A wild chicken laid 12 eggs in my garden overnight.

[Thinking of raising chick]

Thanks for the update! How many chicks, and can we get pics?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Awwww!

 

[Thinking of raising chick]

Awwww!

Any suggestions on what I should do to have them choose to stick around?
They are the cutest things.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Any suggestions on what I should do to have them choose to stick around?
They are the cutest things.

Wow, I know nothing about feral chickens, and less about conditions on Barbados so I would just be guessing. Do any folks actually keep chickens on the island or are all the chickens wild? If so, what do they do? Here in the States, we mostly keep our chickens in pens called coops and provide fenced yards for them called runs, to keep them safe from both the elements and predators. We provide food, water, shelter and other care as needed. I guess if you want this hen and her chicks to stay in your area, at the very least you should provide her with food and water... but you might be inviting much more than just this one chicken to camp out there, so think it through carefully before you decide to do this. Rats, mice and other undesirable critters may decide they like the goodies too. Good luck!

 

[iwltfum]

So cool. I think bigbluehen covered the basics pretty good. I just had to stop in and awe at these amazing self sustaining birds. To think about the amount of work some people go through for this pleasure, it's so amazing that it just happened naturally, right next to your front door.
Edit to add that the title of this thread is one of my favorite so far

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So cool. I think bigbluehen covered the basics pretty good. I just had to stop in and awe at these amazing self sustaining birds. To think about the amount of work some people go through for this pleasure, it's so amazing that it just happened naturally, right next to your front door.
Edit to add that the title of this thread is one of my favorite so far

Thanks. It is amazing to think that chickens can be so self-sustaining, isn't it! Apparently they don't have the predators we have to contend with and the climate is .... not like here, lol!

 

[Thinking of raising chick]

Wow, I know nothing about feral chickens, and less about conditions on Barbados so I would just be guessing. Do any folks actually keep chickens on the island or are all the chickens wild? If so, what do they do? Here in the States, we mostly keep our chickens in pens called coops and provide fenced yards for them called runs, to keep them safe from both the elements and predators. We provide food, water, shelter and other care as needed. I guess if you want this hen and her chicks to stay in your area, at the very least you should provide her with food and water... but you might be inviting much more than just this one chicken to camp out there, so think it through carefully before you decide to do this. Rats, mice and other undesirable critters may decide they like the goodies too. Good luck!

Thank you. I have fed her in the coop today and removed the left overs before I closed her door for the night. General practice here is to also coop, or clip a wing so they cannot fly over the wall/ enclosure. I my be a little soppy but won't she be part of family? The rooster still visits her often 3 times a day. I will continue to feed her and chase the cats away and hope she stays. maybe add a run to the coop that she can leave but the chicks cant.
Sometimes people will catch the baby chicks and the poor mother hens put up such a fight
The wild ones band together and will sleep in trees when the night comes.
As mentioned in a previous post a young cat has befriended her and will lay across the front of her coop, or on the window above through the day and night and creates a fuss if other cats come near. The only issue I seem to be having is an unusual number of forty legged critters.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Forty-legged critters? Is this some kind of insect?

 

[Thinking of raising chick]

Forty-legged critters? Is this some kind of insect?

Centipedes lol
Chickens and ducks are known for keeping the property clear of them but we are seeing more in a week than we'd usually see in a year.
I have a question... For the first 7 days of checking the nest I counted 12 eggs each day but now I'm counting 11 chicks and 3 unhatched eggs. Is it possible this amazing animal has started laying again? I am absolutely certain there were 12 eggs and have counted and counted again these little guys. I have removed the shells from the nest, leaving 3 eggs. May they still hatch? Today is the first day she has left the nest for longer than getting a drink in almost 2 weeks.

 

[lalalandchickens]

Any update I love this!