Chicken Rescue

[fiberart57]

Hello,
Today my friend and I freed her final chicken (predators/cars took the others) from a gang of wild turkeys in the mountains of Colorado.

She's a Blue Andalusian about 20 months old and has been hanging with the 'Turks and sleeping in whatever outbuilding has been left open in a very small community for about four months. Considering that it drops to below zero there, the Bald Eagles are always hanging around and all the other things that could have gotten her, she's a survivor.

She's in a cage now, covered with air holes, up off the ground until she's out of quarentine and blends in.

I hope she hasn't caught anything from them although they are a semi-tame, healthy flock.

Mary

 

[theoldchick]

What a cool story. We need pictures!

 

[fiberart57]

I'll post pictures when I can.

I think she's really glad to be here. Last night she slept in the cage sheltered and this morning I put an X pen around her and placed her in the yard by the coop.

My girls came out of the coop, saw her and each decided on their own course of action.

Sissy, the SS and head girl now and Bunny, BO, decided to call her out and start a fight through the fence. As a former gang member, she held her own despite being much smaller than these two. Result: cuts on wattles - Blue Kote applied.

Carmen, my current BA, is walking around the yard yelling at the top of her voice. All day, so far.

Stormy, the EE, went to the fence and looked her over and then did a chicken shrug and walked off.

Sheila, the Australorpe, low hen of the flock just followed me around while I was outside working looking worried.

Then I placed some plastic chicken mesh against the X pen to put an extra layer between her and my girls and things seem to settle down. I watched her stretch out her legs and shake and seem to relax a bit.

I know that ideally she should be in quarantine and not in contact with my girls. First, it would be very difficult to do this. Second, she's been living for four months in the mountains of Colorado with the turkeys and has had no contact with other chickens for a month. The past two months have had temperatures ranging from 30 degrees high to 0 for a low. I'm willing to take a chance that she hasn't got any diseases. I am worming her and I have checked her for mites. Her stools are firm and normal and she's bright-eyed and busy-tailed.

I'm sure it will all work out.

As soon as my group get over their shock.

Mary