Kindofclever
In the Brooder
- Sep 25, 2017
- 3
- 7
- 11
Hello!
I just created an account because I can't find specific answers for my strange situation. Here's my back story:
I live in St. Pete, Florida, in a corner house. On one side is a semi-busy street, and the other is a quiet neighborhood street.
A few months ago, a sad looking, scrawny, beat up chicken came walking in to our yard from the busy street, no idea how she made it past the cars. My mom has chickens, so I'm somewhat familiar, but this thing just looked weird. She's black with greenish feathers, no waddle, no comb, and long black legs. She's got a very angry looking red face, similar to a vulture. She's also very tall and skinny.
My first thought was she might be a rooster, but she set up shop in our backyard and laid an egg on her first night. She seemed pretty content just hanging out in the yard and laid an egg every day.
After a couple weeks it seemed like we had been officially adopted, so I got her a coop and everything else she'd need. We named her Street Taco. She started to heal (she had some bloody scratches, maybe from a cat?) so now she's just got bald patches where her feathers haven't grown in, but overall she was pretty active.
Every time I'd go out to see her she'd come running. She took a lot of dust baths, ate her treats, and laid her eggs with no issues. But then she stopped. She stopped laying eggs completely, stopped leaving her coop, stopped taking dust baths. The only way she'd come out is if I opened the coop and lured her out with treats.
I assumed she was broody, but this has been going on for a few months now, at least 3. A guy at the feed store said to lock her out of the coop during the day and force her to run around, but she just sits by the door and waits to be let in
A few months ago, I went out of town and my mom offered to let Street Taco bunk with her flock for the week. We figured there would be some disagreements, but Street Taco was really aggressive, and kinda scary. My mom told me she would stand on a deck chair and actually crow. She ended up pecking a hole in one of her chickens heads and had to be separated so she didn't kill anyone.
Once we got her back home, she continued to sit in her coop like always.
I thought maybe she isn't broody, but just lonely? Maybe she was part of a flock before she stumbled in to our yard and misses being the alpha chicken? So I purchased a young Buff, hoping if she is broody, she'd be happy to have a little chick to love, and if she isn't broody, maybe she'd be happy to have a friend?
Right now the baby is in the house, we're keeping her quarantined, and letting her grow up a bit before we let her enter the ring with Street Taco.
So my major questions are:
What the hell kind of bird is Street Taco? Why does she look like a scary vulture? Is there any way to introduce our new baby (her name is Queso) to our moody and aggressive only child?
We love little Queso, she's very cuddly and sweet and I don't want her to be pecked to death.
I just created an account because I can't find specific answers for my strange situation. Here's my back story:
I live in St. Pete, Florida, in a corner house. On one side is a semi-busy street, and the other is a quiet neighborhood street.
A few months ago, a sad looking, scrawny, beat up chicken came walking in to our yard from the busy street, no idea how she made it past the cars. My mom has chickens, so I'm somewhat familiar, but this thing just looked weird. She's black with greenish feathers, no waddle, no comb, and long black legs. She's got a very angry looking red face, similar to a vulture. She's also very tall and skinny.
My first thought was she might be a rooster, but she set up shop in our backyard and laid an egg on her first night. She seemed pretty content just hanging out in the yard and laid an egg every day.
After a couple weeks it seemed like we had been officially adopted, so I got her a coop and everything else she'd need. We named her Street Taco. She started to heal (she had some bloody scratches, maybe from a cat?) so now she's just got bald patches where her feathers haven't grown in, but overall she was pretty active.
Every time I'd go out to see her she'd come running. She took a lot of dust baths, ate her treats, and laid her eggs with no issues. But then she stopped. She stopped laying eggs completely, stopped leaving her coop, stopped taking dust baths. The only way she'd come out is if I opened the coop and lured her out with treats.
I assumed she was broody, but this has been going on for a few months now, at least 3. A guy at the feed store said to lock her out of the coop during the day and force her to run around, but she just sits by the door and waits to be let in
A few months ago, I went out of town and my mom offered to let Street Taco bunk with her flock for the week. We figured there would be some disagreements, but Street Taco was really aggressive, and kinda scary. My mom told me she would stand on a deck chair and actually crow. She ended up pecking a hole in one of her chickens heads and had to be separated so she didn't kill anyone.
Once we got her back home, she continued to sit in her coop like always.
I thought maybe she isn't broody, but just lonely? Maybe she was part of a flock before she stumbled in to our yard and misses being the alpha chicken? So I purchased a young Buff, hoping if she is broody, she'd be happy to have a little chick to love, and if she isn't broody, maybe she'd be happy to have a friend?
Right now the baby is in the house, we're keeping her quarantined, and letting her grow up a bit before we let her enter the ring with Street Taco.
So my major questions are:
What the hell kind of bird is Street Taco? Why does she look like a scary vulture? Is there any way to introduce our new baby (her name is Queso) to our moody and aggressive only child?
We love little Queso, she's very cuddly and sweet and I don't want her to be pecked to death.
That is a seriously cool bird, congrats on being adopted by her. 
