Rooster started humping my TV remote.😱

[ChocolateMouse]

Thanks. I was curious so I actually went digging too.

I found many studies on the physiological aspects of stress in chickens. The biggest one is that roosters in particular who experience stress growing up show a delay in developing sexual maturity and mating behaviors, and fearful and aggressive behavior towards unusual stimuli. If anything, I'd say that makes this topic proof that he's doing rather well.

But I couldn't find much on chickens in pet situations of course. It's not exactly a well studied subject.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4433227/

 

[chickenlover007]

Thanks. I was curious so I actually went digging too.

I found many studies on the physiological aspects of stress in chickens. The biggest one is that roosters in particular who experience stress growing up show a delay in developing sexual maturity and mating behaviors, and fearful and aggressive behavior towards unusual stimuli. If anything, I'd say that makes this topic proof that he's doing rather well.

But I couldn't find much on chickens in pet situations of course. It's not exactly a well studied subject.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4433227/

Wow this is awesome! The fact that you put the work in to actually research this is amazing. It really adds credit to your side of the debate.

 

[Hei 20]

@ChocolateMouse you are very good at this debate thing and I really admire that. Thank you for bringing REAL ACTUAL facts and REAL FACTUAL studies into play. @Hei 20 I know this has been said time and time again, (I just read the whole thread) But I am sorry for the haters and you have my full support. I really admire how devoted to that chicken. Based off of what you have said (seeing as you are the only one who has met the chicken my logical brain says only your facts about his well being and how he feels are valid) he is a happy healthy chicken who loves his momma!! Why can't people support that? Go you and go Hei Hei!!! He is very handsome, btw.

Thank you

 

[BDutch]

I did say extremes (red jungle fowl vary in territory size, but the study I read said it was 0.064km2 per chicken and on the upper end of the gerbils is about 0.0055km2, but... My point is gerbils aren't any happier in the average gerbil cage than chickens would be confined to a single 30sqft space but nobody would be upset if they had a gerbil in an average gerbil cage.

Also, domesticated animals tolerate confinement better than animals that regularly have wild counterparts injected into the breeding populations like many reptiles, birds, and more. They literally have lower stress hormones in smaller spaces than animals that haven't been domesticated under identical high confinement conditions. For example from the citation I posted earlier;

"A similar study raised cavies in captivity for 30 generations and compared their behavior and hormone levels to wild-raised cavies and domesticated guinea pigs. They found that the behavioral differences between domesticated and wild animals held even after 30 generations of captive rearing. Just like before, the wild animals had both a higher basal stress levels and stress responses. Even the captive-raised cavies had higher levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine from the get-go. Furthermore, both the wild and captive-raised cavies showed a markedly higher stress response to an unfamiliar environment than the domesticated guinea pigs."

So domestic chickens handle confinement really well compared to the wild size space requirements. Probably better than many non-domestics we keep in captivity like parrots, certain rodents, and most reptiles. And given that we don't really have any problem saying those animals are probably healthy and acceptable for apartment dwellers, it makes sense that chickens should be fine too.

There's just... Not a lot of evidence that the benefits of being confined to a cozy house with a doting chicken owner is more stressful than being in a flock outdoors with more freedom and more outside stressors.
I'd be interested to hear something quantifiable, bearing in mind that it's not a typical confinement situation, but every time I ask nobody has given me anything. Honestly, there's probably not a lot of research on it.

Catching up slowly , I want respond on this one. I once saw a BBC documentary about Chickens (history of - rescues - facts) . And it said: chickens adapt easily to other ways of living. That’s why the chicken became so popular to keep contained in big farms for there meat and eggs. In England farmers started with factory farming chickens and people started to eat much chickens not until after WOII. A century ago chickens where held too for eggs and meat. But more in the way many homesteaders do.

If its true chickens adapt so easily, its not strange that a rooster or a hen can adapt to a life in an apartment with a human and a cat.

Btw, (off-topic again) the way chickens are held in factory farms as in the picture (page 25?) is not okay imo. I rather have my own eggs. When I need to buy eggs (winter) , I always choose organic eggs or eggs from a farm (certified label) that give the chickens a spacious and more natural environment. In the NL with our politics and discussion we even have a ‘Animal party’ pleading for better animal welfare. Nowadays the cheapest eggs in the supermarket are not from caged hens anymore but have the ability to range with max 7 hens on a square meter ( about 10 sqft).

edit: some spelling

 

[BDutch]

Pff, I did catch up finally. Being a slow reader of English (not my native language as you all can see) it took a while.

@Hei 20 I wish you, Hei Hei and you're cat a happy and long life.

And I wonder. Someone mentioned potty training for chickens somewhere in this thread. Who has any experience with that? Is this really possible?

 

[Hei 20]

Thanks. I was curious so I actually went digging too.

I found many studies on the physiological aspects of stress in chickens. The biggest one is that roosters in particular who experience stress growing up show a delay in developing sexual maturity and mating behaviors, and fearful and aggressive behavior towards unusual stimuli. If anything, I'd say that makes this topic proof that he's doing rather well.

But I couldn't find much on chickens in pet situations of course. It's not exactly a well studied subject.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4433227/

Thank you for taking the time to research.

 

[Hei 20]

Pff, I did catch up finally. Being a slow reader of English (not my native language as you all can see) it took a while.

@Hei 20 I wish you, Hei Hei and you're cat a happy and long life.

And I wonder. Someone mentioned potty training for chickens somewhere in this thread. Who has any experience with that? Is this really possible?

Thank you
Yes, potty training sounds crazy, but I think anything is possible, especially with chickens. They are very smart.

 

[SulkyBantam]

I agree and disagree with lots of posts, and I think:

• We should not act like @Hei 20 is being cruel because s/he clearly loves Hei Hei.
• We should agree that Hei Hei probably does need chicken company at this point
• We should realise that Hei Hei is lonely but not that unhappy and is better off that SO many roos
• We should give support to @Hei 20 because s/he loves Hei Hei and may have to make difficult decision regarding his welfare and happiness.
• And people who are angry at @Hei 20 (I mean this totally neutrally) should focus their attention on other roo cruelties.

So, not arguing with anyone but I think that Hei Hei is lonely but not deprived of rights. @Hei 20 must make the ultimate decision just with our support.

Good luck all!

(You can't potty train a chicken I'm afraid they have no sphincter muscles. They go wherever it comes out.)

 

[Hei 20]

I agree and disagree with lots of posts, and I think:

• We should not act like @Hei 20 is being cruel because s/he clearly loves Hei Hei.
• We should agree that Hei Hei probably does need chicken company at this point
• We should realise that Hei Hei is lonely but not that unhappy and is better off that SO many roos
• We should give support to @Hei 20 because s/he loves Hei Hei and may have to make difficult decision regarding his welfare and happiness.
• And people who are angry at @Hei 20 (I mean this totally neutrally) should focus their attention on other roo cruelties.

So, not arguing with anyone but I think that Hei Hei is lonely but not deprived of rights. @Hei 20 must make the ultimate decision just with our support.

Good luck all!

(You can't potty train a chicken I'm afraid they have no sphincter muscles. They go wherever it comes out.)

Well, about the potty training comment you just made. When I first introduced chicken diapers to Hei Hei, he would hold all his poop in for a few hours, as soon as I took off his diaper to change it, he released all his poop on the floor. LOL so they know how to hold it in.
LOL Of course he learned in a day or two that it was ok to poop in the diaper. LOL

 

[SulkyBantam]

Haha!