# Chicken for a house pet ...



## robopetz (Oct 16, 2012)

[[Cant edit title... Oops I meant pet not per.]]

Anyone else raise them strictly indoors? Of course with outside walks and playtime but live and sleep indoors as if they are a cat or dog? Our lil Sophie is. We just got her though and she's only 2-3 weeks old. Already she is spoiled rotten lol. I'm going to try and train her to potty on a pad or might just order those chicken diapers. Just wanted to find others who do the same and what your experience is like. Thanks!


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

well lets see what she looks like ..........


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## robopetz (Oct 16, 2012)

piglett said:


> well lets see what she looks like ..........


Just took this one. Lil Sophie =)


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## fuzziebutt (Aug 7, 2012)

I know people (on the computer) that have them as pets, and put diapers on them. Some just use paper towels and tape instead of purchasing diapers. Just anything instead of having gifts everywhere. If I weren't married, I WOULD SO MUCH be the the crazy chicken lady that had them in the houseat the end of the road...


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## Sundancers (Jun 20, 2012)

robopetz said:


> [[Cant edit title... Oops I meant pet not per.]]


I changed it for you.


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

My Australorp was pretty well potty trained. She's made her way into the big girl coop a long while now but she knew what "go potty Lilah" meant. I'd take her outside periodically to have her do her biz outside. She'd be loose for about an hour at a time then I'd either bring her back outside or put her in her temporary bin/house. She was an inside girl in the evenings or when I was home, for about 6 months. Took that long to get her to work her way in with the older girls. She wanted so badly to be with them but they just would have no part of it. Used to come inside to lay her egg when she first started laying. She'd kick the dog out of the dog bed, do her work, then leave. Talk about "special delivery."  

I would do the diapers for yours if she's going to be permanently inside. Use them during times you might not be able to take her out often. Chickens potty very very often!


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## robopetz (Oct 16, 2012)

fuzziebutt said:


> I know people (on the computer) that have them as pets, and put diapers on them. Some just use paper towels and tape instead of purchasing diapers. Just anything instead of having gifts everywhere. If I weren't married, I WOULD SO MUCH be the the crazy chicken lady that had them in the houseat the end of the road...


There's no problem with a "crazy chicken lady" hahaha


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## robopetz (Oct 16, 2012)

Sundancers said:


> I changed it for you.


You are awesome! Thank you!!


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## robopetz (Oct 16, 2012)

7chicks said:


> My Australorp was pretty well potty trained. She's made her way into the big girl coop a long while now but she knew what "go potty Lilah" meant. I'd take her outside periodically to have her do her biz outside. She'd be loose for about an hour at a time then I'd either bring her back outside or put her in her temporary bin/house. She was an inside girl in the evenings or when I was home, for about 6 months. Took that long to get her to work her way in with the older girls. She wanted so badly to be with them but they just would have no part of it. Used to come inside to lay her egg when she first started laying. She'd kick the dog out of the dog bed, do her work, then leave. Talk about "special delivery."
> 
> I would do the diapers for yours if she's going to be permanently inside. Use them during times you might not be able to take her out often. Chickens potty very very often!


That is a cute story about her stealing the pet bed from the dog! Yes, I'm goin to try and do the potty training on her but may take a lil longer cause I still do have to leave her home to go to work. I just have to figure out a routine. Probably diaper when no ones home and training when we are. Cute photo!


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

Thanks! She's so spoiled. Its those darned chocolate brown eyes and all that soft fluff she has. I can't resist her a darned thing!  There were times when I'd sitting on the couch studying (went back to college) with her on one side of me, the cat on the other, plus my little dog whose bed she stole. All I could do was smile and play dumb when the hubby would come in from the garage. What chicken? I don't see any chicken?


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

I have never kept any chickens inside, past raising the peeps in the basement or on the front enclosed porch at our last house.

However, when I had my first batch of peeps. 10 of them, I was just too excited to be a chicken mommy and so I would carry them around, one by one. I think that they were around 8 to 10 weeks, the point where they are fully feathered and look like mini chickens. 

So, I was sitting at my computer with a sleeping chick in my arm and the phone rang. It was a telemarketer trying to sell me something. When I started talking the chick woke up and wanted put down, but I had a good hold on her and was holding onto her feet. So....she got her wings loose and was flapping and squawking. So......I told the person on the phone in my best southern accent, "Oh Honey......I just can't talk about this right now, if I'm going to get dinner on the table on time I really have to take care of this here chicken right now!" 

Needless to say I heard S*I*L*E*N*C*E on the phone and I hung up and had a really, really good laugh!!!!


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

That's hilarious Roslyn! Chickens do make for the best of stories!

Little Sophie that this thread is about, passed away this morning. I feel so bad for robopetz. I know how much he adored that sweetie of his. =(


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

has anyone ever house trained a chicken ?


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm sure in the history of humans and chickens...someone has. Google it.


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

For the most part yes. Lilah when it took me 6 1/2 months to get her to want to go in the coop with the big girls. I just had to take her out every 1 1/2 - 2 hours if she was inside with me. If she wanted in with me, I'd tell she had to go potty first. "Go potty Lilah." When we'd get closer to the house, she'd squat and do her biz then RUN to the house and holler at me to hurry up. Lilah's my Australorp. She was a month old when I got her. Night time she went into her bin. When she started laying eggs, she'd wait until I got home from work to lay her egg. She'd come in to put it on her night time bed or in the dog bed then want back outside.


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

She's not exactly spoiled. Just well loved.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> I'm sure in the history of humans and chickens...someone has. Google it.


anyone on here i meant lol


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## fuzziebutt (Aug 7, 2012)

It would probably just be easier to learn to live with the poop.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

i have been in a few houses that could have used a little chicken poop on the floor to make the place smell better ))))


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

I know Rob. I was just fooling around as usual. Couldn't resist. Glad you saw the humor. ;-).


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## robopetz (Oct 16, 2012)

7chicks said:


> That's hilarious Roslyn! Chickens do make for the best of stories!
> 
> Little Sophie that this thread is about, passed away this morning. I feel so bad for robopetz. I know how much he adored that sweetie of his. =(


Thank you 7chicks. I appreciate the concern, means allot.


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## mollycat79 (Dec 14, 2012)

Oooh I'd love a house trained chook running around. Wonder if I could train my rir cross australorp? Lol


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## toybarons (Nov 14, 2012)

Sorry about Lil Sophie passing away, robopetz.

Make way for the crazy chicken lady folks. 
I do keep pet poultry. My avatar is Bradley who is a 4 year old Polish blue splash roo. He is the boytoy to Buffy, my 9 year old Polish bufflace hen. Both have the run of the house. They follow me around wherever I go in the house. Our living room has a loveseat which is theirs. They sleep on that at night. Bradley was raised in the house and has never been outside. Buffy started out as a breeding hen at a hatchery. She lived in our coops for years until she began to have health issues. After her last issue, which was becoming frozen in her coop even though the coop had heat [out of 20 birds she was the ONLY one], I decided to keep her in the house.

Living with pet chickens can be interesting. I can seldom take a phone call without Bradley knowing about it. He will get up onto the kitchen table which is next to the phone and he will begin to crow. Even now, he is nested right at my feet while I'm doing this. When I cook, both will be in the kitchen wanting treats. Anytime anyone gets something to drink, we also get a glass of water for Bradley or else NO ONE drinks *ha ha* Take a nap, don't be surprised to open your eyes to a rooster staring back at you. Better when he falls asleep on you. Less unnerving! 
Funny story was when I had a friend come over to pick up some chicks. She could only come late at night. Bradley and Buffy were up on their sofa sleeping. My friend knew I had pet chickens but had never been over to see them. She walked passed them, thinking they were statues. She screamed when she went to touch them and Bradley moved.

My house is also shared with several other chickens, but only Bradley and Buffy have the run of the house. I have a rabbit cage in the living room for Peek-a-Boo my White Polish hen who has all the grace of a bull in a china shop. I have to bedrooms that house chickens. These are birds that are usually babies not ready for the coops [my barn currently has 5 coops.] As the winters are cold where I live, sometimes Baby's first winter a bird will need to come indoors because they aren't adjusting or thriving. Sometimes a bird comes in due to illness ro injury. Also my incubators and brooders are all set up so the chicks are house raised for tameness.

Lastly, I have a pet Bronze turkey tom. His name is BigGuy and he is going on 4 years old. Though he doesn't stay in the house, during the months that he is outside, he does nest on our front door steps.


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## BlackCrowFarm (Nov 18, 2012)

So sorry to read about the passing of your dear feathered friend.

We have 2 hens, show girl silkie & serama, that live in the house. They go in & out, threw the dog door, in the summer & in the winter only when its warm enough. 
We also have a serama roo that was raised in the house & wears diapers. He travels up north with us to our cottage & went cross country to Ohio, in fact he travels more than I do!
All three know their names & come when called.


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## fuzziebutt (Aug 7, 2012)

Toybarons, PLEASE tell me they wore diapers...


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## toybarons (Nov 14, 2012)

fuzziebutt said:


> Toybarons, PLEASE tell me they wore diapers...


Nope. The birds in the house are fed a bit differently than my coop birds. Their poops are more solid. Where they sleep, I have a covering that gets changed every other day. They also have their prefered places to go, so those places are covered.

My other birds are kept in rooms. Those rooms have covered floors which are cleaned daily.

I've found that chickens are no different in smell than many of the parrots I used to keep. Daily cleaning though is important. I don't let anything go for more than a couple days. IF I am going to a show where I can't clean them, Bradley and Buffy are put into an area coop so only that area gets dirty.


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## fuzziebutt (Aug 7, 2012)

Interesting...


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