I’ve never had a house chicken, but I’ve definitely had a few chickens in the house convalescing from injuries and illness. Here’s a couple of stories, illustrating both scenarios, that should make you smile.
Holly Marsilio
A few days ago we noticed a few chickens missing from the coop. Three of the four returned and one was right before I left this evening to visit my brother who lives five hours away. Her gash was pretty extensive and she was clearly dazed and confused. I cleaned her up with all of the good stuff, but I still wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone or in the coop with the others in her state. So I packed up a nice big box with hay, water, feed and a brooder heater.
My brother absolutely freaked and sent a group message to my three kids, his two kids, my parents and me. I can understand his concern but I felt there could have been a better way to communicate and not make all of us feel bad or ‘diseased’. My son said, “Well, it’s not exactly normal to bring a chicken anywhere” (he’s not a fan of our animals and thinks farm animals are disgusting). I said we have a responsibility and it’s not like we asked for the chicken to be in the house or near anyone, just maybe the garage or shed that has electricity so we could give her heat. They both felt embarrassed and maybe even ashamed.
Was I to leave her unattended and have her die? Heck no.
We arrived at 1 am and when we went upstairs to our rooms, I noticed a sign on my niece’s door telling my daughter to not enter her room until she took a shower, changed and laundered all of her clothes because she didn’t want to get sick. That was it for me, so even after being on the road for six hours, I packed back up and left to get a hotel room that didn’t settle us until 3 am. Sigh.
My mom is a cancer patient and I can see a reason to worry but does anyone else think this is a bit over reactive and over the top? Or should I be more concerned than I am? He’s a microbiologist and thinks he knows it all and there is no reasoning with him.
And yes, we have our girl in the hotel with us and she’s doing well.
Brittany Danjean Bosse
This is Girlfriend, an almost 5-year-old Silkie that my husband bought me for my birthday along with 17 other chickens of various breeds my second year of having chickens again. About 3½ years ago, Girlfriend got attacked by a hawk and ended up with a hole eaten in her side a little bigger than a quarter. We could see her organs. We gave her a shot of antibiotics and packed the hole with Neosporin and wrapped it, but I thought for sure she was going to die that night.
But she didn’t. She lived. And continued to live in a crate, in our house for five months during her convalescence. While she was indoors, she’d sit on my brother-in-law’s lap while he watched HGTV in the afternoons. Once she was all healed, we put her back outside and she thrived and lived her best life. A few months later, she would sit at the back door and squawk until we opened the door and walk right on in like she owned the place. She’d walk up to my brother-in-law and he’d pick her up and she’d sit in his lap and watch TV until it was time to go out in the coop. She’s done this for almost three years.
Back in June, my brother-in-law passed away, but Girlfriend keeps coming in and she sits in the chair she shared with him and watches her HGTV. Her favorite show is Love It or List It and if you’ve ever thought that chickens aren’t smart, try putting the TV on another program. She’ll let you know.
If you’re not in the room and something happens, she’ll hop off the chair and come find you to let you know. Y’all, this damn chicken has hunted me down while I was on the toilet to let me know she wasn’t happy. God forbid the cable or internet goes out. That happened a few weeks ago and I ended up hot spotting my Roku to my cell phone so a chicken could watch TV.
I have four dogs and three cats that live inside and none of them mess with her. Girlfriend’s a hoot and I’d keep her in the house full time except she does have a boyfriend and he gets upset when she’s inside. I’ve tried to get him to come in but he’s too nervous around the other animals and freaks out if they get near him.
I just thought I’d share our story about a crazy chicken who likes renovation shows and survived what I thought was surely a fatal hawk attack.
Thanks to Holly Marsilio and Brittany Danjean Bosse for sharing their stories and photos. Featured photo: Dani Franks
If you’ve got a story to share feel free to drop me a line by using the ‘contact’ button on my home page.
Bitchin' Chickens 
Thank you! I have a couple of rescued young Silkie x and dearly love them. I live in Launceston, Tasmania (not UK!). I am a senior lady and pretty fit. Before Covid I was an enthusiastic overseas and in Australia traveller.
Then last year I discovered that backyard poultry keepers or actually non-keepers, threw away their unwanted chickens and began a steep learning curve on good chicken husbandry. I rescued two hens immediately, a Silkie x and a Brahma older hen.
Thank you for your great website and I will join your FB. I have found local FB private groups not good as I am a believer that respecting and loving and enjoying our chickens makes them and me very happy. I really love your story about Girlfriend and laughed. I knew chickens are really intelligent and ‘entitled’ as they are entitled to be.
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