Introducing a feral chicken

[siouxbhoney]

My neighbor has a feral chicken hanging around his yard so he has offered her to me. I'm all set up to quarantine the new girl and introduce slowly but does anybody have any experience taking in Ferals? Anything I should know ahead of time? I don't know anything about the chicken yet.

 

[WooingWyandotte]

She probably has mites/lice. I would give her a once over, check her vent, feel for pin bones, watch her behavior and look at her poop to see if it's healthy. I would probably put her within squawking distance of the other hens for a few weeks, but not close enough for any kind of physical contact (assuming your birds are bug free).

If all is well, you can start to introduce them by putting their enclosures right next to each other, but with a fence separating. That way they can fight and peck with the ability to get away if needed. Two weeks of that has worked like a charm every time, at least in my experience!

 

[siouxbhoney]

How do i get rid of the mites?

 

[centrarchid]

If feral and appears to be in good health, then parasites likely not to be an issue. Show a picture of her. Breed might be important.

 

[siouxbhoney]

I dont have a pic yet. Ill snap one when i catch her.

 

[siouxbhoney]

 

[siouxbhoney]

Black sex link?

 

[centrarchid]

Looks to be at least part game chicken. I assume she can fly very strongly. Image not best but she appears very healthy. Do not treat.

 

[chippy99th]

She looks lovely. In my experience ferals usually do pretty well being introduced, since they tend to be pretty tough and don't put up with much bullying. We get a lot of ferals due to my neighbors from years ago being unable to control their chickens' breeding and escaping! They are mostly game mutts like yours, and they actually tend to be healthier than our pure breeds overall.

 

[siouxbhoney]

Sorry to say, a hawk got this girl before i could.