Bad Luck Chicken

[NellaBean]

I have a chicken who must have the worst luck in the world. It's a shame because she is so darn sweet. "Stew" (aka Stewie since turned out to be a girl) is a 18 week old red type chicken. Rhode Island Red? Production Red? New hampshire red? no idea.

A while back, she flipped over an empty bucket ONTO her and was trapped underneath a black bucket in the SUN on a 90 degree day. I found her while she was still alive and "rescued" her and she was overheated but okay. She was just a little droopy and panting afterwards....

Then I finally got rid of her rooster buddy (he was evil) and so I have been trying to integrate her into the regular coop. All the other chickens keep attacking her and it is just not going well. So I have been keeping her in there at night in her own little partitioned off area, and in a little temporary tractor during the day, by herself.

Yesterday my crazy dog broke into the tractor! Busted right through the plastic mesh. I knew it was not "predator proof" but it was only for daytime use and my dog has never tried to break through a fence before.....

Fortunately she was fine....he apparently went for the chicken poop and food instead. I found her doing the hussy chicken squat next to the tractor when I got the dog put away. I think every time he went for her, she probably squatted down to submit, ha ha ha ha.

So since her tractor is torn up, I left her to just be loose in my half acre fenced yard. I went out there a few times and she would run after me and follow me (even when I had the dog with me on a leash).

My mom was here visiting and when she went to leave she came running back and banging on the door that the chicken was loose out by the road. Crazy chicken must have flew over the fence to get out, as she was already in the planter near the road.....I went out and caught her and put her in a dog crate while I stapled a piece of mesh over the big hole in her tractor. The dog is on "restriction" until I get it permanently fixed, but at least she can be locked up again so she can't "escape".

Do chickens have 9 lives like cats? I think she only has 6 left.

 

[Cyberous]

Great story,.. I think you should rename her "Cat"

Don

 

[NellaBean]

Maybe I could call her kitty? Kitty the Chicken that thinks she is a Dog? Now that might be funny

Of course, this morning she didn't want to be carried to her little pen, she wanted to perch on my hand like a hawk while I walked up the hill, around the garage and across the yard to her pen. when I put my hand in the doorway of the pen she jumped right off. It was kind of hilarious.

She is very. very. confused.

I'm expecting to find her up on the porch swing with me drinking margaritas by next weekend.

 

[chickenbottom]

lol thats great maybe if you get her a friend and intergrate them at the same time that it would be easier so she would be bullied on as much and so she isnt as lonley

she sure is cute

 

[horsejody]

You might want to get her a friend. Take the quietest hen from your main group and put them in the tractor together everyday. After a while, they will bond and can be reintroduced to the group together. Two hens being introduced together are a lot less likely to be severely pecked at than a lone newbie. A good rooster also stops squabbling.

 

[cap1717]

you might also want to clip her wings. . . . I keep all of my girls clipped, as they might all be able to get over the 6' fence, with a bit of a "headwind", and I don't want to lose anybody! They are only out in the yard with "supervision", when I am home, but nevertheless. . . .

 

[NellaBean]

I have a younger group of chickens (7-8 weeks now, I think) that she will be going with instead as soon as I get a new pen built. I have been sick as a dog (or cat...or chicken..or hawk....according to Stew) and am hoping I will be well enough to get started on it this week. The posts have been in for WEEKS and the mesh has been on my deck over a month just waiting to be installed

Living with the older group was only going to be temporary and considering the drama, I am not even going to bother now. Soon as I can get the new pen up, the big kids move there and she will go out with the SEVEN younger ones in the old pen. I figure that will be plenty to spread out her "love" and she is quite a bit bigger than them and lived in the same (divided) coop for the first month I had them. They will all go into the big coop at night, as I will put a divider right down the middle to keep them from the "mean group".

My Jersey Giant cockerel is pretty worthless so far as far as stopping squabbles. He is as mean to her as the others. He has been a really late bloomer so far, so I am hoping he will be a better roo as he gets older. He is about 16 weeks now and is only barely starting to crow. She will be going into a group with a blue andalusian cockerel and a RIR cockerel, and 5 pullets (4 andys, 1 RIR) Eventually, some of the smallest girls from the "mean group" may also move into this group to "spread the rooster love".

 

[NellaBean]

Well Little Ms Stewie laid her first egg today! I am so excited!

 

[WriterofWords]

Personally I think she's a very LUCKY chicken if you look at it from the other side. Look how lucky she is to have survived all of these things that have happened to her!

 

[NellaBean]

I told Ms Stewie if she didn't get her slacker butt in line and lay me another egg, she was going to have a lot more bad luck headed her way.

Tada! the one on the right is her first egg from Wednesday, the one on the left is the 2nd one from today. It is slightly darker and slightly bigger. Now if only she could get on a schedule.....


She has been going in the coop (loose) with the other chickens at night. As long as I put her in once everybody is getting ready for bed, they can roost without much squabling. I let the chickens out around 7am, so they are only all together for maybe an hour at the most and Stew stays up on the roost while the others are on the floor milling around. I still take her out for the day and put her in her little pen by herself.

But her little pen is on the other side of the yard...usually I carry her over there and put her in there. But the last couple days I have been just taking her out of the coop and setting her down and she follows me all the way to her little pen and goes right in. Tonight she even followed me all the way from her little pen to the night coop. This is impressive as it involves going across the yard, going down a little hill and around a bend jumping down a little ledge (only about a foot or foot and a half tall) to go around the corner to the coop. The yard is only a half acre so it sounds farther than it is. But she just follows right along behind me the whole way and waits at the coop door for me to pick her up and put her in there. If she gets too far behind while I am walking or if she stops to peck or look at something, she will notice and then come running/flapping to catch up. This morning she even ran ahead of me going to her pen and waited at the door for me to open it.


She cracks me up

I never knew I wanted a pet chicken! On one hand, I wish the others were as nice as her.....but I can't imagine 17 chickens acting like that! What a little goober she is.....