Aloha, I'm responding to a request from Nifty-Chicken to introduce myself, since I've been "lurking" for almost 2 years.
I found Chicken Little in the street in April '09 when she was a chick...she had feathers, but couldn't walk. I imagine a cat snatched her from her wild mother and siblings (lots of feral chickens in Hawaii) and dropped her while running away from a car. I fed her a wet mash made from "starter" crumbles from our local feed store for a couple of days until she started pecking, then offered her the dry starter and let her eat whatever she wanted in the yard. We have LOTS of bugs in Hawaii! and plenty grass and clover and other greens (she especially likes my Maidenhair fern
). She slept under a feather duster in a box in the living room for about 5 months. We tried to keep her in a 6x8 (open-top) pen during the day that we moved around in the yard, but she soon "flew the coop" to hang with our dogs, Mimi and Kimo. So now she goes wherever she wants in the yard, isn't interested in roaming outside the yard, and nests in a birdcage we put in a covered patio behind the house that I close and cover at night to protect her from marauding cats. She eats scratch, laying pellets, and a gamebird mix plus whatever she finds in the yard. She has pretty much cleared the yard of ticks, beetles, roaches, centipedes, scorpions and snails. She gives us delicious, beautiful blue-shelled eggs for about 15-17 days before she gets broody, at which time I put a couple of golf balls in her nest and let her sit for a week or so, then take her off the nest until she loses interest. In a couple of weeks she starts laying again.
I've gotten answers to most of my questions by lurking here, fishing for info. Many thanks to all the wonderful members who are so generous with their knowledge! ...soon I'll be asking for more advice, because we are moving to Vermont and we are going to take her with us--the new climate will be a challenge, I'm guessing!
I found Chicken Little in the street in April '09 when she was a chick...she had feathers, but couldn't walk. I imagine a cat snatched her from her wild mother and siblings (lots of feral chickens in Hawaii) and dropped her while running away from a car. I fed her a wet mash made from "starter" crumbles from our local feed store for a couple of days until she started pecking, then offered her the dry starter and let her eat whatever she wanted in the yard. We have LOTS of bugs in Hawaii! and plenty grass and clover and other greens (she especially likes my Maidenhair fern
I've gotten answers to most of my questions by lurking here, fishing for info. Many thanks to all the wonderful members who are so generous with their knowledge! ...soon I'll be asking for more advice, because we are moving to Vermont and we are going to take her with us--the new climate will be a challenge, I'm guessing!
