Hookbills + A House Chicken?

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter

Come on Mia. DON'T KEEP US ALL WAITING! Do we have a chicken, or not?

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- I know it!

I can't stop thinking about this! Especially after meeting her! I'm so upset that my phone died so I didn't get any photos. She's so lovely and I don't think there's a more beloved chicken on the planet.
Her little outfits are simply precious. Handmade with all sorts of little bows and rhinestones and other little details. She had one of her baby outfits in a frame on her wall, alongside photos of Cecelia.
And her little hen house? This isn't a plain unfinished wood hen house as I expected. (Cecelia's mum said, "Well, it has to be pretty because it's indoors." Ah. Of course.) It was made by a dollhouse maker. So the exterior looks like one of those fancy handmade dollhouses, complete with a mini white picket fence on the sides of the ramp leading into the hen house. I have no idea how much handmade dollhouses go for, but I'd easily pay $2K for that thing without batting an eye. (Everything is free to the right owner.)
Cecelia's mum LOVES her.

My hang-ups are 3-fold:

-her hen house will take up a large section of my bird room. It's a lot of space for 1 bird. But it's also on the floor and nobody else is really floor-bound. (Plus, the hen house is beyond gorgeous.) So it's one hang-up I can overlook.

- I'd have to commit to not having any large dogs as long as I have her if I'm going to let her wander outside the bird room. (And after meeting her, I don't think she'd be happy living only in the bird room. She really needs her humans, as they're her only real social outlet.)
I know it sounds selfish, but I'm not sure I *want* to commit to being large dog-free for the next several years. I've had large dogs all my life and I really love my pit bulls. I think this could be the deal-breaker.

-Third hang-up is that my damn bird room still isn't done! And I can't have a chicken trekking through paint trays and inhaling fumes. Yet her hen house isn't exactly portable and we're going to have to dis-assemble it to move it. I'd probably have to put her in a dog crate for a few days while I paint and air it out.

I've been honest with Cecelia's mum about my hang ups and she understands.
I told her to give me a couple weeks to get on the ball and finish painting my bird room and then I'll make a decision.
I told her to keep looking for homes to see if she finds someone better, but she's not too optimistic, as Cecelia is a rather difficult placement. After seeing how bonded Cecelia is to humans, and how aloof she is to other chickens, I can say with certainty that she would be pretty miserable in a traditional farm setting. Yet finding someone who would even consider a house chicken is tough! She needs someone who doesn't mind the diapering, the cleaning, and spends a lot of time at home so she's not alone all the time.

My gut tells me I probably will take her.
So I'm going to get on the ball and finish the bird room and if she's still available, I'll take it as a sign that she's meant to be mine.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter

What? No Pitties? No Rotties? No Dobbies or Shepherds, or Irish Wolf hounds? No South African Boer Boels (my dream dog)?

Sorry hon, but that would mean no chicken, in my books.

If you do get her, can you not locate her house in the Family room, or Living Room?

Well, I hope you make the 'right decision', Mia, a decision, that you will have to live with for many years....

Good luck

~Elana~

[debbie276]

Don't want to sound mean but after 16 months do you think it's really an allergy or the cost for the diapers and supplies not to mention tons of time it requires to change her every 1 1/2 hours and give her attention. Probably was great fun and a conversation starter at first but I'll bet it was just too much for too long. Not to say she doesn't love her to pieces, how could you not. But to think, 9 or so more years of this constant care and cost?
I would worry less about how she socializes with others of her kind and more about how much she will depend on and expect you to cater to her every desire.
Guess this is just the farmer in me coming out, I've had many chickens but none like this. LOL

Can't wait to hear what you deside

[delray]

I would maybe decline the offer of I was you. Seems like it's not worth it. If you decide to get her and don't like having her, it would be hard for you to give her away, and then you Are stuck!!!! Interesting offer, but not one you should take in my opinion. ;)

[debbie276]

MiaCarter

Did you decide what your gonna do yet??
Inquiring minds need to know

[MiaCarter]

debbie276 and delray -- I missed your posts from the 29th, so replying to those one first!

debbie276 --- I wondered about this too. Whether it was an allergy situation or her getting tired of a novelty chicken.

After meeting her, I can say with absolute certainty that it is due to an allergy. (I saw the little one myself and she definitely seems to be reacting to the bird. She got visibly sniffly and sneezy when she was close and that was with medications, I believe.)

This woman loves this chicken more than is probably healthy and she started crying at a few points as we discussed rehoming her. (And at one point as we talked about her as a chick, she started really crying. Like ugly crying. Not a couple small tears. It actually made me feel really uncomfortable. This poor woman's torn between her child's health and her chicken princess and there I was talking about taking her chicken princess. Yeah. Not a comfortable moment.)

So in all, it didn't strike me as someone who'd gotten tired of a novelty chicken. She was genuinely very distressed about the idea of rehoming Cecilia (to the point where I wonder if she'll actually follow through with it.)

And she also has outdoor chickens, so if Cecilia was just too much work, I imagine she'd just put her outdoors with the others and tell Cecelia to suck it up and be a real chicken instead of a feathered princess.

I too am concerned about being Cecilia's everything. It's something I've given a lot of thought to and it worries me. I'm not afraid of the care commitment or the attention commitment. I have the time, the love and the patience.
But I've also have 6 dogs and 15 cats, so there are 21 creatures whom I'll need to train to be nice to her if she's going to safely leave the bird room. (And it sounds like she would require a fair amount of time outside the bird room to be happy. I only spend 2-3 hours a day with the birds. From what I've heard and seen, I suspect she would demand more than this. Humans are literally her only source of social stimuli.)

I can't just stick her on a tall, free-standing perch or on my head or shoulder as I would with a parrot. She's going to be on the floor and in the thick of it. That worries me. It's hard to establish 21 positive relationships.

That said, I think I'm willing to give this a try.
I'm going to get my bird room finished up (finally! It's been in primer for nearly a year now!!)
If Cecilia is still available once I'm done, then I think we're going to give it a go.

@delray -- Cecilia's mom made it very clear that she would be open to a trial run.
In other words, if I took her and it just didn't work, she would gladly take her back. (Though we'll need to figure out something for a temporary hen house during the trial run because I'm NOT moving that ginormous thing twice!)

[debbie276]

Can't wait to hear how it goes and of course pictures!

[MiaCarter]

debbie276 -- Yes, indeed!
I'm SO bummed I didn't get photos when I visited her. My phone had died and I didn't have a car cord. Such a disappointment as she was so darn cute in her little outfit! (Plus, I always try to keep a photo from the first meeting with an animal. I put it in my pet scrapbook.)
But the big thing that I"m bummed I couldn't show you is her hen house. That thing was just incredible! It was made by a dollhouse maker so it looks like a little house with siding and windows with shutters and a roof with a little chimney. It had all these little details. I can't even hazard a guess as to how much time and money went into making it. A lot. Words just don't do it justice! I've got to show you! It's incredible.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter

Well good luck Mia, in whatever you decide to do .

~Elana~

[Colt]

For the love of all that's good please tell me you got Cecilia the Silkie...

I've raised a ton of chickens. Had thousands at one time... Silkies are not your average bird...

You want to bawl your eyes out, watch the PBS special The Natural History of the Chicken. It features two silkies. One who is pampered like Ms. Cecila excpet she gets to swim, gets daily baths, and goes to the store with her mom...and another one outdoors who heroically saved her young chicks from a hawk by protecting them with her body. (She lived, but the suspense had me ugly crying...)

I don't think she'd really be an issue. And if you have a lit of questions MiaCarter, get on to www.backyardchickens.com where there are a lot of people who keep them both in the house and outdoors.

My concern with her living outdoors at your house would be the raccoons you have. You'd need to be very sure she was safe at night.

[Colt]

So did Miss Cecilia come to live with you MiaCarter?

[Moki]

Please, what happened with the silky chicken? Don't keep us in suspense. PLEASE!

[Kelly]

Our chickens (all outside) have killed and eaten a baby blue bird that fell out of the nest and some will even kill other hens chicks..I would be very careful with adding her.

I love chickens but I would never have a house chicken