Adnil....here, now you can train all those dang chicks running around the yard


Chickens as Pets
By Kathy Bernhardt
Chickens may seem like an odd choice for a pet, but they can be very
engaging, friendly and entertaining - and they pay their way with
eggs and pest control for your garden. Chickens can easily be tamed
and trained, even as adults, with positive reinforcements and food
rewards. They will come running when they think you might have a
treat, learn to eat out of your hand and some may even allow you to
stroke them. If you talk to them, treat them well and handle them
gently you'll have faithful followers. However, for a truly bonded
pet that will seek out your company, follow you around the yard and
nestle in your lap for a nap you may want to hand-raised a baby
chick.

Before considering a chicken as a pet, check your local zoning laws.
In the country, this should not be an issue, but some cities have
strict regulations on keeping "farm animals". A single banty hen
might be OK in a city apartment or house, but chickens need to be
outdoors at least part of the day, love to scratch in dirt and take
dust baths, eat tender new shoots (remember that some house plants
can be poisonous), and lay sprawled out in the sun. House training a
chicken, although not impossible, may prove difficult.

Chickens come in hundreds of colors and "styles": Brown, gold, red,
white, gray, silver, speckled, spotted, checkered, dappled, smooth,
fluffy, silky, grizzled, whiskered, bearded, bare legged, feathered
legged, booted, high tailed, bushy tailed, long combed, rose combed,
bare headed or with fanciful headdresses to mention a few. Hens, with
their subtler colors, lay eggs and cackle and cluck. Cockerels
(roosters) are much more colorful and flashier, fertilize those eggs
and crow loudly and often. Unless you want more baby chicks, don't
get a rooster as a companion for your hen. Hens do not need a rooster
to lay eggs, and without one, will be less stressed and harassed.
Chickens come in various sizes, from one-pound banties to 10 pound
Giant Jerseys. Some hens lay blue or green-shelled eggs, some
spotted, some dark brown and others pearl white. Some lay every day
while others only a few months of the year. Most hens start laying in
their 5th or 6th month and are productive up to their third or fourth
year, but some have been known to produce well into "old age". Pet
chickens average lifespan is about 15 years.

When choosing a breed, consider the space they need. A single banty -
or even two or three - does very well with a dog carrier for sleeping
quarters and a small patch of dirt to scratch, while the larger
laying breeds may need an covered coop with up to 6 square feet per
chicken and at least some "free range" space. They need perches at
varying levels (they like to be as high as they can get at night),
and a laying box. Chickens can wander around an established garden
and feast on weeds and insects, doing some of your garden chores for
you. Kept outside, they need a safe place to sleep where predators
can't get to them, and if you live in an area prone to wild animals,
they may need to be kept contained all the time. Hawks, coyotes,
raccoons, weasels, rats, feral cats and loose dogs all consider
chickens a tasty treat. Although chickens don't fly long distances,
they can make it to the top of a fence or a low tree branch when
startled, but usually head under a low bush to hide.

Whether you decide on a single chicken as a hand-raised pet or want
to keep a small flock, make sure that the chicks have been vaccinated
against Marek's and Newcastle disease, and come from a salmonella-
tested breeding flock. Unless you purchase a "sex-linked" breed (one
where the color is different for hens and roosters), you may be
taking your chances with feed-store chicks. Reputable and experienced
breeders can sex one-day old chicks, but after that, until they grow
up, most breeds cannot be sexed, even by behavior. Some hens act very
aggressive as youngsters, while some roosters are meek and gentle
until their hormones kick in. Although some roosters can and do make
nice pets, most can be quite aggressive and all are loud. It is
nearly impossible to place an adult rooster in a new home. Sadly,
most end up in a stew pot. Chicks from a "straight run" (non-sexed)
feed store lot cost just a few dollars. Pre-sexed chicks from proven
show stock (birds that have won prizes at displays and fairs) can be
considerably more expensive.

Raising a baby chick is fun and easy. They are precocial birds, which
means that they are able to walk and eat on their own soon after
hatching. Tiny chicks need a heat source, a clean environment, food
and water. You can invest in a chick brooder or build your own from a
large glass aquarium or wooden or cardboard box, a shielded clip-on
lamp and some screening or towels for a cover. The box should be
about 24 inches long by 18 inches wide and about 12 to 18 inches
tall. This is big enough for up to 6 small chicks. Clip the light on
the edge and position it so it is about 4" above the flooring. Line
the box with newspaper and fill with about 1 inch of wood shavings or
sawdust, although paper towels work just as well and are easy to
change out daily. Check the temperature under the lamp - it should be
quite warm on your hand, but not hot - 90 degrees F is about right.
Some breeders prefer red bulbs to minimize stress at night. The chick
will sit under this lamp to stay warm and will wander out from under
it to eat and drink. Provide a shallow dish of water - no more than
1/2 inch deep. Add small stones to the water dish so the chick can't
fall in and get wet or drown. Provide a shallow dish of "chick
starter", available at the feed store. Change the water and food at
least twice a day. The chick will peep loudly when cold or hungry,
and make contended little chirping sounds when happy. Handle
minimally for the first few days, as tiny babies are delicate and
stress out easily. As the chick gets older, provide more and more one-
on-one time. Cup your hand over the baby as you sit quietly, feed it
little pieces of corn, berries, live small mealworms and other treats
from your hand while saying its name, and within a very short time
the little chicken will associate your voice with food and comfort
and will come to you every time you call. At about 4-5 weeks of age
the baby can go outside, supervised, and at about 8 weeks should be
old enough to not need the lamp any more. At about 5 months the chick
can stay in the outside pen overnight. If you plan to have the
chicken sleep inside, start placing it in the carrier at nights at
around 2-3 months of age. Chickens are creatures of habit and tend to
choose the same area to perch and sleep every night.

As adults, feed your chickens good quality layer's pellets or layer's
mash (powder form) in the mornings and pre-mixed grain in the
afternoon, with clean, fresh water available at all times. Pellets
can be given in a feeder from which they help themselves, while the
grain can be scattered on the ground so that they can enjoy
scratching for it. They also like wheat, corn, safflower and shelled
sunflower seeds. Table scraps are a welcome treat, but limit them to
less than 1/4 of the diet or they may not get proper nutrition.

Chickens will also eat the growing tips of grasses, and anything they
can forage during their scratching activities. They provide a natural
garden pest control, eating snails, slugs, earwigs and other insects,
so only use non-toxic, organic pesticides on things they might eat.
If kept in a coop, provide them with greens such as cabbage leaves,
lettuce, spinach and/or green vegetables hung up so that they can
peck at them when they want to. Hanging containers prevent debris
from being scratched into the food and water. Also provide some
poultry grit to help grain digestion in the gizzard, and crushed
oystershell for strong eggshells. To keep your chickens healthy and
prevent odors, clean the coop regularly.

If you allow chickens to roam in your garden, it's best to monitor
their activities, because they won't know the difference between a
marigold or lettuce seedling and a weed. Alternatively, you can build
a roving run (sometimes called a chicken tractor) for them, setting
the wood-and-wire contraption in areas of the garden not currently
under cultivation , and then till under what they leave you. Even in
an enclosed coop and run, the hens will provide for the garden.
Chicken manure, cleaned out of the coop with the bedding, can be
applied to the dormant vegetable garden or added to the compost pile
(fresh manure can burn plants in active growth).

Pet chickens are not as odd as they seem and those who have kept them
rave about their qualities and attributes. Chickens have distinct and
interesting personalities. In a flock they quickly establish a social
order and watching this evolve in a group of growing fowl is highly
entertaining. Raised with love and tenderness, they'll be only too
happy for you to be at the top of their 'pecking order'.

YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

Can I consider them pets now that everytime I open the front door they think they just need to come rite on in? I can't even go outside without them thinking they have to get up under my feet.

We had chickens when we lived in the country. The most facinating site was one of my chickens had caught a snake all the other chickens were chasing her around the yard wanting to get the snake! The are great tick killers too. They love to eat scraps too. I could sit and watch them all day.

I was watching reruns of 'I Love Lucy' while I was cleaning today and one of the episodes was about Lucy and Ethel wanting to raise chickens to earn some extra money. The went out and bought something like 300 baby chicks, which they had to keep in the house cause the chicken coop wasn't ready. Needless to say, the chicks got loose, causing all kinds of mayhem. I had to stop washing the kitchen floor cause I was laughing so hard! (Good excuse, eh?)

My sons have enjoyed the chickens their grandmother got when they were little over the years. I thought it would bother them when she killed a few but they gobbled them up. I asked my son, who is 8 about it and he said, "well mom mamaw explained that when Red pecked the top of one of the chickens heads, and became obnoxious he had to go. Now we are having dumplins'."
Last week they got a new bunch of chickens from the 4H kids after the fair.