Naliez
Songster
- May 7, 2015
- 822
- 155
- 138
Our "outside" egg layers come and go in the house as they please for the most part. My top hen, a Speckled Sussex comes in every morning to lay an egg in a cat tree we have. We are pretty attached to our chickens. Getting Serama eggs, we knew we were getting a house chicken.My sweet boy Chip was a single chick. The only egg to hatch! I was planning to raise him like a chicken, but he got raised like a baby instead. With single chicks, it is a good idea to make a light weight brooder that you can easily carry around. If they are in sight of you, they will usually be pretty calm, provided there aren't other irritants (like other baby chicks that are Not The Mama.) I give them lots of little toys so they aren't bored. Things that are fun to poke, kick, or perch on. I also make it a point that if I'm sitting, I'm also holding. They love nearness with you, and will crave it pretty severely until they are almost-to-completely feathered. The upside? This makes the chicken the most special companion you can imagine. They become hams who think they are tiny people and will do everything they can to make you smile. They become everyone's favorite and are the perfect chicken to introduce to people just meeting your chooks to give them a good impression. If you ever thought having a house chicken might be fun, well, hatching a single chick is a great excuse to do it. Here's Chip in his droopy drawers. He's actually wearing a size Medium, because it's so large it fits him loosely, which is much more comfortable for him and the way serama stand. It also means the pocket is extra deep and the opening extra large.. harder for him to get poopy butt or to slip his diaper, a common problem with this model on other birds!The downside? TIME. They steal so much of your time and energy in the first two months! A house chicken is not for everyone, and not all singleton chicks take super well to being put in the coop.. they will still demand all your attention when you go out. My boy gets along with other chickens just fine now that he's grown... to a fault, even, he is a sweet little doormat. Feeds EVERYONE, even other roosters. He took to outside quickly too! But he still doesn't want to be apart from me (sleeps in my bed even, he is polite enough to not crow 'til I wake up.) He also sure doesn't breed. He doesn't know what to do with the two girls that have a crush on him. He'd rather seduce a slipper or soft blanket. Never made a mess, but still hilarious, and frustrating if it's a roo you intended to breed. If you don't want a house bird and he doesn't seem to be taking to the silkies and just continues to cry and cry, it might be worth it to consider re-homing him with someone who wants a house bird if you don't want to raise him, or to separate him again and raise him up with the plan to do that if he doesn't take to coop life once he's grown. The attitude of these birds is different. They don't know they are chickens, and they aren't always willing or able to learn. They become an individual who needs their husbandry adjusted and are much more demanding.. it's kind of like getting a dog when you expected an independent cat. Dogs are still great, but the difference is huge. I would discuss these possibilities with your family.
