A Cat-Chicken??

[TsaLaGi Acres]

Some of you all might remember Houdi (pronounced Hoo' Dee) from when we were trying to figure out what breed she is. I think we had decided she was a Houdan but since have discovered that she has GOT to be a Cat-Chicken. I know what everyone is thinking ...there is no such thing. Well, let me take you on her little life adventure so far (she's now 7 days old today) and used up more than 9 lives....

Her first day home was a dandy as she was placed in a tub with the smaller (frizzle & Polish) chicks that made their journey here. The tubs set in our bedroom as it's the safest place (we also have 2 very curious cats). We sat in awe of all the cute chicks watching as they settled into their new lil' homes and made sure that they all were eating and drinking good. There were 2 chicks that we were just lost as to what breed they were. We never did find out what breed the one was but now call it 'Funny Face' and the other was lil' Houdi the Houdan. She settled pretty well with the others but was just a bit smaller. We were afraid the others were going to pick on her and well.... It all started on the first day when we heard someone hollering and of course came running to find lil Houdi soaked and laying limp by the water bowl. Of course picking her up and wrapping her in a sweet lil' towel (that she graciously poo'd in) to dry her and warm her back up. She sat with me most all day and everywhere I went she was with me. She was finally dry and so I placed her back in with her crew and she took off through the basket like a wild child running around and grabbing toes and off to the next. I couldn't help but laugh as it seemed like she was mad and going to nab the culprit who tossed her in the water. And of course I picked her back up and we 'had a lil' talk about being nice'.
Monday evening, Ellen found her screaming, on her back with legs flailing in the air again in the water dish!! Now ya have to understand, this dish is a jar lid that is not even a 1/2 inch thick (we have to fill several times a day) but figured best because of Houdi's sleeping disorder....if you'd call it that..lol That night I fell asleep with her on my chest wrapped in 'her' towel and woke up the next morning to find her snuggled up under my chin. She's such a sweetie and soooooo rotten. lol
Now this went on for several days and each and every day same thing happened, she was tossed in the water. SOOOO.... We started watching her a bit closer and noticed she would go get a good gullet full of feed, go to the water and drink a bit but then she would stand there and fall asleep and of course FALL IN!! Same thing as usual, we'd wrap her up and pray she was going to make it through yet another 'drowning'. She would get wrapped up and held and loved on...mm hmmm yeah, she's getting spoiled lol And, of course she would (when put back with the lil' ones) run like crazy pulling toes. It was not really fair to the others as they were not the ones pushing her in the water so, as much as I hated to she was moved to another bin. This bin tho' had (same aged) full sized breeds assorted with Leghorns, Sex-Links, Cornish and a few others. She did well, she didnt grab but a few toes and got boxed by a bigger chick... She seems to think she is a BIG full grown bird and is just too big for her britches. lol Now you have to understand that this was not always just a once a day thing..sometimes happening she would play 'Kamikaze Chick' several times a day. We finally decided that she's just an accident prone lil' brat who loves to be held.
Well, yesterday she learned a new trick!! She again was screaming and we of course come running, expecting to find her yet again soaked to the bone and limp but she was dry and away from the water this time..........she had gotten herself STUCK between the side of the tub and the feed bowl ...she wasn't really stuck but she couldn't get back up on the feed tray ...soooo again she had to be rescued........ROFL anyone else have a accident prone chicken??
I'll try and keep everyone updated on lil' Houdi (still not sure if it's pullet or roo) but I thought I'd share and see if anyone else has the same 'fun' with any of theirs. We are really wondering if this goofy thing is going to make it to be an adult chicken and pray she will. I'm afraid tho that she is one who could drown in a mirage in the middle of a desert.

 

[TwoChicks]

Lol. Sounds like she's training you just fine.

 

[suburbanchx]

Haha! That's funny!!!

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Her little face markings give her such a devious little trouble maker look.

 

[TsaLaGi Acres]

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We had thought about changing her name to Trouble Maker but Houdi fits her so well. lol

Today we put some shredded paper down and Houdi was GONE!! Not in her water dish..not in food tray not under anything ......I was just lost as to where she was..then picked up an empty papertowel roll (their perch) and lil' Houdi was tucked neatly away inside!! The lil' hooch didn't make a sound until I made her get out then she tweeted what I'm sure was lil' cuss words at me....lol

 

[jettgirl24]

I went to check on my little ones last weekend to find one of my Rock babies on her back in the corner, legs stretched in the air, eyes closed. I thought sure she was dead and I ripped the top off of the brooder and picked her up. She immediately jumped out of my hand and ran off peeping like nothing even happened.

I have no idea why she was on her back, there has been absolutely nothing wrong with her since. A little before that I saw her grabbing at the tips of her wings to fix some mussed up feathers and she'd fall over . All I can figure is that she flipped herself over and either got stuck or fell asleep? I'm quickly learning that chickies are troublesome little things, thank god they're so cute and hilarious

 

[TsaLaGi Acres]

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Ya' know, some ppl go skydiving, some go bungee jumping ...all we need is to have some fluffy butts and our heart stopping thrills never end. We have a lil' Cuckoo Marans named Noodles, who would grab her wing feathers and pull the down, start flopping around (not letting go) and fall over screaming cause something was pulling on her and it hurt...ROFL

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
Ya' know, some ppl go skydiving, some go bungee jumping ...all we need is to have some fluffy butts and our heart stopping thrills never end. We have a lil' Cuckoo Marans named Noodles, who would grab her wing feathers and pull the down, start flopping around (not letting go) and fall over screaming cause something was pulling on her and it hurt...ROFL

That's too funny! I could just see her doing it too! I kept my brooders in the bathroom when my first batches of chicks arrived, and once they were slightly bigger, they would of course try to escape the brooder every chance they got. Well, they soon discovered the mirror and I had one sexlink pullet that would fight to escape the brooder just so she could attack her reflection in the mirror. We really thought she was a roo cause she was yellow, and was chest bumping the mirror, but she is all lady now. I snapped some pictures of her doing it as a baby, but those pics are on my other computer.

But it was so amusing to watch her! This same sexlink is now starting to molt, but isn't being crabby about it. Instead, she comes to the door and demands in so she can come beg food off her grandma in the kitchen. She knows my mother will spoil her with treats, so she comes to beg them off her. Today she got left over spaghetti, it was cute. She has us wrapped around her little toe, and I bet most of us BYC'ers can say the same thing about their birds too!

 

[TriciaHowe]

She sounds like quite the character! We had one similar to that and bought a quail waterer for him which solved our wet chick problems

We now only use the quail water bases for the under 2 wk old chicks. Keeps them from stepping in the water too and getting the water and bedding all messy...

She is tooo cute