When did chickens become exotic pets?

[CapricornFarm]

I was in a Petsmart store and saw a kid running wild until a Rottweiler grabbed him by the arm and broke it!

 

[9Catsz]

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Oh my, that's horrible!

 

[Illia]

Okay, Petco doesn't do this too, do they? We have a Petco here (well, about 90 miles away

) and I've always wanted to dare bringing one of my Polish boys in, but golly, . . .

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Hot2Pot wrote:
I was in a Petsmart store and saw a kid running wild until a Rottweiler grabbed him by the arm and broke it!

Oh my, that's horrible!

Yes it is ........That poor Rottie could have hurt himself.

I think it's foolish for people to take their animals into stores, and possibly expose them to all types of disease, or risk injury to the animals or to other people.​

 

[9Catsz]

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LOL

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I'm with you on this one. You never know how some people are going to react to your animal and you cannot predict how your animal is going to react to some people. In this sue-happy society you cannot be too careful.

I've seen many children who needed to be on leashes and it sounds as if the little boy that the rottie corrected was a candidate.

 

[southerndesert]

When did chickens become exotic pets?

I wonder that as well, but for a different reason...

I have been around them all my 55 years on and off and I never knew so many chickens were actually kept as household pets as opposed to livestock until finding BYC.

Many of the problems I see folks discussing I have never experienced with my livestock either as keeping chickens as pets comes with a whole new set of problems.

Now we do have favorites and the kids hold, cuddle, and pet some, but they are not normally kept past 3 years to keep egg production high.

Sick and injured birds are culled.

we usually keep between 30 and 40 hens at any one time and extra roos and non producing hens are processed for food for us or friends.

Now don't get me wrong I think keeping them as pets is fine and I love reading posts by you folks that do, but for us it is about eggs and meat.

 

[WalkerH]

Yes I don't know why people take their animals to pet stores, unless it is for grooming or daycare, which the Petsmart here does have. The only time my dog went into a pet store was when she was eight weeks old, held the entire time and I only took her in to grab a leash and a collar. Didn't let her touch the floor. Although she still ended up with kennel cough and Cocci, but that was probably from the shelter she was kept at.

 

[cobrien]

I interpret the phrase 'exotic pets' more loosely. I worked as a vet tech (small animals, not farm animals) for many years, and anything that was not a cat or dog was called an exotic. This included rabbits, hamsters, rats, snakes, parrots, ferrets, monkeys and various wild animals. The vets that worked on these animals were called Exotic Vets. It is an entire discipline in various vet schools. The ward where these animals stayed when hospitalized was called the exotic ward. So to me it is a phrase used in the pet industry that doesn't necessarily mean the literal definition of "exotic". We did have some chickens come in on occasion, and they were seen by the exotic vet and stayed in the exotic ward.

So to get to my point, I don't find it strange that the pet store called the chicken an exotic pet. But I think it is pretty stupid that they didn't allow the chicken into the store. They made a generic policy intended to keep people with "weird" and perhaps unpredictable animals out of the store - like monkeys or something.

As for never taking a pet into a store, although I agree there is some risk I don't entirely agree with the sentiment. Animals rarely come into direct contact with others with the exception of dogs sniffing each other. Also, in many of my own instances of bringing my dogs in, it was when I already had them with me in the car and I realized I needed dog food or something, and didn't want to leave them roasting in the car. I personally wouldn't want to bring a chicken into a store because most chickens would be freaked out by the experience, especially if there are dogs in the store. But if I were on my way home with a chicken or two in the car on a sunny day and needed to buy something I wouldn't hesitate to bring them in with me in a cage.

ETA: also, my dogs are exposed to WAY more diseases at dog parks than the pet store...

 

[umanduhbree]

Here's my fun story: There is a specialty animal food store in the city (40 miles away) and that's where I buy my chicken food from. I talked to the owner and she will allow a chicken in the store if it is on a leash. I'm sure she thought it was clever until I showed up with my australorp roo on a leash. We brought him up to the city for a couple reasons and didn't want to leave him in the car as I'm a bit chatty when I'm at this store. I can inform you that chickens don't do well in stores. Alpha FLIPPED OUT! It was a great time, looking back, but I don't think that I will ever stick an angry car sick roo on a leash again. Especially now that he's grown up and getting him into the looping chicken harness I created will be completely impossible.

But if you had your hen in small crate in a cart, I can't really see a problem. It beats leaving them in the car. But if the store does have a broad policy the workers should still be kind when informing you that you can't have a chicken in the store. I think they will have to make their policies a little more clear, especially in places where we can have urban chickens.

 

[9Catsz]

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My experiences at Petsmart differs greatly from yours apparently. While standing in line to pay I've been goosed many times by peoples dogs. I've also had them lick my legs or toes when I'm wearing shorts and/or sandals. While you may think these behaviors are cute when your dog is doing it to you, I'm not a dog person and I don't appreciate someone allowing their animal to do that to me. I've also witnessed dogs hike their legs on end caps and seen piles of crap in the floor.

I guess you also missed this post:

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I wish they would put a ban dogs in the stores. It's unsanitary and dangerous.