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When you regard chickens as part of your family, it’s easy to forget about setting some rules.
Chickens are simple creatures. While they do show and need affection, or even keep friendships, their brains work mainly on survival mode. Same as with children or old people, their instinct is to be the first. The first when it comes to food, first when it comes to shelter. The first in every situation. This means that they absolutely will take advantage of your kindness, when it comes to it.
As first-time chicken keepers, and as Coco was this dying chicken that needed rescue, we were very much taken advantage of. Coco recovered very quickly actually, but still he was milking us for affection and attention. He was always next to us, preferably on the same level as: on the couch, on the bed, on our shoulders and even on our heads. And we totally fell for him. My future mil even bought us “merch”. 😀
After we officially became chicken people and it became our whole personality, Coco started to actually get big. A bigger Coco meant bigger droppings. And as he was living in the house 24/7 this became quite a problem. Chickens also shed a lot of skin and small feathers. Everywhere . We soon realized that putting him in chicken diapers would not solve all our problems and having him in the house was not the best option.
The most conflicting and heart-wrenching time was to learn to be without him. We regarded him as part of our family and it’s unnatural to have a family member live in your back yard. We felt so guilty that we raised him in the house with us and now his world was about to be turned upside-down. All because of us. He had to learn to be without us as well and find happiness alone and/or with the other chickens.
The first night he was meant to sleep in the coop and was not allowed in the house, he was very confused. We found him on the back porch on the table, where we felt safe. He couldn’t understand where this sudden change came from and was actually sad. It just broke my heart. But with time, he came closer and closer to his new lady friends and began wanting to spend time with them.
It was the most beautiful thing when we first heard him calling the chickens to food. Out of all the chickens, roosters will have a favorite and Coco’s is Fulga. We call her his bride, as she is fully white. Today they are inseparable. It’s great to see the result of deciding to not let him in the house anymore. He lives a natural and fulfilling life together with his flock. BUT…if you still decide to keep one or two chickens inside, we can understand you :D. Here’s a video with tips for keeping chickens as inside pets.
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