To Flock or Not To Flock... Help Me Decide!!

jesstis

Hatching
Nov 23, 2015
2
0
7
Hi Everyone!

I have a chicken dilemma and I'm wondering if anyone could offer their opinions. Last week I managed to save a chicken (looks like a Bantam breed) from the grasp of a cat in my neighbourhood and after failing to find her owner have gone ahead and bought a coop for her so she can make a new home in my backyard.

As fast as the second day at my home she has become very tame and taken to being my shadow around the house and perching up on my shoulder at any other time. She seems quite content ie. chirping happily, lots of preening, active, drinking/eating whilst in our company. She hasn't laid any eggs for a week now so I'm presuming that she is too old, although I'm certainly no chicken eggspert
wink.png


I'm now at the point where I am wondering what would be best for her in relation to finding her a new chicken friend. Although it appears as though she has adopted me and my family as her new flock I was wondering how important it is for her to have an actual chicken instead of me as a BFF. Can Bantam chickens live quite happily with just their human family or should we be looking to adopt another chook? Also, if we adopt I'm a bit concerned that she might get picked on by a standard size hen... is it okay to mix different size chickens together or should I be looking specifically for another Bantam?

Any tips or opinions would be hugely appreciated as we are complete chicken novices!
 
You can mix birds but unless you want many I would just stick to the bantam. If you do add another bird you will need to expect a bit of fighting at first, it is called hen pecking and it is how the birds determine their hierarchy. Once the fighting is done, they should get at long well.
It is very possible the stress of the cat is why she is not laying. It takes sometime for a bird to begin laying again after a stress like that and then being relocated.
 
Thanks so much for your reply! I'd say she was under a fair bit of stress, I'm actually surprised she survived it. Never seen such a determined cat in my whole life... brutal!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom