Hi everyone,
I joined up here trying to find out some information about our new feathered friend.
I live in Far North Queensland, in Australia. Just behind our housing development block is a creek and old railway line, which is home to some wild bush turkeys and some wild chickens.
A few weeks ago, two of the wild chickens decided to explore the housing development, and one has now decided to move into our backyard. It's roosting on a short bookshelf outside our patio door, loves to rest by my husband's barbeque, is digging a nest/hole in the garden, and is loving our strawberries. It's a very healthy, happy looking chook, and happily eats bugs and insects from our garden, drinks water from the drip tray under our lemon tree, will eat bread and birdseed from our hands, but is still a bit wary of us and will hide under my husbands trailer if needs to.
I think it might be a welsummer, due to its colouring and bright yellow legs, but could be wrong, and not sure if it is a hen or cock. Also no idea how old it may be. The chook does tend to disappear from our yard for a few hours at a time. I have seen no evidence of eggs, except for one small piece of brown shell stuck to some poo where the chook is roosting.
I am a bit worried that is may be a male, as after a week of being here, it started making a crowning noise. After some Googling, I am not sure if we have been adopted by a rooster, or if it is a female which has decided that she's queen chick & exerting her dominance. It's normally very quiet, just the occaionally clucking, and occasional crowing in the morning between 5-7am. Although, I was watching a video of hens crowing on YouTube earlier, and it started crowing in response to what it heard on the computer.
I have been reading the forums on here with great interest, and have attached some photos of our new feathered friend. If anyone has any ideas about breed & sex, I'd be very grateful.
This picture is of the wild chickens by the railway line. I've not been back there recently to see if they're still there (pic taken 14th October)
These two chook decided to go exploring (pic taken 13th November)
And this is our little interloper. Arrived almost a week ago & had made itself quite at home! (pic taken 28th Nov)
Close ups of Chook-Chook taken today (4th December)
I joined up here trying to find out some information about our new feathered friend.
I live in Far North Queensland, in Australia. Just behind our housing development block is a creek and old railway line, which is home to some wild bush turkeys and some wild chickens.
A few weeks ago, two of the wild chickens decided to explore the housing development, and one has now decided to move into our backyard. It's roosting on a short bookshelf outside our patio door, loves to rest by my husband's barbeque, is digging a nest/hole in the garden, and is loving our strawberries. It's a very healthy, happy looking chook, and happily eats bugs and insects from our garden, drinks water from the drip tray under our lemon tree, will eat bread and birdseed from our hands, but is still a bit wary of us and will hide under my husbands trailer if needs to.
I think it might be a welsummer, due to its colouring and bright yellow legs, but could be wrong, and not sure if it is a hen or cock. Also no idea how old it may be. The chook does tend to disappear from our yard for a few hours at a time. I have seen no evidence of eggs, except for one small piece of brown shell stuck to some poo where the chook is roosting.
I am a bit worried that is may be a male, as after a week of being here, it started making a crowning noise. After some Googling, I am not sure if we have been adopted by a rooster, or if it is a female which has decided that she's queen chick & exerting her dominance. It's normally very quiet, just the occaionally clucking, and occasional crowing in the morning between 5-7am. Although, I was watching a video of hens crowing on YouTube earlier, and it started crowing in response to what it heard on the computer.
I have been reading the forums on here with great interest, and have attached some photos of our new feathered friend. If anyone has any ideas about breed & sex, I'd be very grateful.
This picture is of the wild chickens by the railway line. I've not been back there recently to see if they're still there (pic taken 14th October)
These two chook decided to go exploring (pic taken 13th November)
And this is our little interloper. Arrived almost a week ago & had made itself quite at home! (pic taken 28th Nov)
Close ups of Chook-Chook taken today (4th December)
Happy
to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here!
