Tell me about your house chickens please

[debilorrah]

My preference for a house chicken is a Silkie because they are so friendly, people oriented and cuddly. I am looking forward to getting my own here soon.

 

[amyquilt]

I'm looking at this cage in the XL size:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753643&keepsr=0#prodTab1

Also like this because of the pull out tray for litter/droppings. This shows the small size, but at our TSC here (my dh is the Asst Mgr), they carry a XL, which is 36" long, which is what I would want.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp...10551_10001_28427_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1

I am wanting any color Orpington bantams. If I can't find chicks or eggs of Orps, I can get bantam NN, Blue Cochins or Silkies from the friend that we gave our LF to. Maybe having 3 different breeds would be fun.

 

[Katy]

The only chickens allowed in my house are newly hatched chicks. I know there are people who do, but I can't imagine doing it.

 

[Akane]

I just don't know. I've deleted and retyped this post several times now. If they are out all day and only in the cage mostly to sleep then I see no problem with those cages. However I don't think my 18sq ft cage is enough for even my little japanese bantams since I can't let them out until noon and not at all several days of the week. It seems like a large animal to cage and I have seen chickens get bored in their brooders with alot more extra space than that. Yet it's a far cry from what chickens are often kept in and look at things like quail that only have 1sq ft or less each. I do not have enough information to decide what is appropriate confinement of a pet chicken but personally I would not settle for any of those cages in my situation. I would only use them if the chicken(s) were only in them over night.

 

[LittleChickenRacingTeam]

I've got 8 in dog crates in the mudroom of my house. I scoop poop daily from cages, & change shavings once a week. Also have an automatic deodorizer in there. Smell is not an issue, but dust from shavings is. Central vacuum outlet makes this part easy tho.

Mine also have an outdoor coop & run for use during good weather days. At night & during our cold long winter, mine are tucked safely inside, away from predators listening to their own radio & enjoying 70 degree temps.

 

[Chickenaddict]

I have 14 soon to be 28 after i pick up more chicks this morning in my office which we never use, Most of them are seramas except one broody hen who is a cochin japanese mix. It does get a bit dusty but noting that isnt easily taken care of once every few days. I built a nice box for cheaper than any rabbit cage out there plus its lined with linolium tiles on the floor and 12 inches up the wall for easy cleaning. It looks great and even has curtains over the front. They dont get out of the cage altho they have opportunities to do so they choose to stay in there where its totally comfy. I'd say overall cost for this was about $60

Edited to add: There are 2 more brooders a bit smaller then that in the same room

 

[HennysMom]

Props to those that decide to keep their birds in their houses - I for one, couldnt do it because no matter what - they do smell, no matter how much you change thier litter.

When we got our 6 girls (RIR's) from age 1 week (they are now 7 months) we kept them inside for the first 6 weeks of their life (got them in March and it was still very cold here in VA, so they had to stay inside). In my dining room in a dog kennel with a drop out bottom for cleaning. I changed the pine shavings every day, sometimes twice a day if they got really bad once they started to get a little older - and no matter WHAT - they smelled.

I didnt think they smelled either (and I am very very particular about smells, my cat cant poop without me scooping it right away out of the litter box, my trash gets emptied quite a few times a day *I should have stock in Hefty!

*), so when I couldnt smell them any longer because I was cleaning their cage every day, I thought "ahhh..okay I just smell pine shavings, not too bad, reminds me of a Christmas tree" WRONG! Our neighbors from church came over and walked in our front door (which is 2 rooms away from where the birds were kept) and said "Oh..you still have those birds in the house?" (they werent peeping or anything...hmm..how did they know?) I said "uhm...why?" They commented, although nicely "We can smell them.." I was mortified on the spot!!

I told them all I could smell was the pine shavings and they said "oh no dear, you absolutely can smell the birds above the shavings - its the feathers, not so much the poop, birds have a smell about them, foul smells".

The next day - those birds were outside in my garage (at this point, they were nearly 2 months old) and while still cold outside, until they reached 8 weeks - they lived the last 2 weeks of their lives out in the garage and I must admit - my house DID smell better! The garage smelled, but...at least it was detached. My neighbors were correct - birds just smell. Ever walk into a pet store? its that type of smell - you just grow accustomed to it and dont notice it as much - sort of like a smoker gets used to smelling smoke but a non-smoker can pick up on it right away.

JMO....but good luck with it all, I know alot of people do keep them inside and enjoy it immensely. I'm just not one of those people.

 

[Farmer Brown]

Quote:
We have found that our chickens will do anything for cracked corn. Just a shake of the container will have them running from across the yard!!! Pavlov had his dog we have our chickens.

 

[Farmer Brown]

Our bathroom is currently being used as a chicken rehab facility. No not for cracked corn addicts, only physical therapy to grow some feathers and heal wounds. Come to think of it two of the girls were talking to a shady looking squirrel behind the coop yesterday!

 

[flakey chick]

My 2 banatam chickens are 18 weeks old today, but they spent last night in their old brooder (freeze warning and their tractor not winterized yet). They have been over-nighting in their brooder most of the time ,but stay their pen in during the day. I would let them out to free range when I got home. Then they would tap on the glass door to let me know when they were ready for bed. They were great about putting themselves to bed.

As for a wire floor- that's what I used to brood them in. Bantams need 1/4" instead of 1/2". I like that it lets the dust through. I often lined it with old sheets or pillowslips. That helped dry the poo quickly. Then I'd dump the poo in the compost and wash their sheets. You will need to vacuum frequently. Giving them a dust bath outside will help things greatly too.