Tips and tricks on keeping one pet hen inside my bedroom?

[chinwok]

My name is Simon and I plan to keep one tame hen inside my bedroom. I do not have the hen yet, but I am researching the best way to do so.

I have seen YouTube videos of fellow pet owners keeping a hen indoors inside of large rabbit cages and sometimes putting the hen on a chicken diaper.

I plan to use a very large rabbit cage that is 24 x 48". Now the options remain as to how to line the bottom of the tray. Should I use CareFresh bedding and have the hen be contaminated by the soiled bedding, or should I place a smooth coated bottom wire grate that the hen will stand on top of?

Additionally, there is the likelihood of odor to consider. Even though CareFresh bedding is patented in its unique ability to eliminate fecal odor, hen poop stinks considerable because of the amount of protein they consume. My plan is to feed the hen two times a day with a low-protein, but highly nutritious percentage of bird pellet mix by Zupreem.

Regarding the chicken diapers, Avian Fashions www.birddiaper.com makes great chicken diapers called FlockSuits and I believe this will help give my hen freedom outside the cage when I let her walk around my home.

https://www.flightquarters.com/bird-diapers/category/chickens.html

Here is my daily weekday schedule and how much enrichment time my hen will have:
12:00 am - 6:30am : My hen will have the freedom, thanks to the FlockSuit, to explore my home.
6:30 am - 5:30 pm : My hen will be living inside her cage habitat, but she will have parrot toys to play with.
5:30 pm -11:59 pm : My hen will have the freedom to walk around because of the diaper.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, Simon and welcome to BYC.
I'm sorry but I fully disagree with keeping a chicken as an indoor pet.
They thrive outside in the fresh air, scratching around in the soil, running around and flapping their wings, dust bathing, sun bathing and most importantly, hanging around with other chickens.
You are considering keeping a chicken on a low protein diet for your convenience but it is not appropriate for the chicken. You have also not considered the amount of dust a chicken generates.
If you want a house pet, have you considered a cat or small dog? Maybe a guinea pig or hamster?
I'm sorry I'm not telling you what you want to hear but some animals were never intended to be indoor, solitary animals for their lives and chickens are one of them.

 

[DiYMama540]

I know there are a lot of people that do keep house chickens, but I also believe that they are much happier outside. No matter how big the rabbit cage is, it's still going to be smaller than any space they would have outside.
Any particular reason why you want to keep one inside with you?

 

[chickens really]

Chickens are dirty/dusty birds.
They are flock birds so need other chickens to live happily.
Outdoors is where chickens belong..

 

[White Wolf Bear]

My daughter had a house chicken, whennwe lived in the city, and it lasted all of 3 weeks, before it was moved to a new outdoor home with other chickens. The smell was earful, even with daily changing of bedding, and she got depressed and stopped laying altogether. The dust was also a huge issue, yeah many good reasons not to have already been listed, I’d recommend against it, based on personal experience. Best of luck to you though, Ruth

 

[21hens-incharge]

That feed shown is not formulated for chickens. It is for small parrots. It cannot provide what a chicken needs.

5:30 pm to 6:30 am.....a very large part of that time a chicken will be roosting/sleeping. They are not night owls.

The cage shown is very short.....not sure a chicken would have room to roost.

Chickens do not play with parrot toys. Chickens walk around scratching, eating, dust bathing, sun bathing and doing chicken things.

I suggest choosing a different pet more suitable to living indoors in a cage.

 

[KnightsMist]

Agree with others, chickens are farm animals, not inside pets. If you want an inside bird, look into a parakeet or something, they are usually plentiful and affordable at animal shelters.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sorry but I have to agree with the others, I don't think you understand what a chicken requires for optimal care.

First off, they're flock animals. There's some loners out there, but the majority of them want to have other chickens around.

The cage is also insufficient. My brooder/isolation unit is bigger than that, and I certainly would not house a healthy bird inside it for an extended period of time. Also wire floors = asking for bumblefoot. I would not consider a wire floor appropriate for most animals, for that matter.

The food you posted is NOT chicken feed, and specifically says it's for birds such as cockatiels. This would be like to feeding dog food to your cat, with the argument that they're both mammals - they could live off it for a while, but would not be receiving the proper balance of nutrients they'd need.

Your schedule also does not work with a chicken's schedule. The hours you're away are when the chicken would naturally be active. The hours of "freedom" would be when it would naturally be sleeping or preparing to rest.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Hello there, welcome BackYardChickens. I don't agree at all with keeping full grown chickens inside. Especially alone! That cage is way to small to keep a chicken in most of its life. They are not inside animals! When even kept has pets, they are always kept outside (unless they are chicks - chicks need to be kept inside in a broody until about 7 weeks old. Or sometimes a little longer). I'm sorry, but that is NOT a good idea to keep them inside.

+, they smell!

 

[123RedBeard]

I'd suggest if you really want to keep a chicken in your bedroom ... to get atleast two or three chickens ... and move your bed out to their chicken coop!

Maybe a parakeet or budgie would be a better consideration?

Chickens are outside flock birds, not tiny caged birds ...