Lulu Indoors

Lulu spends most of the winter indoors.  On warm, sunny days she will go outside for awhile but she gets cold too fast since she can't move around very well. 

Here she laying by the fridge on one of the old throw rugs we keep for her to lie on.  I'm not sure if it is the heat or sound from the fridge fan that attracts her but this is one of her favorite spots to rest.

My son built her a roost to stand on.  We keep in in the corner of the kitchen on an old piece of lino.  This is where Lulu sleeps every night.  She will often put herself to bed when she is tired.  She just flies/hops up onto the roost and settles in for the night.

Here she is settled in on her roost.  She seems very comfortable there and stays put all night.  If I have the light on in the living room after she is roosting, she sometimes reaches down off her roost and has a few bites of chicken feed.  She loves being able to have late night snacks.

Here Lulu is saying, "Shut the light, can't you see we're trying to get some shut-eye here!"

Lulu really enjoys her throw rugs.  Here we see her getting it just right before she lays down. 

 "Ah, finally have the rug just the way I like it," says Lulu,  "Someone keeps coming around and messing my rugs up so they are all laying FLAT!"

Lulu isn't allowed on the carpet in the living room (you know - the poo factor) and she usually is good about not going on the carpet.  Here she is laying right at the edge of the living room on an old sheet.  She likes to be able to see what we're doing.

She is allowed on a footstool in the living room that is covered with an old towel.  But she can only go there when we carry her in.  Here she is stretching while watching me paint the walls.  "Work is so tiring,"  yawns Lulu, "I can watch someone do it all day."

Lulu looking out the window at the snow-covered gardens and mountains.  She enjoys the sunshine and its warmth without having to be out in the cold weather.

Now some of you are wondering about having a chicken live indoors.  I'll answer a few questions you may be thinking. 

Since she eats mostly chicken pellets and scratch, her poo does not smell.  Once in awhile, if we give her some people food as a treat, especially if it is meat, then it will smell.  But since she can't move around too much, it is all in one general area so it is easy to pick up. 

Chickens do not smell bad, if fact, I love Lulu's feathery scent.  We do have some loose feathers lying around but it was much worse cleaning up after a dog who was shedding.

Lulu doesn't mind water.  I've washed her feet when they are muddy and had to give her a bath once when she was outside and tried to dustbath in the flower bed and came in muddy. 

Chickens can be very cuddly.  Lulu loves to be picked up and petted and held on our lap.  I sometimes lie on the couch under a quilt and she lays on top of it on a towel.  We usually both fall asleep.

Chickens are nosy.  Lulu always wants to know what we're doing.  If we are in the kitchen and open a bag of food, she usually had to check out what we're doing - just in case there are treats to snack on.  (Lulu really likes peanuts and sunflower seeds - unsalted of course).

I can't speak for people who have chickens that can run around freely, but for me Lulu is a perfect house pet.  She's cute, she's funny and she really isn't much trouble at all.