were simpler in the olden days. After a summer of making doll clothes I got pretty good at it, along with painting and drawing and gardening. It's the new fancy sewing machines with mega-attachments, all the electronics, and the tension sensitivity that drives me nuts. I have a very simple old Brother machine Mom used before she passed and let me have it because her eyes weren't good any more. I dumped my newer plastic Pfaff with all the bells and whistles so I could use Mom's reliable metal tank of a Brother machine. Any machines made after the 1970's aren't worth *#*hit -

so I love Mom's very old sewing tank!!!!

 

[SesameChicken10]

Because there are people who care~
The fact that this little fella had a team of people to rescue him is amazing. Someone cared enough to report him in trouble, an officer cared enough to take him to an emergency vet who gave him a second chance. Now a shelter staff is taking care of him until his family is notified and a reporter cared enough to share this story. Besides the ******** who shot the poor thing and left him to suffer, this story shows a neat shift in how chickens are starting to be viewed as worthy animals

Rooster found shot with arrow in Eugene
BY KVAL TUESDAY, APRIL 26TH 2016

EUGENE, Ore. - A rooster found shot with an arrow was treated by a veterinarian Monday, Eugene Police said.
Animal Services responded just before 10 a.m. to the 1400 block of Haven Street on a report of a rooster with an arrow through its leg and protruding from the chest.
An animal welfare officer took the rooster to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital, where the arrow was removed.
The rooster is being housed at First Avenue Shelter while officers work to identify the owner.
Police ask you to call (541) 687-4060 if you have any information on this case.

 

[Sylvester017]

Because there are people who care~
The fact that this little fella had a team of people to rescue him is amazing. Someone cared enough to report him in trouble, an officer cared enough to take him to an emergency vet who gave him a second chance. Now a shelter staff is taking care of him until his family is notified and a reporter cared enough to share this story. Besides the ******** who shot the poor thing and left him to suffer, this story shows a neat shift in how chickens are starting to be viewed as worthy animals

Rooster found shot with arrow in Eugene
BY KVAL TUESDAY, APRIL 26TH 2016

EUGENE, Ore. - A rooster found shot with an arrow was treated by a veterinarian Monday, Eugene Police said.
Animal Services responded just before 10 a.m. to the 1400 block of Haven Street on a report of a rooster with an arrow through its leg and protruding from the chest.
An animal welfare officer took the rooster to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital, where the arrow was removed.
The rooster is being housed at First Avenue Shelter while officers work to identify the owner.
Police ask you to call (541) 687-4060 if you have any information on this case.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- M. Ghandi

 

[DuckysGran]

I have one rotten chicken too! It's name is Ducky and it's a little over a month old. I've never been around a chicken before and everything it does worries me! I have a very attached 7 year old, I'm hoping someone here can help me out with questions! Can anyone tell if this 6 week old is a Rooster or a Hen!

 

[Skink]

I have one rotten chicken too! It's name is Ducky and it's a little over a month old. I've never been around a chicken before and everything it does worries me! I have a very attached 7 year old, I'm hoping someone here can help me out with questions! Can anyone tell if this 6 week old is a Rooster or a Hen!

Looks like a hen to me, though there are late bloomers out there!

 

[Sylvester017]

I have one rotten chicken too! It's name is Ducky and it's a little over a month old. I've never been around a chicken before and everything it does worries me! I have a very attached 7 year old, I'm hoping someone here can help me out with questions! Can anyone tell if this 6 week old is a Rooster or a Hen!

If the pea comb stays pale pink until about 7 or 8 months old just before point of lay the comb will deepen red a lot. If a boy you probably will see some reddening and enlargement of the comb soon. Does this video on youtube help you at all?

 

[DuckysGran]

This one has no pink at all and barely has a comb. I have nothing to really compare feathers with so I'm going with Hen until it crows!

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Hey everyone! It has been so long since I've been on here!!

I just thought I would give everyone (or anyone who remembers her) a little Sunni update! Sunni is doing fantastic. She is as spoiled as ever. She is turning three next week Friday. I can't even believe it. Especially after thinking she wasn't going to make it past 7 months, after all we went through with her.

As some of you may remember, I got a little banty rooster in hopes of giving Sunni a buddy. Sadly that one didn't work out. He was a doll, but his crowing was nearly non stop. So I found him a wonderful home on a farm, where he is the only rooster in a flock of 16 bantams

I still managed to give Sunni a temporary friend though. I have an 8 year old blind hen that was getting beat up by the other girls, so I brought her into the house in January. It was supposed to be temporary, but she's still here! Sunni loves her. But sadly, she has taken a turn for the worse, and I don't know how long she'll make it This is maybe the forth time I have thought she wasn't going to make it through the week, and she has always pulled through. So we'll see if this old girl can do it again.

If she doesn't make it, I am going to talk to my boyfriend about getting a bantam chick (this time a hen ) so that Sunni can still have someone to keep her company, since I work full time.

But anyways! Hope you are all doing well, and your chickens too!