Diapers for Silkie Chickens

Silkies make great pets. They’re gentle and friendly and stay small, so it’s pretty easy to keep them temporarily inside the house to enjoy their social nature. But what happens when they poop? Can Silkie chickens wear diapers? And if so, what is a good Silkie chicken diaper?

Find our complete article on Silkie chickens here!

We’ll take you through what diapers are best for silkies and how you can make them yourself. But let’s address an important question first:

Why keep chickens inside the house?

It’s a logical question as chickens are animals mostly living outside and free-ranging in the backyard. But there are numeral reasons to keep your chickens temporarily inside the house.

Always keep in mind that chickens need their outside space, so this can only be a temporary solution! Don’t keep chickens as pets in a small apartment or studio without an outdoor area. They need at least one hour a day outside.

Bad weather conditions

Chickens are very cold hardy, they can stand a though winter, but when the weather gets dangerous; maybe you’ll have to think about providing them temporary accommodation. Storm, hurricanes, or heatwaves can all be reasons to keep the chickens inside the house or an attached part of the house like the garage or storage area.

You can put them back inside the chicken run as the weather improves.

Predators

As spring arrives, so do predators. There are different ways to protect your flock from the day and nighttime predators, but it takes a handyman and a little effort to secure your chicken run and coop from predators.

When you lack the time or handyman skills, you can make the more straightforward decision to keep the chickens temporarily inside.

Quarantine

Sometimes it’s necessary to quarantine your chickens or chicken as they can bully each other, get sick, or need some extra attention and care due to various reasons.

Sometimes it’s necessary to quarantine your chickens or chicken as they can bully each other, get sick, or need some extra attention and care due to various reasons.

Some chickens can be real bullies, or worse, they can peck other chickens to death. Keep an eye on your chickens and their bully. If things are getting out of hand, separate the bully from the flock. Keep him (or her) apart for some time and introduce the bully back to the flock afterward. When you don’t have the outside space to separate the bully, keep the chicken inside the house or in an enclosed area.

When your chicken is sick, it can be a good idea to take her out of the chicken run for a while to recuperate. As soon as she feels better, introduce her back to the flock and keep a close eye on if she gets accepted by the other chickens.

Pet chicken

Sometimes you don’t need a serious reason to keep a chicken inside the house and want to keep it as a pet. Tiny chicken breeds such as Silkies or bantams are suited to keep inside the house as pets.

Remember that chickens, even silkies, are outside animals, so they need outdoor space. You can keep them temporarily inside for cuddling and petting or learn them to do tricks. But in the end, they need outside space to run around and scratch their feet in the dirt or take a dust bath.

Things to think about before keeping chickens inside

Before you take the chickens inside, keep in mind there are some things to think about in advance.

• Are you a homeowner? Not all rental houses allow pet chickens inside.
• Do you have roommates or are you co-housing? Do your fellow residents agree with keeping chickens inside?
• Can you provide the chickens with a separate room for themselves? They’ll need roosting bars, food, dust baths,…
• Do they have access to outside space for at least one hour every day?
• Do you have the time to clean up the inside space regularly?
• Can you commit to the potty training or learn them to wear diapers?

Keeping silkies as pets

Small chicken breeds such as silkies make great pets. They’re cuddly and friendly, and they have pleasant personalities. Silkies are also quiet chickens so they won’t be bothering you or your neighbors.

A significant issue with Silkies and an excellent reason to keep them inside the house is that they’re an easy target for predators. Because of their fluffy feathers, they have trouble seeing which means they can’t see predators approaching. Another disadvantage is they can’t fly, so it’s hardly impossible for them to escape from predators when under attack. Therefore it’s essential to keep Silkies inside a protected chicken run to keep them as safe as possible.

Why do silkie chickens have to wear diapers?

When running free-range or inside a chicken run, they don’t. But when keeping your silkie chickens inside, you’ll need eighter potty train them and provide a litter box (like you do for cats), or you put them in a chicken diaper.

Chickens poop a lot, mainly when they roost at night. So installing a dropping board under the roosting area is not a bad idea. That way, you only let them wear a diaper during the day when they run around inside the house. To prevent irritation, you have to take the chicken diaper off at least once or twice a day for an hour.

Where to buy Chicken Diapers?

You can purchase chicken diapers almost anywhere online. You’ll find them on Amazon or local online shops.

Depending on how big your flock is and how many chickens you want to keep inside the house, purchased chicken diapers can be expensive in the long run. As we said before, chickens poop a lot. So you’ll need a lot of diapers to keep your house clean, or you can put them in reusable diapers. If you can commit to cleaning reusable diapers, this can be a good solution.

Where to buy Silkie Chicken Diapers?

Silkies are much smaller than other chickens, so it can be tricky to look online for diapers. They’ll fit in a Bantam-sized diaper, but as said before, purchasing Silkie chicken diapers to keep your flock as pets can get expensive in the long run.

For small chicken breeds, such as Silkies, you can easily make the diapers yourself by only using an old sock and a pair of scissors!

DIY Silkie Chicken Diapers

What do you need to make your Silkie chicken diapers? Just a pair of old socks and a pair of scissors. It’s an effortless and popular way to make a chicken diaper for small breeds as there’s no sewing involved.

Step 1: Find yourself an old sock and a pair of scissors. For Silkies, children’s socks, age 8-10 will do, or small adult socks, size 4 to 5.

Step 2: Make a small cut (not more than 1/3) right under the ribbed part of the sock. Do the same thing at the other side. This is the part that will go around the chicken’s neck.

Step 3: Make a cut that goes down from the first cut to the part that holds the toes.

Step 4: Do the same thing on the other side. The part where the toes go will be the actual diaper, the poop holder.

Step 5: Make a small cut in the middle of the poop holder. This is where the tail goes.

Step 6: All done! Now you can try it on!