Thank you for clicking! These girls are in a tough situation and really could use some help, or at least word of mouth to anyone you might know looking for some pet chickens.
I volunteer with a local park that has had a flock of chickens on the premises for years. They are used to being around barking dogs and very comfortable around people. They are hand fed often and will tolerate being handled, though some may need to be worked with (aka coaxed with treats) to increase comfort level.
They are super sweet and have lived together most of their lives, so we would prefer that they go to a new home together if possible, or at least in groups of 2 or 3 if you can only take a few. The breed of each hen and their relative ages are as follows (will update with better pictures soon):
Welsummer: 10-12 years old - Very inquisitive and food motivated, loves to ride on the shovel as you dig for worms, nicknamed "Peanut"
Silver Laced Polish: 10-12 years old - Has become quite friendly and inquisitive in recent years, crest feathers don't seem to cause any issues, I call her "Fancy"
Gold Laced Polich: 10-12 years old - Used to be quite skittish, she has really come around and is now much more social. Needs a yearly trim of her bangs to help her see (which also helps her nervous demeanor) I call her "Fancy Brown"
Dominique: 6-8 years old - The youngest of the bunch, still lays a few times a week, hand raised and easy to pick up, makes lots of curious noises, nicknamed "Pepper"
Now for the hard part.
Since these girls live in a public park, they have been exposed to a high volume of foot and animal traffic all of their lives. At some point along the way, Mareks virus was contracted and has been present in the flock for a number of years. If you are not familiar with Mareks, it is a highly contagious virus (to other birds, not to people) and is often spread through rodents and wild birds. Because Mareks has been detected in the flock, all of the birds must be considered carriers for life even though they are not acting sick and have no symptoms. While they are considered Mareks resistant because they have not died of the virus, they should not be introduced to any other chickens that do not already have exposure to Mareks because it can be deadly if a bird is not resistant to it.
The park is wanting to upgrade the coop to keep the wild animals out that likely gave them this illness in the first place and there are plans to heavily clean/spray antiviral, remove soil, and otherwise thoroughly de-Mareks the park so that they can get a new flock in there that does not have this virus. In order to do that though, we must first re-home the current flock.
Ideally, we are looking for a person or persons who just want to have some nice, socialized pet chickens to interact with and are willing to let them live out their lives without introducing more birds to the flock so that the virus doesn't spread.
Even better (though harder to find, I'm sure) would be someone who intentionally breeds for Mareks resistance in their flock or already has Mareks in their flock and would be willing to take on these girls. I am sure Peanut and Pepper could even still be bred if you are someone trying to breed Mareks resistant chickens since they both still lay with some regularity, especially Pepper. The others lay sporadically throughout the year with the exception of Big Mama, who is done laying as far as I can tell.
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I know that this is not a standard re-homing situation, and I thank you for even bothering to check them out. They really are sweet hens and have no other noticeable health issues other than Big Mama's stiffness from arthritis. They are alert, eat and drink well, and are all very bonded to each other.
Even if you aren't able to take them or aren't willing to risk it (which is 100% understandable, especially if you have birds that have never come into contact with Mareks), I would be most grateful if you could keep your ears open for these ladies if you hear of anyone just wanting to try out having some nicely socialized chickens.
Thanks again for reading. Having worked with this flock for about 5 years now, I am pretty fond of these ladies and really want them to find a loving home.
Edit: We now only have 5 hens looking for homes. We decided to put the Buff Brahma to sleep for chronic pain issues related to her arthritis in November 2022.
Edit 2: We are down to 3 hens looking for homes. The Silver Laced Polish and the Welsummer passed away due to old age in March of 2022. Check out the latest post in this thread for more information."
I volunteer with a local park that has had a flock of chickens on the premises for years. They are used to being around barking dogs and very comfortable around people. They are hand fed often and will tolerate being handled, though some may need to be worked with (aka coaxed with treats) to increase comfort level.
They are super sweet and have lived together most of their lives, so we would prefer that they go to a new home together if possible, or at least in groups of 2 or 3 if you can only take a few. The breed of each hen and their relative ages are as follows (will update with better pictures soon):
Black Ameraucana: 10-12 years old - Gentle queen of the flock, she acts like a nice rooster calling the others over when there are treats, so I call her "Rooster"Welsummer: 10-12 years old - Very inquisitive and food motivated, loves to ride on the shovel as you dig for worms, nicknamed "Peanut"
Silver Laced Polish: 10-12 years old - Has become quite friendly and inquisitive in recent years, crest feathers don't seem to cause any issues, I call her "Fancy"
Gold Laced Polich: 10-12 years old - Used to be quite skittish, she has really come around and is now much more social. Needs a yearly trim of her bangs to help her see (which also helps her nervous demeanor) I call her "Fancy Brown"
Dominique: 6-8 years old - The youngest of the bunch, still lays a few times a week, hand raised and easy to pick up, makes lots of curious noises, nicknamed "Pepper"
Now for the hard part.
Since these girls live in a public park, they have been exposed to a high volume of foot and animal traffic all of their lives. At some point along the way, Mareks virus was contracted and has been present in the flock for a number of years. If you are not familiar with Mareks, it is a highly contagious virus (to other birds, not to people) and is often spread through rodents and wild birds. Because Mareks has been detected in the flock, all of the birds must be considered carriers for life even though they are not acting sick and have no symptoms. While they are considered Mareks resistant because they have not died of the virus, they should not be introduced to any other chickens that do not already have exposure to Mareks because it can be deadly if a bird is not resistant to it.
The park is wanting to upgrade the coop to keep the wild animals out that likely gave them this illness in the first place and there are plans to heavily clean/spray antiviral, remove soil, and otherwise thoroughly de-Mareks the park so that they can get a new flock in there that does not have this virus. In order to do that though, we must first re-home the current flock.
Ideally, we are looking for a person or persons who just want to have some nice, socialized pet chickens to interact with and are willing to let them live out their lives without introducing more birds to the flock so that the virus doesn't spread.
Even better (though harder to find, I'm sure) would be someone who intentionally breeds for Mareks resistance in their flock or already has Mareks in their flock and would be willing to take on these girls. I am sure Peanut and Pepper could even still be bred if you are someone trying to breed Mareks resistant chickens since they both still lay with some regularity, especially Pepper. The others lay sporadically throughout the year with the exception of Big Mama, who is done laying as far as I can tell.
----
I know that this is not a standard re-homing situation, and I thank you for even bothering to check them out. They really are sweet hens and have no other noticeable health issues other than Big Mama's stiffness from arthritis. They are alert, eat and drink well, and are all very bonded to each other.
Even if you aren't able to take them or aren't willing to risk it (which is 100% understandable, especially if you have birds that have never come into contact with Mareks), I would be most grateful if you could keep your ears open for these ladies if you hear of anyone just wanting to try out having some nicely socialized chickens.
Thanks again for reading. Having worked with this flock for about 5 years now, I am pretty fond of these ladies and really want them to find a loving home.
Edit: We now only have 5 hens looking for homes. We decided to put the Buff Brahma to sleep for chronic pain issues related to her arthritis in November 2022.
Edit 2: We are down to 3 hens looking for homes. The Silver Laced Polish and the Welsummer passed away due to old age in March of 2022. Check out the latest post in this thread for more information."
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They are definitely still looking for a safe place to call home and would make great pets for anyone who just wants to enjoy chickens (and the very occasional egg).
