Your Experience Keeping a House Chicken

[GodLovesU]

I know this can be a very heated topic, but I’m trying to write an article on it. Please just share your experiences, what worked well, and what didn’t. Feel free to share tips and ideas as well. You can share your opinions, but please be tactful and give explanations.

 

[GracePoultry]

I don’t know if this will be helpful or not, but a few years ago I had a little polish hen who had been getting picked on and had lost weight (which was my fault for not providing enough feeders for the amount of chickens I had, and she was getting shoved away from them) she lived inside for about 2 weeks eating as much as she wanted. She stayed in our downstairs bathroom but was often held while we watched tv or could watch her closely without our other pets around. I really enjoyed having an indoor chicken even if it was for a short bit. But oh my goodness the poop. At the time, I’m not even sure knew chicken diapers existed and because of this I had to keep her in her cage most of the days. But throughout those two weeks, what was a somewhat flighty bird became one of the friendliest chickens I have ever owned, for weeks after that she would always try to come inside anytime we opened the door even though the bullying problem had been taken care of. Sometimes we’d give in and just let her just sit by the door and watch us she loved being around people after that

 

[GodLovesU]

I don’t know if this will be helpful or not, but a few years ago I had a little polish hen who had been getting picked on and had lost weight (which was my fault for not providing enough feeders for the amount of chickens I had, and she was getting shoved away from them) she lived inside for about 2 weeks eating as much as she wanted. She stayed in our downstairs bathroom but was often held while we watched tv or could watch her closely without our other pets around. I really enjoyed having an indoor chicken even if it was for a short bit. But oh my goodness the poop. At the time, I’m not even sure knew chicken diapers existed and because of this I had to keep her in her cage most of the days. But throughout those two weeks, what was a somewhat flighty bird became one of the friendliest chickens I have ever owned, for weeks after that she would always try to come inside anytime we opened the door even though the bullying problem had been taken care of. Sometimes we’d give in and just let her just sit by the door and watch us she loved being around people after that

I had an experience similar to this. Thanks for sharing!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Mine never stayed indoors for more than a week and a half, and for the most part, they were pretty miserable being indoors and away from the others. They required much more cleaning because they were indoors, and the smell would go through the whole house when they had a cecal poop.

 

[kittyvamp1884]

Copy and paste from my comment on a post about caring for blind chickens: (with some additional details added specific to house chickens)

Ebony (our 3-year-old Black Australorp) became our house chicken after having a run in with our foxhound, Revan (May '24). She had an tunneling abdominal wound down her left side that took around 6 months to heal, and she acclimated to living with us in the house full time while recuperating. We didn't know at the time, but Revan suffered from osteoarthritis; a battle that he lost this June. In March '25, Ebony jumped up on my daughter's bed one night, not knowing Revan was lying there, and he snapped.

The resulting injury included another, more shallow abdominal wound along with head, and throat trauma. She was blind after the attack with pupils that no longer constricted. I tube fed her through the worst of the initial healing, and she eventually regained the desire to eat on her own. After many months, and the complete recovery from her other wounds, her sight did not return. At this point, (July '25) one of her eyes has the glassy appearance of a fully dilated pupil that never constricts but is otherwise normal, and her other eye has an unresponsive but normal looking pupil and is deflating. She will most likely lose this second eye.

All in all, she's healed up quite well, and is acclimating to living without vision, but she will never return to the flock. She spent so long inside recuperating from the first injury that she no longer knows the area outside, and is no longer part of the (rather entrenched) pecking order.

She has a large dog crate in the house, with a cat "food and water fountain" that allows her to hear when she's near the food and water. She finds it without issue, and is very aware when she hears food hitting the dish. Heck, she knows the sound of the bsf container even before it hits the dish. She gets scraps from our dinners, and eats the regular home mixed feed the rest of the flock gets. She also gets treats, and I mix grit into her food to make sure she gets that too. She hasn't laid an egg since the injury, so she does not currently get oyster shells, but I do offer her the occasional egg shell when I make her eggs. She's not usually interested in the shell... But very interested in the eggs... She also has an obsession with milk that predates her injuries, and tends to insist on sharing a glass with everyone when they pour one.

Also in her crate is a a three-tiered spice rack with traction material (The soft side of industrial strength velcro) added that she uses like steps to climb to perch at night. Another of these spice racks creates the perfect set of steps for her to get out of the crate, which she does swimmingly, and move around in what we lovingly call her "porch" which has two small dog beds that she hangs out in.

We keep everything lined with cut down pieces of an old sheet that can be regularly changed and washed to keep her area clean. We tried shavings, but she just made a terrible mess with them and seems to be happier on a cloth lined tray. I've thought about adding a covered litter box dust bath, but I'm still negotiating that with my husband.

Before you ask about the poop... Prior to her injuries, Ebony had gone broody and had chicks, so she was quite comfortable with holding her poop for long periods of time and still tends to do several big broody dumps each day that are easily cleaned up with a tissue rather than many tiny ones. Cleaning up after her is actually a very easy process, and she doesn't tend to poop on people often. She takes a giant broody dump after coming into her porch in the morning, and maybe 2-3 more over the course of the day.

She spends quality time with us as her flock all day everyday. (I work from home and my two teenage daughters are homeschooled, so there's always someone snuggling our Mamacita.) We take her out back for dust bathing and free-ranging opportunities several times a week as the weather allows, and several of our hens lay their eggs inside the house, so she does interact off and on with them while they're inside "visiting".

I've been trying to convince my husband to get a friend for her... a non-human companion that can be a full-time inside flockmate. (Other than our puppy which she understandably does not want to interact with.) Possibly a bantam chicken, lovebird, or cockatiel. The main issue (other than my husband's objection to additional house pets) is that Ebony was really high up in a pecking order before her initial injury. She might be more likely to bully her new flockmate then befriend them. They'd have to be docile enough to not take advantage of her in her vulnerable state, but dominant enough not to allow her to bully them. I'd love suggestions if you have any for a companion.

I've attached some pictures in case they're helpful to anyone. If anyone wants to see pictures from during the healing process of any of her injuries, message me directly.

For context into the images:
1. The second story crate is where one of our rooster sleeps at night to save the neighbors

2. The cat crate and cube at the top is where a few of our hens lay their eggs during the day.

This setup is right in our living room behind the couch in the center of everything happening in the house.

If you're interested in links for any of the products we're using, just let me know and I'll dig them up for you.

 

[GodLovesU]

Copy and paste from my comment on a post about caring for blind chickens: (with some additional details added specific to house chickens)

Ebony (our 3-year-old Black Australorp) became our house chicken after having a run in with our foxhound, Revan (May '24). She had an tunneling abdominal wound down her left side that took around 6 months to heal, and she acclimated to living with us in the house full time while recuperating. We didn't know at the time, but Revan suffered from osteoarthritis; a battle that he lost this June. In March '25, Ebony jumped up on my daughter's bed one night, not knowing Revan was lying there, and he snapped.

The resulting injury included another, more shallow abdominal wound along with head, and throat trauma. She was blind after the attack with pupils that no longer constricted. I tube fed her through the worst of the initial healing, and she eventually regained the desire to eat on her own. After many months, and the complete recovery from her other wounds, her sight did not return. At this point, (July '25) one of her eyes has the glassy appearance of a fully dilated pupil that never constricts but is otherwise normal, and her other eye has an unresponsive but normal pupil and is deflating. She will most likely lose this second eye.

All in all, she's healed up quite well, and is acclimating to living without vision, but she will never return to the flock. She spent so long inside recuperating from the first injury that she no longer knows the area outside, and is no longer part of the (rather entrenched) pecking order.

She has a large dog crate in the house, with a cat "food and water fountain" that allows her to hear when she's near the food and water. She finds it without issue, and is very aware when she hears food hitting the dish. Heck, she knows the sound of the bsf container even before it hits the dish. She gets scraps from our dinners, and eats the regular home mixed feed the rest of the flock gets. She also gets treats, and I mix grit into her food to make sure she gets that too. She hasn't laid an egg since the injury, so she does not currently get oyster shells, but I do offer her the occasional egg shell when I make her eggs. She's not usually interested in the shell... But very interested in the eggs...

Also in her crate is a a three-tiered spice rack with traction material (The soft side of industrial strength velcro) added that she uses like steps to climb to perch at night. Another of these spice racks creates the perfect set of steps for her to get out of the crate, which she does swimmingly, and move around in what we lovingly call her "porch" which has two small dog beds that she hangs out in.

We keep everything lined with cut down pieces of an old sheet that can be regularly changed and washed to keep her area clean. We tried shavings, but she just made a terrible mess with them and seems to be happier on a cloth lined tray. I've thought about adding a covered litter box dust bath, but I'm still negotiating that with my husband.

She spends quality time with us as her flock all day everyday. (I work from home and my two teenage daughters are homeschooled, so there's always someone snuggling our Mamacita.) We take her out back for dust bathing and free-ranging opportunities several times a week as the weather allows, and several of our hens lay their eggs inside the house, so she does interact off and on with them while they're inside "visiting".

I've been trying to convince my husband to get a friend for her... a non-human companion that can be a full-time inside flockmate. (Other than our puppy which she understandably does not want to interact with.) Possibly a bantam chicken, lovebird, or cockatiel. The main issue (other than my husband's objection to additional house pets) is that Ebony was really high up in a pecking order before her initial injury. She might be more likely to bully her new flockmate then befriend them. They'd have to be docile enough to not take advantage of her in her vulnerable state, but dominant enough not to allow her to bully them. I'd love suggestions if you have any for a companion.

I've attached some pictures in case they're helpful to anyone. If anyone wants to see pictures from during the healing process of any of her injuries, message me directly.

For context into the images:
1. The second story crate is where one of our rooster sleeps at night to save the neighbors

2. The cat crate and cube at the top is where a few of our hens lay their eggs during the day.

This setup is right in our living room behind the couch in the center of everything happening in the house.

If you're interested in links for any of the products we're using, just let me know and I'll dig them up for you.

Thank you!

 

[fat brown hen]

I don't have a house chicken, but I do have a temporary house turkey. I learned a few tricks to manage poop from a "disabled chickens" group. I feed the turkey 3 times per day, and can reliably predict when she will poop because she eats the same food, and same amount, at each feeding. She poops within 30 minutes of each feeding, and a second poop within an hour after that. When I expect poop, I pop her on the back doorstep or in the bathtub. Easy to hose off. The cecal poops come early in the morning before sunrise, but she sleeps over a box of pine pellets and I scoop it out like cat litter. Most of the time she stays by my side, because she is not feeling well. There is no smell other than the smell of pine pellets.

If my turkey were 1/10 of her current size, she would make a fine housechicken.

 

[GodLovesU]

Does anyone know how often a house chicken’s diaper needs to be changed? Also, has anybody found that your house chicken required any extra nutrients?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Does anyone know how often a house chicken’s diaper needs to be changed?

Whenever they poop, just like anything else with a diaper

Also, has anybody found that your house chicken required any extra nutrients?

Vitamin D would be my biggest worry

 

[fat brown hen]

@GodLovesU Never tried it, but the diapers I've seen have enough capacity that you don't have to change it every time. They're similar to the manure bags that horses wear.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-diapers-instructions-how-to-advice.97738/page-2