Should Chickens live in your home?

[Hokum Coco]

There are some people that keep horses and ponies in doors and that heat their barns and chicken coops. I regard these people as the exception rather than the rule.
Just my opinion.

 

[Going Quackers]

Hmm, well we have had chickens brooded in our home but everyone was happier when they moved outside lol Generally too, chickens are flock animals which means they like to be with their own kind.

I know people do have house chickens and ducks but it's rather hard to fulfill the proper needs of them, and requires a level of dedication that most are unable to accommodate.

Chickens can still have excellent pet quality while living outside in a coop, my daughter has 3 flocks of silkies, they are of high pet quality despite no longer being brooded in her bedroom.

 

[creepygothnursi]

Personally, I don't think it is healthy or sanitary. Aside from the sheer amount of poop chickens produce, I had a terrible allergic reaction to the dust chickens produce when we tried brooding chicks in our spare bedroom. We successfully kept them, but outside they went! It's also not good for a chicken to be alone without other chickens; it can do strange things to them mentally. While people *do* have them as housepets, I don't think it is wise or good for the chicken.

 

[ll]

All things aside -
the tipping of the water dish is the number one problem.
Very unhealthy for the bird, and for the bird's environment -
your boyfriend must get a heavier dish,
maybe that flares out a bit at the bottom = untippable

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

The BF needs to get those carpentry skills to work pronto. Having that chicken inside is bad for the chicken, bad for the people.

He can find lots of coop designs here on this site, or with a simple google search. It ain't rocket science.

 

[LoneOak]

You can't train a chicken to use a litter box or bark at the door when it needs to go outside to poop. Just the thought of "They poop where they please when the urge hits" is more than enough for me to never let one live in the house.

 

[GSPx2]

The really question should be, why does he feel it would be better for the chicken to live inside? I would never let my chickens live in my house.

 

[StudioHens]

My birds live in my Kitchen, I am constantly cleaning though. I sweep and mop the floors at least once a day. I have a very clean kitchen lol.
I would never cage them up all day though, when the weather isn't bad I shoo them outdoors to eat and dig and explore, and we have an extra large "mudroom" off the kitchen they can run around in when I need them out of my space and cant watch them outside.
I wouldn't recommend it unless you have the time to pick up after them, constantly. and no carpet.....

 

[SampyArctica]

You can't train a chicken to use a litter box or bark at the door when it needs to go outside to poop. Just the thought of "They poop where they please when the urge hits" is more than enough for me to never let one live in the house.

Yes, you can!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/392545/how-to-potty-train-your-chicken

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/125001/potty-training-chickens-how-to

I have two chickens who aren't quite out of the brooder permanently yet (mainly because the coop is being 'renovated', for lack of a better term) and so they're inside with us/ in the brooder from about 6pm until whenever we wake up the next day, since the brooder is in the garage (the garage being connected to our room, we're in a bottom-half-of-the-house-granny-flat sort of situation) . However, because I want them really used to us, we often just let them sit out of their brooder and with us in the main living area. We basically raised them like regular birds, handled them and had them with us during every day household activities, they like to use my arms/shoulders as roosts while I'm watching TV etc. Have to say, the cat isn't entirely impressed about this set-up, but she deals.

Once they're out in the coop full time, they'll probably stay out of the house for good though.

I don't really see how it could be as unsanitary as some people seem to make it out to be, because a chicken is just as clean as the owner allows it to be. If you don't clean up after it and keep its feet clean/dry etc, then sure, it's not going to be very sanitary but that's then your own fault. We're used to keeping a very clean household because I recently underwent a lengthy medical/surgical process in which I had basically open wounds throughout my bottom right leg for the past nine months and couldn't risk any chance of infection the entire time, so although we don't have to anymore, we're just used to sweeping every day, mopping once a week and basically disinfecting everything and making sure everything is clean. But, y'know, if you're not as routine with cleaning, then you probably shouldn't keep it in the house. It's easier for us too, because if they do happen to make a bit of a mess, we have tiled floors throughout and can clean it straight up and our apartment is well ventilated.

I definitely don't think you should keep them in the house all the time though, they're animals. They should be free to eat grass and feel the sun and the breeze and that sort of thing.

 

[LoneOak]

Just about the only person that believes you can potty train a chicken are the people that started those threads that you linked to SampyArctica. I don't have time to read all those post in a 4 or 5 page thread but the first few after both of the original post believe just as I do--Chickens don't belong in the house and as such don't need to be potty trained!