Indoor Chickens?

[OohFeeshy]

I've kept most sorts of small pets before- the usual hamsters of different sorts, the bunny, mice etc. Obviously, mice and hamsters don't live very long, and aren't really daytime critters. Plus all the ones I've kept have had a tendency to bite. Anyway, fancy a bit of a change and a different experience- partly from the educational point of view. So I was thinking about birds. Only thing is, with cats/tanks/stuff, I don't think it would be fair keeping something like a budgie when I probably wouldn't be able to let it fly much, and wouldn't like getting it out much (to 'play' with) because of the risks of it flying. So I was thinking about birds that don't really fly much- chickens and such. Again though, with cats and things I'd be keeping it/them (not sure on how social they are, or group sizes) inside- obvious benefit of that is that it's warm and safe. Which brings me to the size issue- I'm not sure on whether any are small enough to be kept inside in the setup I'm visualising, and Google wasn't a *great* deal of help. Which is where you come in. Any advice you can offer, welcome

 

[Teri]

Please don't keep chickens indoors. They need to scratch around in the garden, etc. You can buy some very good hen houses. "Eglus" seem very good, they are insulated, and also fox proof - have a look at www.omlet.co.uk.
We've got a few ex battery hens at my dad's house, in an eglu, they're lovely characters, and often pop into the kitchen to see whats going on! If there's no one at home, they're quite happy to stay in their run, otherwise they just potter around the garden.
Cats aren't an issue, Dad has 3 around the place, they don't really pay that much attention to the hens, just seem to avoid them as much as possible. Apparently a chicken can hold its own against a cat anyway, though i wouldn't fancy putting it to the test.
Chickens also have a tendencey to bite, it hurts, and they can also draw blood!!!

 

[Teri]

Well, not really biting, as they obviously don'thave teeth. Pecking though.And it is painful, though they only doit if you've got food, and they want it!!

 

[grahamsokel]

Definatly not a good idea to try and keep Chickens in the house,they are messy the droppings smell and by nature a chicken needs to scratch in the soil and have dust baths.I have a few of mine that where hand reared that gets into the house at every opertunity to find me and i can tell you its not a good idea

 

[OohFeeshy]

Righto, put that on hold then (at least until there's space in the garden ). Any similar suggestions that people can think of? Don't nessecarily have to be birds, but un-nocturnal and suchlike is good.

 

[Teri]

Righto, put that on hold then (at least until there's space in the garden ). Any similar suggestions that people can think of? Don't nessecarily have to be birds, but un-nocturnal and suchlike is good.

House rabbit? I haven't got any personal experience, but I've heard they're good pets. Can't think of anything off hand..why not contact ur local animal rescue centre,and see if they have anyone that needs rehoming, something might catch your attention.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I suggest button quail. They are small enough to fit in one cupped hand, and make great indoor birds for people who love poultry. In a decent sized cage with a high, soft lid (they fly STRAIGHT UP when spooked and thus should not have a rigid wire lid), they make wonderful additions to a house hold; just google them for some good info
I happen to have "house chickens," but not in the sense of them being cooped up indoors all day. They come in the house with us during inclimate weather, at night, and if they are asking to come in, but spend most of the day roaming our acre of back yard, doing everything chickens need to do - roosting, scratching, dust bathing, foraging, etc. It is very messy, however, so I don't really suggest it.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I suggest button quail. They are small enough to fit in one cupped hand, and make great indoor birds for people who love poultry. In a decent sized cage with a high, soft lid (they fly STRAIGHT UP when spooked and thus should not have a rigid wire lid), they make wonderful additions to a house hold; just google them for some good info

See, I did find a few mentions of button quails, they're pretty cute critters Info seems a bit few and far between though- while most places suggest one male and two or so females, do they need to be kept in groups? And what type and size of enclosure would be good? Several sites suggested something like a 4x1 aquarium for a trio, but any other suggestions?

 

[RandomWiktor]

I would definately keep them in groups with a male and at least two females; they are a very social bird, but unlike parakeets or parrots, will not bond only to their mate and lose their friendliness towards you. They are very much like most fowl in that they are flock oriented as opposed to pair-oriented within a flock, and are thus more likely to also accept humans into the fold. Giving a male at least to girls will help spread out his attentions to make sure none of the girls are overly hasstled or plucked.
I often hear that a 55-75g aquarium is ideal for a small group of ~ 3 since you can make the whole 'bonk-proof lid' very easily. However, I think they could also be kept perfectly well in a large playpen (the kind one might use for puppies or small animals, with eight 2' panels to make a decent surface area) with the same netting covering it so long as the bar spacing is tight enough. The benefit of this is that you control the shape, and could put some low perching, or crock dishes to prevent spilling - plus you could move it around the house or even put it outside for supervised foraging and dust bathing when the weather permits. And of course, you can always combine more than one if more space is desired; we put three together downstairs for our two chickens when they need to stay inside due to bad weather, which gives them plenty of space until it warms up or the storm passes.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I did a fair bit of reading around last night. A few people used modified rabbit hutches, which is interesting, some had modified plastic storage containers. No matter, I'll have a scout around for more ideas. Probably I'd be going more cube-y than long, the main space I was thinking of (although if I moved the 2ft I'd have a tonne more room for these *and* another tank...) is about 3 1/2ft long and can be 2 1/2 foot wide... On the head-hitting issue, I read a few places where people have clipped the wings on one side to stop them doing that, which seems like a possible option later in time. On availability, because of the relatively short lifespan and local availability, I've noticed there's a lot of assorted eggs on Ebay with good feedback for all of them. How easy is it raising the chicks? A lot of sources mentioned hatching etc. as not too difficult, but obviously I like to take things with a pinch of salt.

 

[grahamsokel]

If your looking into quail and only want them as pets the ones in the UK are the Chinese painted quail the other breeds are quite a bit bigger

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yeah, I found out that chinese painted quail is the name in the UK (which is one of the things I've been looking under).