Age of chicken?

[Bsmac]

Hello! Welcome to BYC!

 

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC.
A few things I've noticed, older hens & roosters tend to show age around their eyes. The eyes have a more sunken look- not unhealthy, just less fleshy looking than younger chickens. The scales on their legs are not as smooth but scaley leg mites may affect the scales as well. Also their behavior might not be as chipper, not as playful as the younger crowd. They will still be active but generally not as flighty.

 

[Tookie]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Nice to meet you.

 

[Patricia011]

I hope this helps thank you so much

 

[FunClucks]

I hope this helps thank you so much

I saw your pictures on another thread, and then that thread was deleted. So I'll answer you here. You may be in the middle of posting your pictures to this one?

What sweethearts! They look like adult hens to me. For better identification we would need better pictures. Can you get closer to them in good light? Front view and side view, with feet if possible. Also, be aware they may be mixed breed.

How long have they been with you? Could they have wandered over from a neighbor's property? Letting chickens free-range is a common practice in many parts of the world. I'd try and make sure they're actually homeless - they look healthy from what I can tell, which indicates they may currently have an owner. Have you asked around your neighborhood?

 

[Patricia011]

Welcome! Could u post pics of your chickens?

I saw your pictures on another thread, and then that thread was deleted. So I'll answer you here. You may be in the middle of posting your pictures to this one?

What sweethearts! They look like adult hens to me. For better identification we would need better pictures. Can you get closer to them in good light? Front view and side view, with feet if possible. Also, be aware they may be mixed breed.

How long have they been with you? Could they have wandered over from a neighbor's property? Letting chickens free-range is a common practice in many parts of the world. I'd try and make sure they're actually homeless - they look healthy from what I can tell, which indicates they may currently have an owner. Have you asked around your neighborhood?

I posted pictures of them on my local fb page. Nothing for 3 weeks. They do not leave from under my front porch. It is cold they stay by the wall where my canim heater is. No snow under my cabin. I put their food and water under the porch for them. There are no prints in the snow showing if they come and go. I am surprised nothing has eaten them yet. Pretty wild in Kenai. I will try and take better pic's of them. They don't like coming from under porch mow Thamk you so much for your help!

 

[Patricia011]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!

Oh yes, pictures would help! Post some of them and someone will hopefully know what they are.

We have a Learning Center full of articles written by our members about raising chicks and chickens. Just scroll through and you'll find several helpful ones.

For the basics though, they need chicken food. Many of us use layer feed, but even more of us feed an all-flock as every aged chicken and duck can have that. If you find out either is a hen, you'll need some oyster shell too that you'd put in a separate dish.

We're glad you're here!

Thank you so much for the help. They are really sweet and I am getting supplies needed as well as a coop. New adventures

 

[FunClucks]

I posted pictures of them on my local fb page. Nothing for 3 weeks. They do not leave from under my front porch. It is cold they stay by the wall where my canim heater is. No snow under my cabin. I put their food and water under the porch for them. There are no prints in the snow showing if they come and go. I am surprised nothing has eaten them yet. Pretty wild in Kenai. I will try and take better pic's of them. They don't like coming from under porch mow Thamk you so much for your help!

Sounds like you've done what you can to find owners. Enjoy your new chickens!

Sounds like they have acclimated to the cold, and have found an out of the wind location where it is slightly warmer to hang out - this is great for them. You are providing food and water in the sheltered location, so their immediate needs are met. The only issues I see with the location they have found to shelter in is build up of chicken manure over the winter, and having to deal with shoveling that out or composting it come spring. Only 2 chickens, but still.

Now for predators - that's a bit trickier. Is there any way you can fence or block off the area under your porch? Consider putting up 1/2" hardware cloth up over the outside of your porch near the ground, to block any large holes where predators could come and get them. I'd frame out a small door for you and them to access the under-the-porch area, and treat the under-the-porch area as a coop or covered run. You could sandwich the 1/2" hardware cloth between your porch wood and a trim piece of lumber, and screw it all together - this will prevent most predators from pulling off the hardware cloth, and seal up edges. Or use screws with 1" radial washers to secure hardware cloth over random geometry. You could also run some lumber along the base of the porch along the ground, and secure the hardware cloth to that between the supports of your porch. I'm assuming the ground is frozen solid and so digging predators won't be an issue for the winter. You could secure an apron to the lumber you run along the ground also, and place a few rocks on the edges to keep it in place, just in case any foxes or dogs get ideas - it will prevent them from digging without having to hammer anything into the frozen ground.

Or you can buy and/or build a coop somewhere as it seems you're already planning to do. Whatever works best for your setup. It just seems like the chickens have almost everything they need already, so I thought I'd throw that porch idea out there for you. Prefab coops are also often sadly inadequate without additional work or spending lots of money on them. If that's the route you go, make sure you research the prefab coop you're considering, and maybe post on here to get folks insight - there's a Forum where that's a topic. Folks with experience can easily tell you where the flaws are, and what post-purchase upgrades will be needed for optimal operation. If you go the prefab route, pick one that has an occupancy of at least 6 chickens. Prefabs are notorious for overstating how many chickens can comfortably live in their coop. So if you buy one that says it's for 6 chickens, odds are good that 2 large fowl chickens should be comfy there. But don't even try getting one built for 2 chickens - I think those are designed for bantams.

Good luck!