Anyone have luck catching a feral chicken?? UPDATE: Rooster caught, no hen

[JeanR]

White Leghorns seldom become broody, but maybe you have one that will? Leghorns were developed for LAYING EGGS, lots of them, for most of a year. Actually, you should be dating those eggs in the nest every day you find a warm one!!! Pencil is fine. She will not SET until she has finished a "clutch" and that may be 25 or 30 eggs or more). IF Mother Nature says "set", she will. Hens do not "decide to set". You cannot MAKE a hen set. When it is time, she would SET on an empty nest==for a while. It is a hormone thingy. She should only have about 8 eggs for a first setting. I gather all eggs every day, date them and label the hen's band number, keep a dozen at a time on the kitchen counter, in an egg carton. And then when a hen SETS, I choose the freshest ones from the hen or hens I want chicks from--and eat all the extras--they are not started incubating and are just fine to eat. (And maybe both Leghorn hens are laying in the same nest??) Hens love to crawl onto a warm nest egg that has been laid by another hen (just like we like to climb into a warm bed in winter!) The eggs do not show any visual incubation until the hen STAYS on the nest for a couple of days. You can tell this by candling an egg or 2--then leave her alone, but KEEP other hens away from laying in the nest!! After 21 days of setting, all eggs hatch at the same day-- and if you have the date due, written on your calendar, you will have chick feed and waterer for the babies and protection around them, so your other hens will not destroy them! GOOD LUCK--and don't waste any extra eggs.....

 

[black_dove2]

White Leghorns seldom become broody, but maybe you have one that will? Leghorns were developed for LAYING EGGS, lots of them, for most of a year. Actually, you should be dating those eggs in the nest every day you find a warm one!!! Pencil is fine. She will not SET until she has finished a "clutch" and that may be 25 or 30 eggs or more). IF Mother Nature says "set", she will. Hens do not "decide to set". You cannot MAKE a hen set. When it is time, she would SET on an empty nest==for a while. It is a hormone thingy. She should only have about 8 eggs for a first setting. I gather all eggs every day, date them and label the hen's band number, keep a dozen at a time on the kitchen counter, in an egg carton. And then when a hen SETS, I choose the freshest ones from the hen or hens I want chicks from--and eat all the extras--they are not started incubating and are just fine to eat. (And maybe both Leghorn hens are laying in the same nest??) Hens love to crawl onto a warm nest egg that has been laid by another hen (just like we like to climb into a warm bed in winter!) The eggs do not show any visual incubation until the hen STAYS on the nest for a couple of days. You can tell this by candling an egg or 2--then leave her alone, but KEEP other hens away from laying in the nest!! After 21 days of setting, all eggs hatch at the same day-- and if you have the date due, written on your calendar, you will have chick feed and waterer for the babies and protection around them, so your other hens will not destroy them! GOOD LUCK--and don't waste any extra eggs.....

Thank you!

What a difference experience makes in an explanation!

 

[Ravynscroft]

She is white, great, thank you! This is my first year having chickens, So I still have no idea what I'm doing and I'm flying by the seat of my pants basically. Im a little worried to let her sit in fall, but I think the babies will be up and about before winter, so I'm letting her go. Plus I have no idea which one is hoarding, I have two identical white leghorns, Thelma and Louise, so I don't think I have a choice lol

They'll be mostly white, but will most likely have lots of red bleed throughout their feathers when they mature...

 

[TexasSam]

Ok, sorry for not updating. We were prepping for the hurricane and desperately trying to locate nests! And we have family visiting. So there's that's...

Anywho... updates... no hen yet, but I'm checking the cam this evening for the first time in a couple days.

I woke up this morning and Mr. Squatch has decided that life in the pokey is not for him and has escaped quarantine and has found a new family amongst my other bantams.

I'm not too worried, has technically been in contact with them already and no one has dropped dead. Yet.

View attachment 1155314

View attachment 1155313

One of the bantam pullets has taken up with him and so she may become the new Mrs.

All 3 roosters are getting along surprisingly well. So far.

My CCL rooster, Reggie, is NOT cool with all the new little guys trying to romance his girls.

Mr. Squatch tried tidbitting to a huge cuckoo Marans hen this morning and she just bounded on top of him in true donkey-kong fashion. It was kind of amusing.

Probably a dumb question, as I know it's most likely possible genetics-wise, as they are the same species, but physically, can a tiny bantam rooster breed large fowl?

I will update once I check the camera.

Yep they can

 

[Gramma Chick]

So if she isn't staying with the eggs, she's not broody, she's just, what, selfish, or doesn't like the boxes? Oh my goodness. There should be a class on raising chickens.

Sometimes they choose their own spot .. I have fake eggs in all my boxes to encourage them to lay there ...They rarely lay any where else .
Chickens like to lay where everyone else lays . ..sometimes waiting for the same box even if others are open .
Chickie see Chickie Do Chickie Lay her eggs ...with my Eggs Too
Chicks from a RIR and a Leghorn could be red and white

 

[slatetastic]

White Leghorns seldom become broody, but maybe you have one that will? Leghorns were developed for LAYING EGGS, lots of them, for most of a year. Actually, you should be dating those eggs in the nest every day you find a warm one!!! Pencil is fine. She will not SET until she has finished a "clutch" and that may be 25 or 30 eggs or more). IF Mother Nature says "set", she will. Hens do not "decide to set". You cannot MAKE a hen set. When it is time, she would SET on an empty nest==for a while. It is a hormone thingy. She should only have about 8 eggs for a first setting. I gather all eggs every day, date them and label the hen's band number, keep a dozen at a time on the kitchen counter, in an egg carton. And then when a hen SETS, I choose the freshest ones from the hen or hens I want chicks from--and eat all the extras--they are not started incubating and are just fine to eat. (And maybe both Leghorn hens are laying in the same nest??) Hens love to crawl onto a warm nest egg that has been laid by another hen (just like we like to climb into a warm bed in winter!) The eggs do not show any visual incubation until the hen STAYS on the nest for a couple of days. You can tell this by candling an egg or 2--then leave her alone, but KEEP other hens away from laying in the nest!! After 21 days of setting, all eggs hatch at the same day-- and if you have the date due, written on your calendar, you will have chick feed and waterer for the babies and protection around them, so your other hens will not destroy them! GOOD LUCK--and don't waste any extra eggs.....

Wow, thank you! This was the crash course I needed. Much appreciated!!!

 

[Sassysouth]

I have a dumb question. When a hen goes broody and I have read “keep the other hens away”, do you isolate her?
When a eggs hatch, how do you manage that with other hens and a rooster around? I assume not all will welcome the idea of new chicks.

 

[21hens-incharge]

When a hen goes broody....
Put her and a clutch of eggs you desire to hatch in a segregated portion of the coop. Using wire and keeping her in the coop does several things.
Other hens cannot force her off the eggs, add eggs, break eggs tussling with her or rip her up trying to force her from the nest.
She can see and be seen by the flock so remains a part of the flock.
The chicks she hatches out are safe from any meanies and integrate into the flock much easier and earlier since they have been there with mom guarding them.
It is easiest to integrate them with mom helping before her hormones return to non broody levels.
Giving the chicks a week to get strong, coordinated and fast seems to increase survival.

I hope this answered the question. By the way not a dumb question at all.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I have a dumb question. When a hen goes broody and I have read “keep the other hens away”, do you isolate her?
When a eggs hatch, how do you manage that with other hens and a rooster around? I assume not all will welcome the idea of new chicks.

We keep a broody box. It consists of an enclosed area with hardware cloth and a door into a "yard" for the broody to be able to stretch her legs and take care of business, the box contains her nest, food and water. It sits in the free range area next to the roosting area, so everyone can see eachother, but can't get to eachother. The broody box can be closed off at night for added protection, and the yard can be used as the chicks begin to explore. We also have a grow out box, again everyone can see eachother, so youngsters can get big enough to defend themselves from older hens, once Mom is ready to join the flock again. This broody box can also be used as a hen hospital, just have to clean really good, mostly used for injured hens.

 

[Kusanar]

Be careful to quarantine, there are reports of bird flu on the Washington thread lately. Not to say the pigeon is sick, but you don't know where a wild bird has been. Here is a link: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...ation/avian-influenza-disease/birdbiosecurity

I don't have any other birds, so it should be ok.