Rescuing abandoned chickens.

[UrbnGardenPeeps]

Thanks for the sug

Do not approach Rose, instead, walk behind her, so that her natural movement is toward the other birds away from you toward the pen. Put a small pile of treats just inside the door, and a larger pile deeper in, and you should be able to get them.

Thanks for the suggestion. We’ve been doing very similarly to that - we’re leaving a jackpot of treats in the makeshift pen and also sitting right outside it and having the girls come to us.

 

[UrbnGardenPeeps]

UPDATE!! I went to check on the girls tonight. I immediately saw signs of a struggle of some kind. They were all there but Petunia had all her neck feathers missing on the back of her neck as well as blood. My fear that our presence would change their habits and make them vulnerable proved true. I’m thinking it was a raccoon. All four of them seemed spooked and crowded really close to me.

I went home and told the hubby we couldn’t wait any longer. Once the raccoon (or whatever) was aware of them, it would likely come back and finish the job. Because we are camping in our shop while building a house, we’ve had no time to build a chicken coop for the new girls. I literally whacked together some wooden crates and hardware cloth in the dark tonight while hubby was trying to finish hooking up our indoor plumbing.

We hopped in the truck with our two dog crates and went to get the chickens. Thankfully, Rose and Marigold have changed their roost location and were easy to grab. Dahlia and Petunia were across the creek in the brush. We walked across the plank bridge, in the dark, with our dog crate, crawled up the bank through the brush and hubby grabbed them. Petunia screamed bloody murder. I’ve never heard a chicken scream like that. She growled too!

But they’re safe on our property! I took the doors off the dog crates and left them in their enclosure. There’s food and water and they’re next to my other girls but separated.

It’s not over yet because we’ve got to get a real and secure coop and run built before winter. I appreciate everyone’s input!

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Hi all, I would love some input on rescuing some abandoned chickens. We live out in the country and currently have only 3 Australorps. We have been planning to get 4-5 chicks come spring. Right now we just have a chicken coop and run that is more than adequate for our 3 hens but certainly not big enough to add more and there is no option for quarantine with our existing space. Our plan has been to build a bigger coop and a lot bigger run in Spring, when we get more chicks.

Yesterday, a neighbor, who lives 6 miles down the road, stopped to say "hi" and mentioned she thinks there are some abandoned chickens living under a bridge down the road. She isn't chicken savvy and I love rescuing animals so I went with her to look. Sure enough, there are 4 hens. It is an old farm road by a small creek and forested area. They're living in the scrub brush and tall grass next to the creek - the forest is up the hill. They're beautiful birds. One is a Buff Orpington, two are Australorps and the 4th is, I think, a Coronation Sussex. Hubby and I took some fresh corn cobs and scratch grains over there last night and got all four of them to come close to us. The Sussex even ate out of his hand. Of course they won't let us grab them and there is way too much open space to just walk over and pick them up.

Our thought was to go over there once a day with food and get them more used to us and then build some sort of pen to start feeding them in and then when they're comfortable in the pen, we can close the gate and either pick them up one by one, or make something portable that we can just pick up and put in the truck. I think they're functionally safe at the moment but I don't know for how long. We have a LOT of coyotes out here and there are hawks and raccoons, skunks, etc. They seem very careful but we would really hate to see them killed. Plus winters in North Idaho are extremely harsh and there's no way they would survive without assistance. We would like to bring them home to live with us. We'll have to build some sort of coop and run to get through the winter and keep them separated from our current ladies until we can integrate them in a bigger coop/run come spring. Free range is not an option at this point due to predators and a lack of perimeter fencing on our property.

Does anyone have any suggestions about a good way to catch skittish chickens? I'm very confident these are not feral chickens. They're very chatty and responsive to us and have obviously been well cared for. My neighbor says she's seen them there for a couple of weeks. There are no houses anywhere nearby so we're certain they haven't just wandered away from home. They neighbor thinks someone dropped them off. That happens a lot out in the country but I've never heard of anyone dropping off chickens.

Any suggestions would be welcome! We would love to save these pretty girls!

Oh. I hate to see that happen to them but I am so glad that you are willing to rescue them. Who knows. They maybe members of a family who were victims of some of the recent fires. They could have passed through your area and thought it was safe for them and felt someone would do just what you are doing. They could have been in Dior straights. Who knows. Our country is in a bad way for sure. I was thinking that if you could visit them long enough to be able to assess who might be lead hen then you might be able to work with her primarily to tame her the most and insure she gets “treated” the most in the next few days so that you can attempt to bait her the most in order to get her in the cage. I am hoping that it’s not the Buff Orpingtons but we will see. I am hoping that the Sussex is the lead since she already ate out of your hubby’s hand and y’all have that much success behind you already. If you can get her in and she will call the Others the Orpingtons is going to want to be near the other flock members so she will be easy and I believe Australorps are pretty much similar to Orpingtons. So if you can get the Sussex in and they will follow her call you will have it made in that scenario. Cross your fingers. Just make the trap - pen look nice and comfy like out some hay or stray in there for a nice disguise and maybe a nice full feeder with some water also. Just not too comfy and too looking like a man made barn of the Ritz-a-la-coop. Then they should want to go in and take a load off for sure.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

UPDATE!! I went to check on the girls tonight. I immediately saw signs of a struggle of some kind. They were all there but Petunia had all her neck feathers missing on the back of her neck as well as blood. My fear that our presence would change their habits and make them vulnerable proved true. I’m thinking it was a raccoon. All four of them seemed spooked and crowded really close to me.

I went home and told the hubby we couldn’t wait any longer. Once the raccoon (or whatever) was aware of them, it would likely come back and finish the job. Because we are camping in our shop while building a house, we’ve had no time to build a chicken coop for the new girls. I literally whacked together some wooden crates and hardware cloth in the dark tonight while hubby was trying to finish hooking up our indoor plumbing.

We hopped in the truck with our two dog crates and went to get the chickens. Thankfully, Rose and Marigold have changed their roost location and were easy to grab. Dahlia and Petunia were across the creek in the brush. We walked across the plank bridge, in the dark, with our dog crate, crawled up the bank through the brush and hubby grabbed them. Petunia screamed bloody murder. I’ve never heard a chicken scream like that. She growled too!

But they’re safe on our property! I took the doors off the dog crates and left them in their enclosure. There’s food and water and they’re next to my other girls but separated.

It’s not over yet because we’ve got to get a real and secure coop and run built before winter. I appreciate everyone’s input!

Oh no! I am so sorry that they had a problem. I am so happy that you rescued them though. They will get over their shock and anger though! Lol! They would most definitely rather be safe from predators and have regular meals to fill their crops!

 

[centrarchid]

Get a fish net with a 8 to 10 foot pole. Put on some proper attire for running on rough ground and capture the birds. This whole thing has taken too long and now leaving birds in a situation that in my experience is slow to have arisen.

It it time to actually help the birds.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm glad to hear that you've got them safe on your property.

I emphasis with the camping thing and not being able to build permanent facilities. We're in a 2-room "cabin" (aka shed), with no heat STILL waiting on the house that was supposed to be in place by the end of August.

 

[UrbnGardenPeeps]

Get a fish net with a 8 to 10 foot pole. Put on some proper attire for running on rough ground and capture the birds. This whole thing has taken too long and now leaving birds in a situation that in my experience is slow to have arisen.

It it time to actually help the birds.

You missed my post above - we already got them.

 

[CHlCKEN]

You missed my post above - we already got them.

I’m glad you were willing to save some birds

 

[centrarchid]

You missed my post above - we already got them.

Next time, get them contained quicker. It all took too long. I know bushwacking side of chicken keeping as used to keep them out in fencerows and abandoned barns. Different breed of course, but there are times when efforts need to work in a timely manner.

 

[Daisycar]

Veru happy you rescued them!
I would like to see them. Can you post some pictures, please? Thank you