chicken adopted our yard

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newmommy

newmommy

Hatching
5 Years
Aug 10, 2014
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Hi all, so this is my story, one of the neighbors hens flew the coop, neighbor does not want her back , so here I am with a spooked chicken living in our bushes, we had some oats & grain from a previous project that I have been feeding her, along with bread, & by finding this website have discovered that they can eat much more than those items. So she wont come anywhere close to me , she has been here for a couple of weeks now , and I am not sure what to do next. Cant catch her to coop, not that I have one yet, but was going to try and put her in the dog pen , without the little Dachsund of course. Any ideas would be helpful. thank you , Oh and All I know that she is black & fairly big, did not know heir were so many different kinds of chickens. yep really new at chickens
 
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Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. Food is the best way to tame any chicken. The way to a chicken's heart is through its stomach. Toss some feed on the ground toward the chicken, and see if you can get it used to accepting food from you. At some point, you can use the food to lure it into a trap or pen of some kind. Once you have it in a pen, you can sit in the pen and toss the feed so the chicken will get used to your presence. When it eventually starts getting close enough to where you could reach out and touch it, put some feed in your hand and see if it will eat out of your hand. Don't try and grab it or it will freak out. Once it is eating from your hand, try to pet it on its chest, not on its back, or it will think something is trying to get it from behind. Eventually it should let you pet it and even hold it. The ability to tame a chicken really depends on the breed. Game chickens are usually a lot harder to tame than the docile breeds. It's not impossible, just a little harder to accomplish. Just be patient and the chicken will calm down. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in taming your chicken.
 
Thank you so much for the welcome & your helpful advice , I am trying my best to get it used to me, but difficult to do, I sit on the ground out their & throw food , but ugh not coming towards me, this chicken is probably about 5 yrs. old , when the neighbor got his chicks , so I dont really know how this is going to work out . I will keep it up, because I Live in Washington & I need to do something before winter comes. Again thank you
 
newmommy said:
Hi all, so this is my story, one of the neighbors hens flew the coop, neighbor does not want her back , so here I am with a spooked chicken living in our bushes, we had some oats & grain from a previous project that I have been feeding her, along with bread, & by finding this website have discovered that they can eat much more than those items. So she wont come anywhere close to me , she has been here for a couple of weeks now , and I am not sure what to do next. Cant catch her to coop, not that I have one yet, but was going to try and put her in the dog pen , without the little Dachsund of course. Any ideas would be helpful. thank you , Oh and All I know that she is black & fairly big, did not know heir were so many different kinds of chickens. yep really new at chickens
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Welcome to BYC!

You can usually find chicken feed at any farm/tractor supply. Bread isn't so healthy for them. Instead of bread, give her fresh greens, cooked egg (scrambled, hardboiled & chopped) for protein, and even veggie scraps from the kitchen. Just nothing greasy, salty or over-processed. Also, a bowl of water left near the bush will help her stay hydrated.

She might be laying eggs in the bushes, and may even be hoping to hatch them (if you see her sitting in a nest all day). You could choose to leave her there for the month if it's safe enough (don't let your Dachsund get near her or she may startle), or you could try to catch her at night when she's more docile (if you can reach her quick & in the dark). Then you could make a nest in a box & put her in the dog pen for the time being.
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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I am not sure if this will work, but I would get some layer feed from the feed store and put it in a chicken feeder. Get a waterer as well. Leave these out near to where she was last seen. Each day, move these a bit closer toward a place you can possibly catch her or trap her. Try throwing some treats out towards her too. If she really likes them, she may get tamer as the days go by.

Do not leave this food or water out all night as it will attract predators. And clean up what gets spilled too.

I don't know what else you could do. Good luck and I hope you can catch her soon!
 
Thank you , I thought bread would be ok , but I thought wrong , I will do more of the other foods you suggested , as for the night catch she usually hides deep in the bushes or up the tree , to me the tree is funny, but I guess that makes her feel safe. Thanks again
 
Thank you for the help , I am hoping to get her caged asap, could take time though
 

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