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Pet Ownership | Perspective
Is It Wrong To Have An Indoor Pet Chicken?
Spoiler: It’s not.
Cats crapping in plastic litter boxes. Dogs walking on leashes. And yes, chickens living in the house. The ways in which we care for our pets are far from natural — and that’s okay!
My pet chicken, Ren, is my best friend and favorite living being in the world, so I prioritize her health and safety. However, I’ve been criticized for raising her indoors.
I do appreciate and welcome suggestions to improve her quality of life. The criticism I receive tends to be based on a personal emotional aversion to the concept of a house hen.
Let’s dissect some of the comments I’ve received.
Stop keeping your chickens indoors. It’s not natural!
Let’s assume that this person defines “natural” as “without human modification or control.” Yes, like our other indoor companion animals, it is indeed unnatural — which is perfectly fine.
This comment implies that I should keep my chicken outdoors. However, the backyard chicken is by definition unnatural because they are domesticated.
For context, it would be natural for a predator to break into a chicken coop and wipe out an entire flock. Same with contagious disease. Just because those events are natural, does not make them good or desirable. To conflate something “natural” with “goodness” or “rightness” is a fallacious appeal to nature.
What truly matters is not where chickens are raised but that they are happy, healthy, and safe. Further, indoor living provides major benefits such as controlled temperatures, 24/7 predator protection, supervision, etc.
Giving a chicken birth control implants is a moral paradox for me. Chickens are biologically bred to lay eggs and that is part of their “normal” function.
Sure, a chicken on birth control will not produce eggs but, it’s not immoral to not produce eggs.
Humans have bred chickens to produce an excessive number of eggs, which is taxing on their bodies and increases risk of reproductive illness, disease, and premature death.
