Ever consider chickens????

[Fanfare]

My favorite birds of all time are chickens. They are smarter than most would think and fun at that. Unless you get the agressive rooster and then.. heh heh, you had better watch behind you. There is jsut something about a day old baby chick following you where ever you go that is just delightful. Once they are adult anyway, they don't require as much time as the exotics. Unless you are me, with white show birds that must be washed immediately if they get too dirty lest they stain, and then them living in our shed in cages, due to untrustworthy dogs and wild animals that prey on them. they are a lot of fun to have evn for just a hobby. The exotics, meaning all that're the focus of this site, are still new to me and will most likely be a forever addition to my collection, but nothing beats a chicken.

[The Outlaw]

Fanfare:

Welcome to the group. My first birds were Banty roosters. However, I should throw out this word of caution: avian diseases easily transfer from chicken to parrot and most parrot owners worst fear is having a chicken farm nearby and have flu or Newcastles break out. Many a parrot was needlessly gassed because of federal regulations about disease control.

It is for that very reason that I no longer to my local Farmer's co-op to get seed for my parrots. I can't take the chance of cross contamination.

THE OUTLAW

[Lynjupiter]

We had a banty rooster named Godzilla as a pet. The boys raised it from a chick. The poor bird thought he was part parrot part dog. He would step up on your finger when asked ( ever try holding a six pound rooster on your finger?) He would run around right at the boys heels , when they collapsed to the ground he would jump on top of them. He would growl at dogs on the other side of the fence.
Unfortantley a dog took Godzilla's challenge and found his way through our fence killing Godzilla. The dog took him right out of the boy's arms.
He is one bird that will live on in our hearts forever. He was some bird and we never looked at chickens the same way again. They to can be smart loveable companion birds.
Lynda

[greyburd]

Friends of ours that have an Alpaca farm, had a chicken. Her name was "Chicken" and she was the best. She passed away over the summer. She hung out with alpacas, eating their grain and drinking their water. She was kind of like a "guard chicken". If the dogs would get into the pastures, she would protect the alpacas from them. She would stand in front of the dogs and charge if they went toward the 'pacas. She was really neat, we miss her.

~d

[Lynjupiter]

BTW what Outlaw said is very true about chickens and parrots. In fact I read somewhere that they think PDD was first passed to parrots that were held with chickens when being smuggled. They think the chickens carried PDD but was not affected by it and passed it onto the parrots. There are a list of diseases that chickens can pass on to parrots.
Lynda

[Fanfare]

Thanks for the warning about the diseases. I have show chickens so they are tested for diseases and very healthy and no where near my parakeet. But that is very good to know since I will be getting a batch of little ones in the spring and was planning to raise them in my room.I might even have to find another method of washing them for shows. I will have to research more about them and prevention methods. Do you know if the same applies to waterfowl? I appreciate the warning very much!

As to the general chicken topic, my two favorite breeds are Cohins and Polish. My family doesn't like polish because they usually turn very agressive but their "hair" is just irresistable. Right now I have eight cochins. Three white hens, two black hens and three white roosters, one of which is just so huggable. At one time, we had one Banty rooster, and then someone gave us a hen. Soon enough we had eight thousand chickens running around, crowing and driving us nuts! That rooster, though, would ambush me. He would hide in corners and wait until I went by, then come at me from behind. My buff polish rooster would usually protect me from that little wretch, whenever he was around. That is another reason why I love polish so much.

[The Outlaw]

Sure does. In fact, Canadian geese are now carrying PDD north. Also, NEVER allow your parrot access to outdoor birdbaths.

THE OUTLAW

[Glendappp]

I have both indoor and outdoor birds. Although I know the populations are healthy, I do NOT handle one without sanitizing my hands before any contact with the other. On a poultry forum I visit, someone was bragging about taking a chicken into the local Petco " to educate the city folks"
letting them pet the chicken, etc.The store housed caged birds, but"Welcomed" her and her chicken in the store. My opinion that this practice was wrong and dangerous was the first post of opposition. The others preceding were along the vein of " atta girl, promote the poultry hobby". When Texas had the END ( Exotic Newcastle Disease) outbreak and stopped transport of all birds for a while, the testing regulations on the back
side of the event contained concerns reguarding parrots and poultry
"co-mingled" at flea markets, fairs ,swap meats.And the contagious factor
goes BOTH ways. Glenda