Conversation about a woman's "house chickens"

Pixabay free image
Eugene, Oregon
March 2, 2017 11:53am CST
One of the interesting things about my part-time job selling bird seed, suet and feeders is the conversations with customers. Yesterday, was a good one. A woman remarked that her "house chicken," named Frieda no longer like the seed she had bought to feed them. I said, "House chicken?". She went on to tell me about Frieda, a disabled hen for whom they constructed a plexiglass enclosure that allows her to walk around it by leaning on the plexiglass wall. Then there is Lily, the chicken that was injured by a hungry bobcat, but lived to cluck the tale. (I may write about that separately). She lives in the house too, a rescue chicken, I suppose. Ilsa is one sick chicken. She has an "impacted craw" and must be monitored, meaning that they must keep track of what she takes in and, ummm, puts out. I did not ask how that is done, although she did mention using a lot of paper towels. Besides these house chickens, there are still eleven more in the yard, waiting their turn to live inside. I wish I had asked what area she lives in; it must be be a rural part of the county, outside of town. Have you raised chickens? Ever nurse any back to health? Did you take them into your house? She was telling me too how each chicken seems to have her own personality, likes and dislikes and habits too. I had no idea.
20 people like this
21 responses
@Lucky15 (37391)
• Philippines
3 Mar 17
we never had chicken, and i know some friends way back then to have their chickens get inside their house :)
2 people like this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
Really? I would think that chickens would make a mess in a house, but they lay eggs and taste great (adobo).
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
6 Mar 17
@Lucky15 I tried it at the local Asian Festival. There is a an association of Filipino people here who have food booths there every year. My wife does Tai Chi exhibition with her Japanese born teacher and class.
1 person likes this
@Lucky15 (37391)
• Philippines
3 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic oh james. You know adobo?
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153530)
• India
3 Mar 17
She must be a true animal lover. We have had chickens for eggs some years ago. Later on we had some as pets - 5 named after the Greek alphabets. One lived for 12 years - gamma.
2 people like this
@allknowing (153530)
• India
3 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic He was a great companion
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
Amazing that one lived that long. Great names too!
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
@allknowing Wow, even a memorial photo!
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
4 Mar 17
Having yard hens is one thing. Having chickens in the house would get complicated. Can't imagine what the dogs and cats would think about that. And, they do have their own personality, just like horses, cats, mules, dogs.
2 people like this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
4 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic Some people claim the chickens will respond to their name! Yes, a few people in our area have a chicken or two with names. The worst one we heard is 'Chicken Dinner' b/c we know where that one is headed.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
4 Mar 17
@PatZAnthony Oops, I hope that chicken has no dictionary.
• Eugene, Oregon
4 Mar 17
Interesting. I had not heard that before about chickens.
1 person likes this
2 Mar 17
i grew up on a farm with chickens. we recently babysat our neighbor's chickens. the kids loved it.
2 people like this
3 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic they loved it & now they want chickens
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
I'll bet they had a lot of fun with those chickens.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382107)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Mar 17
I think any animal has a personality which probably only becomes apparent if it is in company with humans enough for them to recognise the traits. We're had the odd pet chicken and a pet turkey. They all had definite personalities.
2 people like this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
Hmmm, what was "odd" about them? I suppose that would be true though, every being has idiosyncrasies.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
6 Mar 17
@JudyEv Great idea!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382107)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic Haha. I might post about my 'odd' chooks. There is probably enough material for a post.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99353)
• Canada
2 Mar 17
When we were young we never raised chicken but we had ducks that we nursed back to health. They came in the house with us and we use to take them for walks and everything.
2 people like this
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Mar 17
No kidding! That would be an interesting thing to read about.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
6 Mar 17
@Happy2BeMe You did and it was great and widely read as well.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99353)
• Canada
3 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic maybe I will make a discussion about it
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
2 Mar 17
W]hat an interesting story. we raised chickens on the farm while i was growing up we never doctored them though
2 people like this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
This lady was really taking care of her chickens.
@sallypup (69176)
• Centralia, Washington
2 Mar 17
I need to find the photo of the hen that walked into our living room for you. I have tried to help hens when they got sick but did not do well. Frankly, a five dollar bird is not worth a fifty or sixty dollar Vet visit. Our hens do appear to be upset when my husband is near them and are quieter when I am there- they seem to know who feeds them the most.
2 people like this
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Mar 17
Maybe you did not make them feel really "at home" when they were ill.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40846)
• Laguna Woods, California
4 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic - I have never raised chickens, but I have a friend who lives right in the middle of the very urban city of Irvine, CA and she has three backyard chickens. One got out of the yard one time and ran down the street and into a restaurant with a bar. My friend laughed that it sounded like a joke, "A chicken walked into a bar, chased by a woman." However, she got her chicken back and it is now safely locked in the yard, again! LOL
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
5 Mar 17
That is a very funny story for sure.
1 person likes this
• Otis Orchards, Washington
2 Mar 17
When I was growing up on the dairy farm we had chickens for a short while. The chickens were not allow to run wild. They had to be pinned up away from the cows and where we milked the cows at all times. We never nursed any back to health or take any into the house. (We weren't even allowed to bring a cat, or kitten, into the house so you can imagine the hell there would have been to pay if we brought a chicken into the house. However, dogs in the house was ok.)
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
I suppose the sanitary conditions were really strict on a dairy farm. Glad the dogs could get in.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Mar 17
@RichardMeister How many cows did you have back there?
1 person likes this
• Otis Orchards, Washington
3 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic Yes, an inspector could show up at anytime. I can remember my foster mother pacing the floor when she saw the inspector drive in. She would pace back and forth until he left. The minute he was gone she would race down to the milk house to see what he put on his report. I don't know why she got so worked up. They always gave the farm a good report and had the top grade (which, if I remember right, was AAA). Top grade meant top money for the milk. Of course, butterfat content (cream) also determined the price. The higher the butterfat the more money.
2 people like this
@paigea (36143)
• Canada
3 Mar 17
No I haven't ever met a chicken that lived in the house.
2 people like this
@FayeHazel (40230)
• United States
2 Mar 17
Oh dear, if I think about chicken's having personalities too much I might start to not want to eat chicken. :/ Anyway! I would like to know Lily's bobcat story. :-)
2 people like this
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Mar 17
It would have made this too long so I will write it separately.
@reskyyandi (3608)
• Indonesia
5 Mar 17
She must be an animal lover I never have a chicken before
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
6 Mar 17
She certainly is.
@Kandae11 (57231)
2 Mar 17
I don't suppose she intends to ever eat any of them.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Mar 17
It did not sound as if she could bear the thought.
1 person likes this
@nonersays (3344)
• United States
3 Mar 17
Growing up we had chickens. Dad kept them for eggs, and would occasionally butcher one for a meal too. I was little so I cant say as I noticed a lot of personality. The only ones we kept in the house were hatchlings sometimes. Not to say they never got IN the house. We lived in the country. Without AC we often left the doors open in the summer to let the air flow through. Sometimes a chicken would end up in the livingroom. She'd eventually go back out though. No long term boarders.
• Austin, Texas
3 Mar 17
You won't believe this but the very first year I was married my husband brought home six chicks. He said the man gave them to him for free. I don't know who “the man” wash but I told that island boy he had to get rid of 'em. I'm a city gal and I don't know the first thing about raising chickens! So he found some Cuban guy who took them off our hands. True story.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502466)
• Italy
3 Mar 17
I never grew chickens, but my grandparents did. It is very true that each chicken and hen has a distinctive personality. Some are friendly, some are rude, only one hen was allowed to enter the house.
1 person likes this
@amadeo (111937)
• United States
2 Mar 17
Interesting story there.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43595)
• Denver, Colorado
3 Mar 17
I don't even remember ever even being around a chicken.
1 person likes this
@tzwrites (4835)
• Romania
3 Mar 17
It's very nice that they care for the animals in that way. I have chickens too but luckily they don't need specialized care.
1 person likes this