Chickens as pets???

Hi All


As the programmer of an app dedicated to keepers of pet birds, I had a few emails from people who were surprised that chickens were not on the list of supported species within the app.


Their argument was that chickens can be pets too, not just egg or meat factories. Now, since my app is for owners of 'pet birds', these people who keep chickens considered themselves to be as much 'pet bird lovers' as owners of budgies, cockatiels or any other parrot.


So my question to readers is: "do you consider chickens to be candidates for the position of 'pet bird'"? And if so, as a sneaky follow-up question which I hope the powers that be on this forum may take an interest in: "why don't online pet bird forums cater for owners of (pet?) chickens?".


Any ideas would be gratefully received.


Nick

Of course chickens can be pets. If socialized properly they make great companions. Most people see them as farm animals so theyre usually clumped in with cows and other livestock rather than pet birds such as canaries and parrots.

I had a beautiful Rhode Island Red hen (name of Antigone) as a pet when I was a teenager. She just marched into our yard one day, hopped up the back steps and permitted herself to be invited inside! She was a *darling* bird! All she wanted was to be near me. She would perch on my bedstead and chuckle at me when I was doing my homework and then lead me outside so we could play chasies round the back yard. She would sit (with difficulty) on my arm, just like a parrot and could fly just enough to get her to the top of our paling fence, where she would sun herself of a morning. I would sit on the bottom step and Antigone would come and fluff herself into my lap, making chortling noises deep in her chest (reminded me of a cat's purring). She loved a shower under the garden hose and would sprint back and forth under the spray with wings extended. Makes me smile to remember.

Eventually, Dad got *really* sick of Antigone's rather large poos on the concrete driveway. As time passed, everything she did made Dad cranky, so in the end she had to go. I gave her to a family friend who kept bantams and Antigone assimilated very well. Oddly, she never laid an egg while she lived with me, but she laid one on her very first morning waking up at Helen's. We realised she'd been missing a flock to live with, so I couldn't be sad for her. She lived a long and happy life at Helen's with Bob, her Australorp boyfriend.

My friend, Patrizia, had a pet chicken she raised virtually from the egg when she was a child. That poor creature spent its days being dressed in doll clothes and promenaded around Beaumont Street, where Patrizia lived. It laid salami-flavoured eggs because the owner of the deli next door would throw the meat-ends over the fence for her to eat.

So, yeah, chooks can be pets and quite fun ones at that.

I assume you don't get pet chicken groups because people rarely have 'one' chicken: they have a flock of them and collect their eggs.

Oh yeah, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys all can be pets. 100%.



There are forums out there that pet chicken keepers use. I would name them, but I think that would be a no-no here. I am a member of at least one of those forums, tho granted I am not as active there as I am here... tho I think I have been a member there for ages longer... years, even. PLENTY of people on that other forum have chickens and ducks as house pets, complete with diapers and everything.



Also, many backyard egg flocks are just groups of pet chickens who live outside. Many of my poultry have names and are "barnyard pets" as they are known. One of my favorite ducks, Nibbler, is the daughter of a duck that I kept as a housepet while living in the city!


So yes. Yes. YES. Poultry are pets!! That also make tasty, tasty food.

So, as noted above, Chickens can and are Pet Birds. Country Chickens have long been common places to find Pet Chickens. Likely, for as many years having Chickens in the City has been unlawful. As a result, what was once common years ago, in Cities, had become uncommon. Of late, an ever increasing number of Cities are allowing Chickens and Chicken's as Pets are becoming more popular in Cities.
Check your local laws regarding Chickens, before you bring one or more home.

Yup - chickens can absolutely be pets. There are forums for poultry birds and definitely some of their members have chickens as pets, turkeys too. I have my “outside pets” complete with names. Some of my chickens will fly to my arm or shoulder on command and some will opt to sit on my lap if I’m chilling outside. I have a turkey hen that thinks she’s a lap-turkey and will come up when she wants head scratches. I’ve never had them in my house, but I enjoy them immensely outside and it’s a bonus that they fill my fridge with eggs .

Yes Chickens can make wonderful pets. In my opinion they are far better pets than some of the animals that are very popular pets.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7mtZjlmPjU"]The Natural History of Chickens Full Documentary - YouTube[/ame]

The above documentary will give you some insight on people who keep chickens as pets.

Other documentaries that are great are
1. Chicken People
2. Chicken Planet
both available on Amazon Prime.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_lkVzzd6rE"]Rooster Meets His Favorite Girl at Her Bus Stop Every Day | The Dodo - YouTube[/ame] watch this video of a pet rooster--It's adorable. Yes, they can be pets.

They are totally different from parrots, but pets nonetheless.

My small city considers them farm animals and doesn't allow them. Otherwise I probably would have gotten a chicken for a pet originally, instead of budgies.

Omg fiddlejen, totally off topic: I *love* your birds' names!!!

bug_n_flock said:

Omg fiddlejen, totally off topic: I *love* your birds' names!!!

Click to expand...

Thank you! (Although, it turns out, I was wrong. Veterinarian informed me yesterday that Jefferson is NOT Miss Bossypants after all. Guess I'll need to edit my profile. )

Thanks to everyone for your ideas, memories and comments. Although pretty much any bird could be a pet I guess catering for some species, say, ostriches or bald eagles would not be worth it for a web forum like this or my app.


But I guess my question should really have been "are chickens common pets?" coz then I'd know whether to cater for them in the app. Anyway, I've added 9 chicken breeds to it, and one for 'Hybrid' for mixed breeds. We'll see how many chicken keepers will take to it.


Thanks again.

chickens are certainly more common than parrots. Theyre domesticated so to a degree easier to get and keep.

This is very interesting thread. PF doesn’t have a specific forum for chickens but we do have a forum for, ‘others’, members are more than welcome to post about their chickens there.

Here’s the link: Others - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community