Apparently I've become known as the crazy bird lady of the neighborhood, because early this week a lady showed up on my doorstep to tell me about a random rooster seen running around a yard down the street where the house is under construction. Apparently the construction workers had caught it and tried to tie it up, and the poor thing was frantically trying to get loose.
I went over there and discovered the "rooster" was actually a young Black Australorp hen. Despite her ordeal she seemed fairly friendly, ate mealworms out of my hand, and I brought her home. I've put the word out through the neighborhood text thread and social media, but no one is claiming her, and as far as anyone knows I'm the only one nearby who keeps chickens.
Fortunately, I have an extra 4x6 foot cage, so I was able to set up a nice quarantine area for her outside. But I'm wondering what else I should do for her, as I've never gotten a new chicken with no idea where she came from or what her circumstances were.
She was extremely hungry and thirsty when I brought her home. She's had a patch of feathers pulled out of her back, although I can't tell if it was a rooster or predator. No other injuries that I can see. Her feet aren't scaly, but her nails are very worn down. The first day her poop was small and black like wild bird poop, but after a day or so of eating chicken feed it looked like normal chicken poop. Not runny, no visible worms. She's laid 3 eggs in 3 days. But she's extremely skinny. I don't know if that's a sign of illness, or just that she had been starving. But we live in a populated area of suburban Los Angeles, and we have lots of traffic and coyotes and hawks and stray cats running around, so I can't imagine she was out on her own for very long.
I was going to give her a round of Corid, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should be doing for her as a health precaution. She's a sweet girl and I'd love to introduce her to my little flock once I know she's healthy.
Also, I'm assuming we probably shouldn't eat her eggs - at least for a while?
Any suggestions?
I went over there and discovered the "rooster" was actually a young Black Australorp hen. Despite her ordeal she seemed fairly friendly, ate mealworms out of my hand, and I brought her home. I've put the word out through the neighborhood text thread and social media, but no one is claiming her, and as far as anyone knows I'm the only one nearby who keeps chickens.
Fortunately, I have an extra 4x6 foot cage, so I was able to set up a nice quarantine area for her outside. But I'm wondering what else I should do for her, as I've never gotten a new chicken with no idea where she came from or what her circumstances were.
She was extremely hungry and thirsty when I brought her home. She's had a patch of feathers pulled out of her back, although I can't tell if it was a rooster or predator. No other injuries that I can see. Her feet aren't scaly, but her nails are very worn down. The first day her poop was small and black like wild bird poop, but after a day or so of eating chicken feed it looked like normal chicken poop. Not runny, no visible worms. She's laid 3 eggs in 3 days. But she's extremely skinny. I don't know if that's a sign of illness, or just that she had been starving. But we live in a populated area of suburban Los Angeles, and we have lots of traffic and coyotes and hawks and stray cats running around, so I can't imagine she was out on her own for very long.
I was going to give her a round of Corid, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should be doing for her as a health precaution. She's a sweet girl and I'd love to introduce her to my little flock once I know she's healthy.
Also, I'm assuming we probably shouldn't eat her eggs - at least for a while?
Any suggestions?
