Rooster started humping my TV remote.😱

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Chickens just aren't like that. They will love a human but he's clearly lonely anyway. I don't want to argue though!

I don’t want to argue either. However, I would be happy to discuss. If you think he’s lonely because he tries to mount hands and tv remotes, then why have others experienced their flock roosters do the same? I also had a cockerel (who was accepted in a bantam flock) who tried to mate with my shoes. He stopped once he grew up. I don’t believe he was ever lonely, but he was rather friendly at that point.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

In my opinion, it’s probably a lot better for someone to keep a chicken as a house pet than a parrot. Parrots need constant entertainment, get bored extremely easily, and, according to the arguments on this thread, should actually be kept in huge free-flying flocks like their wild cousins. A lot of parrots end up plucking out their own feathers due to stress. However, people still keep parrots successfully, so what’s so bad about a chicken? Though I do agree that any house chicken should get plenty of supervised time outside, since sunshine, grass, and dirt is good for chickens and they benefit a lot from it.
It would probably be better for him to have chicken companionship. However, again, people keep other extremely social birds (parrots, pigeons, quail, etc) alone inside houses without issue. If he gets enough human companionship, then I see no reason why he can’t be kept inside, as long as he is healthy and happy. If he has no other options, it’s the best choice. Finding a good home for a pet rooster is really hard to do.
Other people on this thread have said that their roosters, who have flocks of hens, will try to mate with objects or hands. It’s not a sign of unhappiness or aggression. Usually cockerels will do it more than adult roosters, but that doesn’t mean that they’re unsatisfied.
Finally, though I’ve read a lot about them, I have never had a house chicken, like most of us on this thread. Here’s some people who actually have- @MilesFluffybutt @AngBantamLuv @Saaniya .

Oh, and I forgot to mention- many people who have seramas keep them fully or partially inside. Especially if they live somewhere with a cold climate (seramas don’t do well outside in the cold), they might pen or cage them inside for the winter. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/american-serama-thread.415294/#post-5052683

 

[SulkyBantam]

My seramas are part indoor but they are outside most days and there are 2 of them.

 

[ladybrasa]

Morality/appropriateness of house chickens aside, the big deciding factor for @Hei 20 is the laws/ordinances/regulations at her domicile. That ought to be the first hurtle to consider, cuz if they aren’t allowed, then there’s the answer.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Morality/appropriateness of house chickens aside, the big deciding factor for @Hei 20 is the laws/ordinances/regulations at her domicile. That ought to be the first hurtle to consider, cuz if they aren’t allowed, then there’s the answer.

That’s a really good point. I just wanted to show that solitary house chickens can be kept successfully, like other social house birds. But, unfortunately, if someone complains, then there wouldn’t really be anything the OP could do about it.

 

[guntha45]

We would throw the corn cobs out on the lawn for our free range roosters to pick clean, they then repurposed them as sex toys, humping them regularly. The grandson, 11 at the time, saw one of them doing it. His comment was "that's some rapid fire humping".

 

[EmmaRainboe]

We would throw the corn cobs out on the lawn for our free range roosters to pick clean, they then repurposed them as sex toys, humping them regularly. The grandson, 11 at the time, saw one of them doing it. His comment was "that's some rapid fire humping".

 

[JacinLarkwell]

There’s a lot of people that keep house chickens. I doubt that they’re all unhappy.

If he has human companionship, he’s not going to “die of loneliness”.

That’s a good point. But, why don’t you think a chicken could accept a human flock, too?

Chickens are prey animals. They don't like giant being all over when they're by themselves

 

[LittleBigChick]

I wish we could see more input, thoughts, experiences from the house chicken side of things on BYC. We’ve got the gamut of thoughts from chickens are poopy critters only useful for meat to half pets/half livestock, to outside only pets, but I haven’t heard much from indoor mostly pets. It would be nice to hear about what works and what doesn’t, behaviors and/or behavior changes, concerns and considerations.

I personally don’t have and probably won’t have a house chicken (not including bringing them in for some finite amount of time), but I also have space and a good set up and other things not to worry about. I feel like it is probably possible to have a content house chicken(s), but could also be very detrimental, but not enough info to go on. Of course a chicken would be content outside in a coop, too!

Basically, I’d like to hear more from “the other side” to have a well rounded out discussion.

Hello- I just joined BackYard Chickens today so that I could could provide support for Hei20 and HeiHei the rooster. I,too, have a house rooster . He hatched about the same time Hei Hei did. I guess that makes him a covid-19 chicken, too. He certainly helped me get through the summer! I hadn't planned to have a house rooster. Unusual circumstances made that happy accident happen. I will share his story when I introduce myself to the community and will also add it to this thread. I hope I can help balance out the naysayers.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Chickens are prey animals. They don't like giant being all over when they're by themselves

That’s true. But, so are the other types of birds people more commonly keep as house pets (like quail and doves).
But, a flighty chicken who is afraid of people could most likely never be happy inside, just like you wouldn’t keep a feral cat as a house pet.