Wild chickens on my property! *UPDATE!!!*

[ChickenfootDuckbutt]

I haven't been on here in a while, so i figure I'd update you all on the brood of wild chicks and the momma hen that showed up on my property a little over 2 months ago..

there are just 6 of the original 20 chicks left, I have what look like 2 roosters and 4 hens out of those, the mother, unfortunately met her fate one night, pressumably while protecting her chicks from some predator some weeks ago, the 6 remaining chicks are still very much wild, they roost on my duck shed roof, and eat with the ducks in the morning, then go off and do their own thing.

as soon as I can I will snap a few pictures, i am currently laid up in house due to a broken leg.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I bet they are entertaining to watch. I hope your leg heals well.

 

[centrarchid]

ChickenFootDuckButt,

I read your other thread. Very interesting. It is very probable hen brooded clutch of eggs within a couple hundred yards of your house. Hens tend to stay close to nest site when chicks hatch. Black color with white spots on head suggest father of those chicks had genes for sex-linked barring and was homozygous for extended black. Other chick not being black indicates either another roost also present or another hen parasitized your hens nest. Timing of hen going missing could also indicate she has committed to another nest. Are you certain no roosters can be heard in distance? I have had hens set clutches and brood chicks more than 200 yards from balance of flock, especially if feed is not applied.

 

[ChickenfootDuckbutt]

centrarchid, I would be absolutely blown away if the hen was sitting another clutch of eggs, and not dead, I have grown quite fond of her and named her "Kitty", she had ben quite the little survivor, shrugging off atleast two attacks from "something" as twice while raising her brood I noticed that all or most of her tail feathers were missing, she had stopped that constant clucking noise, "broody clucking" i believe it's called?, when the chicks were around 4 weeks old or so.

up until a few weeks ago, the only person around me who had chickens is about 3 miles, a nearby neighbor, about a mile and a 1/2 or so up the road recently got a few hens and a rooster, I hear him all the time very distantly, but up til then, no I had never heard a rooster crow.

I asked around and it leaked from a few people that there WAS a very large wild flock of chickens, 30 or more I believe, but that was 4 or 5 years ago, and people in town thought they were all dead, so I've concluded that a small population still lives SOMEWHERE around here, or perhaps even just a few hens who roam from farm to farm.

as far as the remaining chicks, all of them were black as tinies, and they all look similar now, very dark color with just a few hints of some white spots, but none are barred.

the two little roosters are funny to watch, and one is trying to crow, but no noise comes out, but he puffs up that chest and beats those little wings all the same.


fingers crossed for new peeps soon!