Chicken in the road

[Carolminifarm]

Apparently a chicken truck dropped a white chicken in the divider of a 4 lane highway. I jumped out and got it, brought it home and put it in a small coop. This is day five. Its not friendly, seems healthy. When can i introduce to the others. thanks

 

[BoundlessLove]

That’s so kind of you to rescue the poor thing.
I would not put her with the others.
To be honest, as a meat bird, she may not live much longer.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is almost certainly a 6 to 8 week old Cornish Cross meat bird that was in its way to slaughter. I don't know what vaccinations it has had. It has come from a very tight biosecurity place so it is unlikely to be carrying many diseases though you can't rule out Coccidiosis. There is a better chance that your existing flock will give it something than that it will give them anything, but you never know.

As a CC it has been bred to grow quickly and be slaughtered about now. Some people have been able to keep CC alive for a couple of years but that is pretty rare. Usually they eat themselves to death fairly soon. They grow so big so fast that their bodies cannot handle it. Often you need to restrict feed to keep it form growing so big and so fast. That can be hard to do when it is with other chickens.

Then you have the problem that it is still a chick. It can be very hard to integrate a chick, especially a singe chick, with adults. You can read up on the various techniques people use to try to integrate them but it is not always easy.

In my opinion, it is better to eat it now or to give it to someone that will eat it than to try to keep it alive. It is highly likely its quality of life will soon go downhill. You can always try but I would not expect a good outcome.

 

[ABQ chicken keeper]

Apparently a chicken truck dropped a white chicken in the divider of a 4 lane highway. I jumped out and got it, brought it home and put it in a small coop. This is day five. Its not friendly, seems healthy. When can i introduce to the others. thanks

Please post a picture of the chicken, is it a cornishX or laying hen?

 

[Carolminifarm]

That is almost certainly a 6 to 8 week old Cornish Cross meat bird that was in its way to slaughter. I don't know what vaccinations it has had. It has come from a very tight biosecurity place so it is unlikely to be carrying many diseases though you can't rule out Coccidiosis. There is a better chance that your existing flock will give it something than that it will give them anything, but you never know.

As a CC it has been bred to grow quickly and be slaughtered about now. Some people have been able to keep CC alive for a couple of years but that is pretty rare. Usually they eat themselves to death fairly soon. They grow so big so fast that their bodies cannot handle it. Often you need to restrict feed to keep it form growing so big and so fast. That can be hard to do when it is with other chickens.

Then you have the problem that it is still a chick. It can be very hard to integrate a chick, especially a singe chick, with adults. You can read up on the various techniques people use to try to integrate them but it is not always easy.

In my opinion, it is better to eat it now or to give it to someone that will eat it than to try to keep it alive. It is highly likely its quality of life will soon go downhill. You can always try but I would not expect a good outcome.

thanks for the information and taking the time. appreciate it. have 29 current chickens and also concerned about them beating it up. i have threatened but never had the nerve to kill anything. who's the chicken now. thinking of putting in coop at night while they are sleeping. think that would help? (keep rereading,"eat themselves to death")

 

[BoundlessLove]

If you really want her with the rest of your flock, the “see but no touch” method has worked well for us.
A dog cage for her inside the coop with her own feed and waterer.

I’ve never introduced only one chicken to my flock. It’s usually three or more. And it was gradual.

If you can’t cull her, do you know someone who could do this for you?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Could you post a photo to confirm it is a Cornish Cross meat bird versus some other type. What I'd mostly be looking at would be body conformation and the legs. Color, how wide apart, and how stocky they are. A close-up of the head might be helpful to determine sex.

Your story is not that unusual. When I was in Northwest Arkansas, the headquarters of Tyson, trucks hauling chickens to slaughter were pretty common. Occasionally one would escape. A cage probably wasn't closed properly.

thinking of putting in coop at night while they are sleeping. think that would help?

Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. How much room they have can be important. Can it hide away from the others if things go bad? If you try that, be out there at daybreak as they wake up in case you need to protect it.

Unless you are introducing a mature rooster to a flock of all hens the see but don't touch is a safer way to go. That doesn't always work either.

(keep rereading,"eat themselves to death")

That's mainly why I recommend against trying to keep that Cornish Cross with your flock. It is special, a rescue. You are developing a strong attachment to it. It is going to get huge and probably suffer a physical breakdown or, if lucky, a heart attack and die quickly. It's likely to suffer. Even if it just drops dead without suffering you will feel it.

It's just a chick, so it can be hard to integrate. It is a single chicken which can be hard to integrate. You will sympathize with it even more.

Some people just have to try. If you do I wish you luck.

 

[Skyeknight]

Like Ridgerunner has said it's not ideal to introduce it to your flock. Meat birds without limiting food will get overweight and die of heart failures or suffer from legs problems. They should get food twice a day. This can either be a 20 min time limit to eating or a set amount. I use a set amount of 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/3 cup in the evening. Cornish cross type meat birds suffer from chronic hunger and therefore it's important they either get veggies or can free range outside. Letting it free range under supervision might be a way to slowly introduce it to the flock. Be aware that it is not fully feathered yet, so colder weather is not great.

One thing that is also important is if it's injured in any way, especially the legs. Cause if it has a leg injury it would take a lot of effort for a chick weighing this much it to heal. Probably would be better to cull it in that case.

Also it might look like an immature adult, but it is still (mentally) a 6 week old chick. If introducing it to the rest of the flock will be successful might depend on the other breeds present, as Cornish cross chickens tend to be low on the pecking order. So with friendly breeds there are more possibilities.