Bad Luck Chicken

[Thomas423]

She looks and acts alot like my NHR "LuLu". She does not believe that she is a chicken. Has been that way since 5 days old.
She is out with all the others and they don't seem to pick on her but she often sleeps by herself. She would much rather be with me than all the other hens.
DH said that I cannot have a house chicken unless she tells him herself that "she is not a chicken". I'm teaching her to type it. LOL

Of all 7 breeds that I have....the NHRs seem to be the friendliest and most personable overall. I have one that I call "Clucker".....she is quite the talker. Can't wait to hear her egg song.

Miss Stewie is a pretty bird and I agree that I would not want all my birds to be that friendly.

 

[NellaBean]

Poor little Stewie. I have started letting everybody out to "free range" for an hour or so at night. The other chickens have NEVER been allowed loose before. It is old news to Ms Stewie though.

When they are free ranging, I can bring Stewie over to hang out with them and they will tolerate her although they still try to pick on her....but since there is plenty of room, she just gets out of the way.

Of course, while they are out I leave their run door open, so they can go in and out as they please, and so they can put themselves to bed at night.

Here is the set up.....the coop up the hill on the elevated portion and the run down below.

And they can go in the run and up the ramp to go into the coop to go to bed.

Well tonight I was off on the back deck building the nest boxes finally and when my chicken bedtime alarm went off (hahaha), I waited a bit and then went down there to lock things up for the night. My chicken bedtime alarm is just an alarm on my cell phone set for 9pm, as that is dusk here and they are usually all up on the roost and ready for me to lock up.


Well, I forgot that poor Stewie does not usually spend time out there. She lives in her tractor and then at bedtime, I go get her out and carry her to the coop and put her away...or I let her follow me to the coop and then pick her up and put her in.


Through the coop door.


So when I got out there all the other chickens except for 2 cochins were inside roosting and poor little Stewie was sitting on the ground outside the closed coop door just waiting. She had no idea to use the open run door and the ramp to go inside. She was so excited when she saw me that she came RUNNING over and squatted down for me to pick her up. Poor thing. The cochins are always the last to bed, so I am not sure if they were just slowly going in, or were waiting for Stewie. One girl was up on the wood divider between the upper and lower level and another was in the edge of the run just waiting (as soon as I showed up she went inside).

Poor little Stewie just can't catch a break. She does enjoy her outside time though, and I think that if I continue to be a total slacker getting the new run built so she can join the younger kids...eventually this free ranging might get her "in the group" with the older ones. They do let her "hang out" with them pecking around, but will take a run at her here and there to remind her what is what.

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
All of my girls, (flock of 12) with the exception of the two Light Brahmas, are the friendliest birds you've ever met. And I love it that way! Several will even come to me when called by name. Yeah, I know...I need to get a life!

It also makes for birds that are easier to catch when you need to round them up in a hurry. Like when the neighbors rotten mutt decides he'd like to put chicken on the menu and your free range birds are the closest to hand.

She'll definitely grow on you being so friendly! Then you'll get to the point of wishing all of your flock was so inclined!

Nice little flock by the way. Love the pictures of them enjoying a nice quiet evening outside.

 

[crtrlovr]

Loved your pix & your stories of Stewie... Hope she reintegrates and learns to hold her own with her flockmates. She sounds like a real sweetie.

 

[juliect]

She gives a new meaning to the term "Tough Chick"

 

[NellaBean]

She is so darn cute!

Always pays attention!

And always on a mission! ('bugs, bugs, grass, bugs, grass, bugs...')

 

[b.hromada]

How funny! I'm glad you found her under that bucket. Who would have thought? Maybe she is part cat?!

She's a silly girl for sure!

 

[NellaBean]

So I get home today, later than normal as I had to go meet the farrier for my horse a few towns over. I go out back to check on the chickens and.....

Stew is gone.


I left her in her little tractor/pen this morning as normal. I have two slide bolts (top and bottom) and a hook/eye in the middle on the door. All were still fastened. There was even an egg in her nesting box.

But no chicken. So I am looking at the pen, trying to see if she maybe dug or wiggled under the frame. No way, there is only a tiny gap. I look under the deck and call her to see if she comes running.


Still nothing. I am thinking omg someone came back here and stole my chicken! Or an animal somehow teleported her through the fencing and ate her. Without leaving a trace of feathers.


WHERE IS STEW?!?!


So I go over to check the big chicken coop back behind the garage and down the hill to see if they were still there....and guess who comes running out from underneath the coop!


STEW.



Later in the evening I found a big rip in the side of her pen. It is down low so I had not noticed it before. Her pen is made of that plastic hardware cloth as I have a fenced yard and it is for daytime only. The rip was perfect straight, actually stayed in a single row of squares for about two feet.


Weird.


She must have wiggled her way out of the rip.



I zip tied it back together to keep her in for now. I don't know if it was a rip from when my dog busted in the back area....or a rip from the last day he was out there (tuesday night)? If so apparently neither of us noticed since she was in that pen all day yesterday with no problems. Very weird. She was perfectly fine and the egg and chicken food in the pen was undisturbed.

So how many lives are left now? 5?



Crazy chicken