INDOOR CHICKENS
Yesterday’s blog post inspired some great comments and I want to respond to the aversion several of you expressed about dust, smell, and chores in an apartment.
You’re familiar with terrariums. Just adapt it to chickens instead of lizards and turtles. Imagine a molded plastic piece of furniture in two parts. The bottom would be a bin to contain carbon: leaves, wood chips, sawdust, bark peelings. The top would be a glassed-in terrarium with chickens in it. One end would have a nest box. A perch rod would go across the middle of the glassed-in living space. The glass keeps all dust inside—a correctly moistened and functioning deep litter generates very little dust.
You’d open the back of the nest to gather the eggs. The glass would let the chickens enjoy whatever light is in the house and let you see in to enjoy their antics. The glass top would also keep out dust and any odors (there shouldn’t be any odors if the carbonaceous diaper is maintained correctly).
One of the side glass panels would be hinged for easy access, either to pick up a chicken and let it sleep with you or sit on your lap while you’re visiting in the living room. Believe me, every kid in the apartment complex is going to want to come and befriend your chickens. You’d be the favorite babysitting spot.
Chickens don’t pee. They combine their liquids and solids in a nice little drop, so even if they have an accident while outside their terrarium, it’s easy to clean up. The hinged side would be where you could throw in kitchen scraps. If you catch a mouse in the house, they’ll eat that too.
The point is that this little Hendominium (as opposed to condominium) occupies the same amount of space as an L.L. Bean dog pillow, stands about 5 feet high, and offers 24/7/365 entertainment in chicken theatrics. And they’re so much more useful than a dog. They’ll never send a child to the hospital for stitches—they might scratch and peck, but not critically.
The best thing is that they’re a role model for teenagers. Chickens are the first animal to wake up in the morning (cows are second, and pigs are late sleepers). They work happily all day long turning trash into treasure. And as soon as it gets dark, they go to sleep. Could you find a better role model for teenagers?
As to not having chicken kennels for your going away time, you can easily have enough water and feed in there to last a week. The chickens will just get up and do their thing; they don’t have to be exercised. They don’t need a litter box cleaned. They won’t gorge on feed; they only eat what they need and save the rest for tomorrow. They’re the ideal self-maintaining pet.
Somebody in the plastic manufacturing business could surely make such a unit and sell millions. To me, that makes more sense than dehydrating kitchen scraps and shipping them across the country to a place that mixes them for chicken feed. One of the most foundational rules of ecology is that waste doesn’t exist and the refuse of one thing feeds a neighbor.
What’s not to love?