Chickens as House Pets

Every once in a while I get an odd response to saying I have house chickens, or even outside chickens, "Aren't you afraid of bird flu? If you have chickens you'll be making it easier for us all to get bird flu." I have a very difficult time not laughing at this. Whatever form it takes..."disease" "salmonella" "chickens will make you sick"...it is a sign of ignorance and brainwashing. Having chickens does not automatically make you sick and they aren't some dangerous thing that needs to get eradicated.

Most of the bird flu hysteria is just that, hysteria. Chickens that rarely leave their homes, are often kept away from the outside world, and have strict regulations on their movements are not the vector that would be transferring bird flu. Wild birds, those ones that know no statelines, travel far distances on migration, and are everywhere around us, on picnic tables, bushes around our homes, even around hospital courtyards, those are the way you would get bird flu, not chickens.

Salmonella is a problem with lots of pets, not just chickens. We can get salmonella from our other pets, other people, even standing water. Salmonella is all around us and having chickens barely raises the risk of getting it and even if you do, most salmonella varieties aren't even that bad. The majority of varieties will give you a bit of a stomach, if that, and in the mean time, will help teach your antibodies to react (like a vaccine) against the hazardous types like Salmonella enteritis.

Chickens, or any birds for that matter, are less likely to be a danger to your health than most of the other animals we take for granted, or as any mother knows, a kindergarten class. Germs are all around us, all the time, many are species specific though, so we're less likely to get sick from chickens since they are birds. Other mammals are more likely to have germs that will affect us, and other humans are far more likely to carry germs that are dangerous.

Clean coops and healthy chickens are less likely to have germs and diseases, so unlike factory farms, where chickens have to get medications and antibiotics to be able to survive, most pet chickens rarely need medication and pet chicken owners are far more likely to use natural, non-dangerous remedies to control any problems if there are any.

Chickens are very unlikely to make you sick. Do you think of sickly kids when you think of kids raised on farms? Having chickens makes you healthier. Their eggs are often full of vitamins, way more than in store-bought, mass-produced eggs. The Omega-3s are higher which usually leads to a better immune system and more resistance to disease. Kids raised around any pets are far more likely to be healthy and have strong immune systems than kids raised in sterile environments.

Chickens are social animals and enjoy spending time with everyone. That's part of what makes them such a perfect house pet, having chickens out in the coop doesn't allow you to really become part of the flock, but living in the same place with them, hanging out with them while you watch TV, and just generally spending time one on one really ends up giving you a greater appreciation for chickens and a greater understanding as well. The Silkie in the picture to the right is my desk chicken. She hangs out on my desk while I work, sharing space with cats, as they all pass by looking to get pet and trying to snag treats from my plate while I eat lunch.

The most common question that comes up when I mention house chickens is why, but the second most common question is what about the poo?

Anyone who has ever been around chickens knows that chicken poop is a common hazard when handling chickens. You're bound to get hit with it sooner or later, or knowing chickens, sooner and later. This can be a problem inside a house since no one wants chicken poop everywhere. There are a couple ways people deal with this when they have house chickens.

One way is to just keep the chicken in a playpen when not in its cage. Some people use old baby playpens, but others get puppy playpens. Setting these playpens up in the family room allows interaction with the chicken, but makes it hard for the chicken to really be part of the family and get cuddles plus most chickens will start jumping out eventually.

Another way is to just let the chickens wander around and not worry about it. This really doesn't work if you have carpet, but if you have hardwood floors or linoleum a paper towel will quickly wipe anything up. Putting a towel over where the chicken sits most of the time catches most of the poo and a paper towel takes care of any other messes. I'm also hearing about house-training chickens. Haven't tried it myself, but it's worth a shot if you're interested in going this way.

The most common way people deal with poo-filled chickens is by using chicken diapers. That's right, there are little diapers for chickens. They aren't available from many places yet, it's not like there's a ton of people needing diapers for chickens, but you can often buy them from other chicken people or make them yourself. Basically they are little cloth bottoms you put on the chicken with a little absorbent pad in the bottom that you change out as the chicken goes on it. The chicken wears the diaper while loose in the house and gets it removed while in it's cage.

Really the poo problem isn't a big deal after a while for most chicken fans. Just another chore to keep up on like a cat litter box. In fact, I think it's a heck of a lot less irritating to have to deal with than cat poo or picking up dog doo in the yard.

If you have other pets, you need to consider whether it is safe to have a house chicken. Chickens are attacked by dogs and other pets every day, and if you don't want that to happen to your chicken you need to plan very carefully. It is possible to have your pets coexist, I have a lot of cats and not one of them would attack my pet chicken, but that isn't always the case with every pet out there. The pet's personality needs to be considered, as well as how you go about introducing them. If the other pet regularly hunts and kills animals, or is even a breed that has been raised to do that, you will probably not be able to safely have them together. If you are going to attempt it, always watch them carefully and introduce them through the bars of a cage in case anything goes wrong. You should always have the chicken in a cage and the dog on a leash in any case, this will help keep you in command of the situation. Even once it looks safe to have your pets together, never leave them alone. If the chicken got frightened and flapped his wings he might trigger the hunting instinct in the other animal since it's sort of acting like prey.

Even if your pet chicken is going to be out in the house most or all of the time, they need a place that is uniquely theirs. This should be a spacious cage so there's room for them to easily move around in case they need to be left inside there for any length of time. It's nice as well for the chicken to be able to be in a place without their diaper sometimes, and if the hen lays eggs she'll want a safe place to do it in. Many chickens also prefer to sleep in their cages since it makes them feel secure.

The cage should be lined with wood shavings (NOT cedar!), newspaper, old towels, or even cloth diapers. You can easily toss the diapers or towels in the washer every couple of days depending on how long your chicken spends in his or her cage. The wood shavings tend to get all over the place, if the chicken flaps its wings, so I prefer to use old cloth diapers, switching them out every so often, then when I have a pile I toss them all in the washer. I actually have a section on my desk lined though, not a cage, since Sweet Tweets refuses to sleep in her cage and instead likes to sleep next to me while I work on the computer at night.

In their cage, the chickens should have their food and water, and a roost. The bantam Cochin to the right does not have a roost in her cage since she refused to use it, but she did like to turn over and sit on the cardboard box that I added so she had a place to lay her eggs. That reminds me, if the chicken is a hen and will be laying eggs, she'll need a box to do that in. I like cardboard boxes since I can easily switch them out as they get dirty, but anything works, they'll just need to be easily cleaned and big enough for the hen.

It's always nice if possible to allow your chicken some outdoor playtime occasionally. They enjoy being outdoors and eating grass but you have to be very careful because everything likes to eat chicken. Neighborhood dogs may be as friendly as anything, but a yummy, squawking chicken may be too much of a temptation. Also, birds of prey have been known to swoop down out of the sky and take off with a chicken in just moments. Each time your chicken is outside the danger level increases, but a cautious owner should be able to keep their chicken fairly safe. Just always remember, everything wants to eat your pet, so you need to watch out for any danger all the time.

Chickens can learn to walk around with a leash attached, and this is handy if you want to take the chicken to the park or on a road trip where you can walk him a bit while on rest stops. The chicken needs to learn to wear a halter, or a diaper with a leash attachment, then they can be trained just like rabbits or cats. They aren't really walked per se, but rather walk around with the owner following.

Another option for allowing your chicken some outside time, is to use a cage or a playpen. The bantams and bunnies in the picture to the right are enjoying their time outside in a playpen set up in the shade. Some chickens will jump or fly out of the playpens, so often a cage set on the grass works the best. It also keeps the chickens a little safer. Just treat the chickens as living breathing creatures, as say, a baby. In a pen they won't be able to move out of the sun if it gets too hot, and they need to be supervised, plus have water and food if they need it. Chickens can get overheated very quickly, so make sure they have some sort of shade over part of the playpen that they can retreat to.

One question often asked is whether the house chicken should be a hen or a rooster? As long as crowing isn't going to be a problem with your neighbors, hens or roosters, as the one in the picture to the right, work equally well as house chickens. Hens lay eggs, some breeds more than others, but roosters often become very sweet. For some reason it turns out that house chickens are often roosters. I'm not sure why this is the case, maybe it's because house chickens are often chickens that can't get along with the rest of the flock, or perhaps because so many other people don't want roosters and are always looking to get rid of them, but for whatever the reason, roos seem far more common than hens as house pets.

Chickens, though they're often cast as silent (except for the rooster), can be very noisy. Depending on the bird, they can be very noisy. Some hens talk a lot. They walk around and tell everyone "Hey, look at this" "what's that?" "Is this edible?" They chatter incessantly about nothing, I sort of wonder if they're talking to themselves. Other hens will make small noises occasionally, but scream when they lay an egg..."Everyone! Come look and see! I laid an egg!!!" ...then the rooster (if there is one) has to come over and say things like "Wow! My hen laid an egg!" "Everyone, she laid an egg!" until finally the ruckus dies down, then starts again the next morning when the hen again screams "I laid an egg!" Then there are others that are basically silent. You never know where they are or what they're doing because they sneak in to lay their eggs and are so quiet you forget about them. The white hen at the top of this page was like that. Other than a few curious chirps or a content sort-of coo, she never spoke. How much noise a hen makes will vary quite a bit, depending on breed, personality, and time of day, so it's difficult to predict. Some hens will even start crowing. That's right, there are even crowing hens.

Speaking of crowing, we can't leave out roosters on the noise factory. If you have a rooster, almost certainly he will crow. Not every single rooster crows, but the exceptions are few and far between. Crows aren't always the same cock-a-doodle-do though. Big chickens often have deep, booming crows, sort of a bass note often. Bantam roosters make a squeakier noise, occasionally like a old-door hinge noise. Most roosters crow often too. They usually start around 3am and keep going all day, especially if they can hear other chickens. This means they aren't apartment pets. They may not even be house pets if you have close neighbors or thin walls. You can deal with a little of the noise by having a very dark cage they go into at night, modifying a well-ventilated wooden box works well. The wood helps absorb any sound they make at night and the darkness makes them think it's still nighttime and not time to crow. As soon as they're released expect a cacophony though.

All this means that you need to carefully consider even more which chicken to get. Bantams (small or mini chickens) cannot be sexed when little, except if you get them from My Pet Chicken.com, so if you get bantam chicks you have a 50/50 chance of getting a rooster. Standard size chickens can be sexed and usually are if they're at a feed store, so you can be sure you're only getting pullets (young females), though even that is not 100% accurate. Most people therefore get adult, or near adult chickens so they don't risk offending their neighbors.

Another type of chicken that makes a good house chicken is the bantam (or mini) frizzle-feathered Cochin like the one shown to the right. Frizzles are chickens with feathers that are sort of twisted and that give them a fussy or frizzy look. There are actually several breeds of chickens that have the frizzle gene introduced, Cochins just seem the most common. They are all very cute, but often have easily broken feathers so have to be handled carefully.

A popular breed of chicken for a house pet is the bantam (or mini) Cochin. There are large Cochins, called standards, but since they are so large, they are often difficult to house inside, so aren't as common. Cochins are shaped like balls, with feathers on their feet, and are very personable and friendly. Since they have feathered-feet they can have a problem with poo sticking to the feathers on their feet, so need to be in a clean cage or wearing the diaper a lot of the time or else they may track poo all over. The chicken at the top of this lens, as well as the one to the right, are both bantam Cochins. For more information about Cochins check out my lens about them at Cochin Chicken Breed.

Not quite as common as a house chicken, but growing in popularity, Naked Necks or Turkens are so named because they are chickens with feather-less necks, so they look a bit like turkeys. Naked Necks are a bit flighty but are very friendly.

At first sight, Polish Crested chickens are immediately attention getting. The little bulb of feathers on their heads makes them look funny, sweet, and endearing. They make great pets but their crests often make it hard for them to see, which makes them either a little dumb-seeming, or easily frightened and skittish. Trimming the crest just a bit or putting it in a soft ponytail-holder will help the PC a lot. They come in standard and bantam versions, though there isn't always a lot of size difference between them. Photo courtesy of Potato Benevolence through Creative Commons

Probably one of the more popular chickens for house pets, Silkies are often called the furry chicken, black chicken (due to their skin color), or bedroom slippers with feet :D They are one of the calmest of chicken breeds, and are usually very docile which makes them a great pet, inside or outside of the house. For more information about Silkies, check out my lens about them at Silkie Chickens I know you'll be surprised. Silkies' small size and calm temperament make Silkies probably the very best chicken for a house pet. Photo courtesy of Danny Doxtator through Creative Commons

Not only do chickens make good house pets, but ducks do as well. The big duckling below didn't live permanently in our little place, but she was hurt in a winter storm and needed to come inside to recuperate. Ducko had a special pad on the bed so she could hang out and watch TV with us. The other ducklings were inside until they got large enough to live outside. Ducks readily imprint or think humans are their mothers, so they make great pets. For more information on ducks as house pets check out this great lens by XpectMorebizsolutions It's about their pet duck A Duck for a Pet, In the House, Wears Diapers...YES!