- Jun 20, 2011
- 3
- 0
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Hi everyone,
First off - I'd like to thank all of you for being on this forum. We recently found a chicken... and this site has been the most amazing source of information! So, onto my questions..
Long story short, we have a young bird living at our house. It's currently caged indoors, being feed chicken grower crumbles (from Agway at their recommendation) and being brought outside to our yard for an hour here or there under supervision. I've been doing my reading and it looks very much like the pictures I've found of 8-10 wk Australorps. And it looks like a chicken.
However, several people who have only seen pics on a tiny phone screen are not convinced and think it might be a wild turkey. So... I'm hoping someone here can finally put some of the questions to rest. Here are the pictures:
We have no true idea about age/sex/breed. Thanks for any light you all might be able to shed on this!
~Carrie
Wondering what the longer story is? My fiance was working on landscaping for a customer in a residential neighborhood. We're in eastern Massachusetts... not especially rural. Round about 7-7:30 p.m. - this scraggily black chicken-like bird is walking up to him and his crew as they are installing a new walkway. It doesn't leave them alone so they ask the homeowners if they know anyone in the area who owns chickens. Nope. They went door to door asking neighbors. They drove around to nearby streets doing the same thing. Nobody knew nuthin.'
So he brought it home. Found a cat carrier... read up on emergency chicken feed substitutions (bread, millet, oats - fwiw) and put it in the bathtub, with the shower doors closed and the bathroom doors closed. Did I mention we have two housecats? They still haven't figured out... a week later!
Next day - call around to see who in town had chickens missing, or might be able to take her in. Nobody, apparently. Planned to take her local shelter - even had her packed in the car and started driving down the street. Until the fiance started driving down the street toward home (we're the last house on a dead end...) so that he could say 'goodbye' to the bird. Well, after playing with her on lawn for 90 minutes he thought she could stay another night. Day three, we call more chicken owners and follow up on possible leads - all to no avail. I went to Agway and bought proper chicken feed, cage & bedding.
And now, a week later, we have a pet chicken. Or at least I think it's a chicken. Please... one of you tell me I'm right!
Oh...- and lastly - this little bird is soooo tame. Comes up to anyone - loves being petted and held. Had no shyness whatsoever from the first time it walked on to the jobsite where my fiance found her/him/it...
First off - I'd like to thank all of you for being on this forum. We recently found a chicken... and this site has been the most amazing source of information! So, onto my questions..
Long story short, we have a young bird living at our house. It's currently caged indoors, being feed chicken grower crumbles (from Agway at their recommendation) and being brought outside to our yard for an hour here or there under supervision. I've been doing my reading and it looks very much like the pictures I've found of 8-10 wk Australorps. And it looks like a chicken.
However, several people who have only seen pics on a tiny phone screen are not convinced and think it might be a wild turkey. So... I'm hoping someone here can finally put some of the questions to rest. Here are the pictures:
We have no true idea about age/sex/breed. Thanks for any light you all might be able to shed on this!
~Carrie
Wondering what the longer story is? My fiance was working on landscaping for a customer in a residential neighborhood. We're in eastern Massachusetts... not especially rural. Round about 7-7:30 p.m. - this scraggily black chicken-like bird is walking up to him and his crew as they are installing a new walkway. It doesn't leave them alone so they ask the homeowners if they know anyone in the area who owns chickens. Nope. They went door to door asking neighbors. They drove around to nearby streets doing the same thing. Nobody knew nuthin.'
So he brought it home. Found a cat carrier... read up on emergency chicken feed substitutions (bread, millet, oats - fwiw) and put it in the bathtub, with the shower doors closed and the bathroom doors closed. Did I mention we have two housecats? They still haven't figured out... a week later!
Next day - call around to see who in town had chickens missing, or might be able to take her in. Nobody, apparently. Planned to take her local shelter - even had her packed in the car and started driving down the street. Until the fiance started driving down the street toward home (we're the last house on a dead end...) so that he could say 'goodbye' to the bird. Well, after playing with her on lawn for 90 minutes he thought she could stay another night. Day three, we call more chicken owners and follow up on possible leads - all to no avail. I went to Agway and bought proper chicken feed, cage & bedding.
And now, a week later, we have a pet chicken. Or at least I think it's a chicken. Please... one of you tell me I'm right!
Oh...- and lastly - this little bird is soooo tame. Comes up to anyone - loves being petted and held. Had no shyness whatsoever from the first time it walked on to the jobsite where my fiance found her/him/it...
