- May 10, 2014
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Aloha all!
We have been feeding feral chickens that come around our yard for a few years and finally decided to get a coop and keep some hens of our own.
Our first hen, Snowy is a formerly wild hen that my wife made friends with and would hand feed. She came down with a bad case of Fowl Pox and showed up one day with both eyes completely scabbed over and near death from dehydration. I had to repeatedly dip her beak into water and lift her head up for her to drink. She was so weak that she couldn't do it herself at first. We put her in our empty coop and took care of her until her scabs fell off. She has been with us since then because one of her eyes scarred over and won't open properly. We couldn't see letting her out to deal with the random loose dog and feral cats with only one eye. She seemed to be very bonded with us from all of the handling and care that we had given her so she was pretty happy to stay. The wild chickens still came around and chattered away with her through the wire pretty often.
We recently added two new hens into the coop. One is a year and a half old Jubilee Orpington hen that the wife and kids named Princess and the other is a Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet that they named Lacy. Snowy is dominating them like a real tyrant. She even beats up on Princess, the Jubilee Orpington hen that is twice her size. Lol! We can pick Snowy up and carry her around, so we have been taking her out of the coop and giving the other girls a break from her meanness. Snowy "talks" to us with cute little sounds every time we come up the the coop and she does the same when we carry her around. =)
We are getting some eggs from the two hens. Snowy lays a medium sized egg about every three or four days, and Princess lays a large egg every two days.
I will post a couple of photos of our little flock below.
I do plan on building a run by fencing off one side of a small courtyard that we have. This will allow us to get them out into a larger area and stay safe from the random dog and/or cat. I just need to come up with some fence plans and get it done soon.
Well I guess that is it for now.
Aloha!
Our new hens on their first day. They are still in the transport kennel in this photo. On the left is Lacy, a Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet, and on the right is Princess, a year and a half old Jubilee Orpington hen.
Lacy, our Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet is on the left. Princess, our year and a half old Jubilee Orpington hen is in the center and Snowy, our rescued mixed breed hen is on the right.
We have been feeding feral chickens that come around our yard for a few years and finally decided to get a coop and keep some hens of our own.
Our first hen, Snowy is a formerly wild hen that my wife made friends with and would hand feed. She came down with a bad case of Fowl Pox and showed up one day with both eyes completely scabbed over and near death from dehydration. I had to repeatedly dip her beak into water and lift her head up for her to drink. She was so weak that she couldn't do it herself at first. We put her in our empty coop and took care of her until her scabs fell off. She has been with us since then because one of her eyes scarred over and won't open properly. We couldn't see letting her out to deal with the random loose dog and feral cats with only one eye. She seemed to be very bonded with us from all of the handling and care that we had given her so she was pretty happy to stay. The wild chickens still came around and chattered away with her through the wire pretty often.
We recently added two new hens into the coop. One is a year and a half old Jubilee Orpington hen that the wife and kids named Princess and the other is a Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet that they named Lacy. Snowy is dominating them like a real tyrant. She even beats up on Princess, the Jubilee Orpington hen that is twice her size. Lol! We can pick Snowy up and carry her around, so we have been taking her out of the coop and giving the other girls a break from her meanness. Snowy "talks" to us with cute little sounds every time we come up the the coop and she does the same when we carry her around. =)
We are getting some eggs from the two hens. Snowy lays a medium sized egg about every three or four days, and Princess lays a large egg every two days.
I will post a couple of photos of our little flock below.
I do plan on building a run by fencing off one side of a small courtyard that we have. This will allow us to get them out into a larger area and stay safe from the random dog and/or cat. I just need to come up with some fence plans and get it done soon.
Well I guess that is it for now.
Aloha!
Our new hens on their first day. They are still in the transport kennel in this photo. On the left is Lacy, a Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet, and on the right is Princess, a year and a half old Jubilee Orpington hen.
Lacy, our Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet is on the left. Princess, our year and a half old Jubilee Orpington hen is in the center and Snowy, our rescued mixed breed hen is on the right.
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and Welcome To BYC! What a wonderful introduction, the feral chickens are lucky to have you on their side, good luck with the sick pullet and hope your girls do fine.
