Found my first chicken. What is he?

[scratch'n'peck]

Thanks for the updated pics. She has such pretty eyes. It looks like she got more Jersey Giant votes and the hen votes still out number the roo votes.

Although her water bowl may look like she sat in it because chickens can get their bedding every where (that's why I raise the chicken waterer up on a cinder block), I have also heard that some chicken keepers put shallow pools or bowls of water out for their chickens when it is hot. I don't think chickens swim naturally, but they can wade without a problem, once they are not a little chick their isn't much risk that a chicken would drown.

Some panting on a hot day is pretty normal. I put ice in their waterer on really hot days. Some will freeze litter bottles of water for their chickens to lean up against or to put in the waterer.

If you end up getting friends for her you may want to choose breeds of a similar size and age. I'm partial to Orpingtons because they are very friendly and gentle.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

I think she is a hen. I seem to remember roos having redder and larger combs.

 

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Updated pictures of Nellie, taken today, 7/10. Looking hen-ish?

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii204/Scylla_photos/Nellie7-10-11/

She's really outgrowing the cage I had her in. It's getting difficult to get her out through the door! I don't have a coop for her yet, but I spent the day making larger housing for her using an old rabbit run I had. It's an 8 foot long by 2 foot wide by 3 foot high cage of hardware cloth, with 4 very large doors. I placed 3 square plastic buckets at one end for nesting & hiding, and lined them with hay. I added 2 1x4 boards for roosts, and covered that end of the cage with a reflective tarp. It gets morning and early afternoon sun, but the new cage is too big to fit under the fig tree where the smaller cage is now. That spot is in shade all day and quite comfortable. That's about 3 feet of covered, shelter area. The rest of the cage is open air. It sits on the lawn, and I'm going to cover the bottom wire with wood shavings. She's not in it yet. I need to get clips to secure the doors. There are cats and the weight of a cat may bow in the large top doors. We also have a very rare racoon appearance. I want to make sure she's secure first.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Nellie's comb and wattles haven't changed all that much over the last several weeks, so that is a good hen sign I think. She looks very relaxed.

That new enclosure sounds like a good size.

 

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OK, here's another stupid question. This past weekend Nellie has been making these weird noises. She sounds like a honking goose. Very loud and weird coming from her little chicken self. My sister in the next yard looked over and asked if that was her. So, do JG's make a honking noise? Each time I heard it I would look at her and she' would be sitting quietly. I thought maybe a bug was bothering her or startled her from sleep. I can't be sure though. I hate to say it, but could this be a rooster thing?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Well the good news is that if she was sitting after making the noise she probably wasn't trying to crow. Usually roosters will stand up to crow, or at the very least stretch out their necks. In addition to the cluck, cluck sound chickens make a bawk, bawk sound that is louder and a kind of squawk sound that could sound sort of goose like. She is definitely growing out of the peep, peep stage. I think I read some where that chickens can make around 30 different kind of sounds.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

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http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii204/Scylla_photos/New Nellie

It was so hot today, and she was panting, so after I cleaned her cage, she got a little bath. That got me wondering. Can chickens swim? Do they like sitting in water? Her water dish always looks like she's been sitting in it.

They can swim! Check out the pics of Buff Orpingtons on this on this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=538337​

 

[Nicole01]

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OK, here's another stupid question. This past weekend Nellie has been making these weird noises. She sounds like a honking goose. Very loud and weird coming from her little chicken self. My sister in the next yard looked over and asked if that was her. So, do JG's make a honking noise? Each time I heard it I would look at her and she' would be sitting quietly. I thought maybe a bug was bothering her or startled her from sleep. I can't be sure though. I hate to say it, but could this be a rooster thing?

My rhode island red pullet did this exact same noise when she turned 12 weeks old. I swear she was pretending to be a goose. It took her 2-3 weeks for her normal adult voice to kick in. At 15 weeks she started to sing the egg song. At 18 weeks I'm still waiting for eggs and I often hear the egg song.lol The honking is normal puberty change.​

 

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PLEASE HELP!

I've noticed that Nellie has been lethargic lately. I thought it was because I put too much DE in her dust dish and she probably inhaled it. I washed her and her cage, and took it out immediately. Now I see that she can't stand, and flops down as soon as I let her be. She uses her wings to try and balance herself and barely move on her own. She's very sleepy all the time. There seems to be sores behind each of her legs, behind her knees or hocks or whatever it's called. Yesterday I really thought she was going to die.
I know nothing about chickens and I really don't want to be the cause of her death.

Is this something treatable? What should I do for her??

(reposted under Emergencies/diseases tab)

 

[jjthink]

Kathy - Sorry, just seeing this and running into a meeting. This may be the time for a vet, if you can. JJ