Silkies as housepets.

[awesomefowl]

I have two Seramas in a rabbit cage in our kitchen!

 

[Sootsie]

Quote:
my Silkie has only laid 2 eggs in a year too although she isnt a house chuck and is way below show standard i still love her she was my first chicken

 

[Mofarmgirl]

Klaire,
I agree...people keep huge parrots and many other species in their homes, so I say go for it, too! You could get an open dog crate for outdoor time and take out the pan in the bottom so that your silkie could be safe, but still pick the grass she wants. That's what I do with my youngsters sometimes. If you can work it out so that you can both be happy and healthy...I don't see why not!
Btw, emoticons don't bother me LOL

~Cheryl

 

[boykin2010]

let me know how it turns out. i am thinking of bringing mine inside lol

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

We have 2 Silkie and 2 Sultan chicks that we will have as inside chickens. We are building a bird avairy for them on the sunroom and an enclosed outside run. We have dogs of our own and predators (hawks, etc) and tho they will be outside they will be safe in it. We got chickens for eggs out in the coop and these 4 as pets.
Keep researching and prepare their pen and Go for it, you'll love them.

 

[Klaire]

Oh the plans i am making for its sweaters and everything but my sisters better not chick nap it. But does anybody know how to bath a chick.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

My great grandmother had two housecickens (a hen and a roo) nearly 100 years ago.

There is a large and very active housechickens yahoo group, but I think it is currently inaccessible to non-members due to a recent troll. He set up several additional housechicken yahoo groups, varying the name slightly. Otherwise, it would be a great resource.


www.chickendiapers.com is an excellent source for affordable diapers, and they are designed to hold an egg.

The best housechickens choose YOU, and will bond closely to you if they are the only housechicken. If you have several, they will form a flock.

 

[dgeter]

Hi Klaire,

I definitely say DO IT!! I did it. I got a silkie chick (my first chicken) two years ago to be a house pet. I had a blast with him! He went everywhere with me and because I raised him by himself, he latched onto me as his mom. 2 years later he's still my baby and behaves more like a dog.

You can see a video of him playing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaYf3XVpCgQ&feature=related

Peanut wore diapers as soon as he was big enough so that he could follow me around the house. We bought a rabbit hutch for him which you can see here:

Unfortunately when Peanut started crowing we had to go ahead and build a coop outside for him but he still loves to come inside and hang out. He's inside right now in his hutch recovering from an almost fatal maggot attack.

Here are some more pictures

I got my diapers from chickendiapers.com

 

[ultasol]

Comment on the chickens and diapers. Just like with babies and the elderly, a diaper can be terrible. Pressure sores, rub spots, if not changed and cleaned frequently enough problems from the fecal matter coming into contact with the skin, etc.

Frankly, I am skeptical about how it could affect the health of the bird.

I raise silkies. I show silkies. My silkies are tame, well handled, and there are those that I truly adore..... but they are not well suited for housepets. The featherdust alone would drive me nuts. Not to mention they love nothing better than their dust baths in clean pine shavings, which flings shavings and dust everywhere. I can only imagine the mess this would make inside a house.

 

[chickenzoo]

All chickens have different personalities I guess. Mine enjoy being inside, ( I have many others that like it out side) it was due to one having wry neck that started it, then she needed a friend.... my Buff one( Mrs. Fluffy) was given to me by a friend who said she passed out when ever she was outside and would just lay their on her side like she was dead and act like she had low blood sugar...... If she's not in the A/c she has problems, but is perfectly fine in the house. Sophie loves to roam the house and lay on her side, feet kicked out, by the sliding door. She also runs the house and if I am in my office, she comes scratching on the door. If I don't answer she BOWK BOWK BOWK and scratches, if I still don't get up she looks under the door and mumbles. She likes to sit on her towel and watch TV and also explore the house with her friends. Their night pen is a rabbit X large cage with wire floor, so all the poo falls through and into the pan. I use kitty litter & DE in the pan since they can't reach it. As far as diapers, they are not pressed up on them like childrens diapers, it's more a hanging pocket in which poo falls into and is attached over the tail and around the wings. So it is away from their body.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753643 these are the cages I like, but the X large size.......