Chickens are very inquisitive creatures and they also love to go to places they shouldn’t in search of something exciting to eat.
If you have free-range chickens then they might be able to come close to your house and chances are you might have experienced some sort of chicken harassment.
This behavior is what makes chickens quirky and fun to keep, but it can sometimes be a problem if they’re getting into places you don’t want them to be, especially in the summer months when doors are left open etc.
Chickens may want to enter your house out of curiosity, seeking food, or desiring companionship, as they often associate humans with positive experiences like treats and affection. Ensuring they have a stimulating environment and adequate food in their own space can help manage such explorative tendencies.
Read on to find out more in-depth information about why chickens want to come into the house and how you can prevent it from happening if it becomes an issue.
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Reasons Why Chickens Want to Come Inside Your Home
I touched on this briefly above so, let’s go more in-depth into the reasons why your chickens might be trying to get inside your house.
Chickens Want to Come Inside Your House to get Warm
Although chickens can self-regulate their body temperature, they don’t really like the cold nor do they like getting wet or spending time in the snow.
In bad weather conditions, they might even choose to stay inside the coop rather than being outside.
If chickens get to know that your home is a warm and cosy place they might try their best to come inside when the weather is bad.
They also might take advantage of a sun trap and shelter of a house wall on a warm day where they can enjoy the warmth and socialise as a flock. You can find out more about sunbathing chickens here.
Looking for Food
As their owner chickens will associate you with food and they’ll come dashing up to you if they think you’ve got something exciting to eat.
This can lead to chickens associating your house with the place food comes from and if they get an opportunity to come inside they’ll peck at any bits on the floor just as they would outside.
Being Inquisitive
Your chickens might want to come inside your home just because they’re really inquisitive and they want to find out what’s inside.
If you keep chickens you’ll know that they always want to go to places they shouldn’t, even if they have a large area to graze – to a chicken, the grass is always greener on the other side!
Chickens Wanting to be Around You
Another reason why your chickens might be trying to get inside your home is just that they like being around you.
It’s not completely unusual for chickens to like being around humans or even become affectionate towards them. But chances are they want to know if you have food.
How to Stop Chickens Going Inside Your House
As a chicken-owner myself, I’ve experienced this issue first-hand and while it’s nice to see chickens pecking around outside your door or coming for a visit, they can sometimes become a problem if they get inside your home.
Some of my more bold hens wait in ambush for us to open a door and they’ll just come running straight in. The image at the top of this page shows what one of these ambushes looks like.
Some chicken owners who keep free-range chickens outside their home have reported chickens sneaking into their homes when they didn’t realise and making a mess inside.
This can be a particular problem in the summer months when doors and windows are left open and they’re at a level where chickens can walk or jump inside.
If this becomes a problem for you, here are some things you can do to prevent your chickens from getting inside your home:
- Fence or net off an area around the access points to your home with gates that you can get through but chickens can’t.
- If you like to keep a door open on a hot day, put a baby gate or board across the door.
- Make sure there’s nothing outside a window that chickens can jump onto to enable them to get inside.
- Try not to give chickens food from the house so they don’t associate it with treats.
- Don’t let them spend any time inside the house so they don’t get used to it.
Is it Bad to Have Chickens Inside Your House?
Its quite surprising just how many chicken keepers allow their chickens to spend time in their home and within chicken groups opinion this topic seems to be split into two halves:
a. those who always let their chickens in the house;
b. those who would never want their chickens inside.
For me it’s the b option, although I love my chickens I don’t want them coming inside my house because I’ve see the mess they make outside.
This article was first published on March 10, 2021 by Pentagon-Pets.
It can be bad to have chickens inside your house because A chicken is a pretty clumsy animal and they also poo a lot in varying consistencies depending on what they’ve been finding to eat.
Chicken poo and in fact chickens themselves can carry bacteria that are harmful to humans and by having them in the home, the risk of becoming sick from these bacteria is much higher.
I found this out first hand when I contracted campylobacter from a chicken who loved sitting with me outdoors, it made me really ill and since then I’ve been a lot more hygiene conscious when it comes to chickens.
As well as bacteria, chickens can quickly cause messes and breakages if they get into an area that isn’t chicken friendly. You only have to see the damage they can do in a flower bed in a very short amount of time to see how this could pan out inside a home.
Chickens Knocking on a Door or Window
Before I finish this article, I just want to talk about this quirky things which chickens can do if they’re hanging out by your doors or full length windows.
This might sound crazy unless you’ve witnessed it happening, but chickens will actually peck at the window or door so it sounds like someone is knocking.
At first, I thought this might have been because they were pecking at their reflection, but I’ve witnessed them doing it when there’s no reflection and I’m pretty sure they do it to get your attention or because they want to come inside.
Chickens are actually quite a bit more intelligent than many people think, so keep an eye out for this sneaky tactic they might use to get you to open the door!
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I hope this post has helped you to find out more about why chickens want to come inside your house, you might also like the following articles too:
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Pentagon Pet is the owner of this article that was first published on March 10, 2021.
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This article and its contents are owned by Pentagon Pets and was first published on March 10, 2021.
