Loose chicken in the neighborhood

[riacz]

Hello,
I just joined today, and I posted in the introduction thread, explaining that a little hen showed up out of nowhere and decided to live in my side yard about two months ago. I live in a neighborhood where there are no chickens, so I don't know where she came from. Anyway, I built her a coop, which she rarely uses, but that's all explained in my other post. My question now is regarding another chicken. My neighbor down the street had a chicken show up at her house last night out as well. We are thinking someone dumped them, though why they left them in our neighborhood is beyond me. Anyway, I'd like to bring her to live at my home, since I have the coop ready, and I'm thinking she probably came from the same place my chicken came from, so they would already know each other. Any thoughts on how to coax her to my house? She's currently staying under a huge pine tree about eight houses down. We are in Michigan, so it's getting really cold here.
Thanks!

 

[boskelli1571]

Hi there - do you have any large factory farms or slaughterhouses within a reasonable distance?? Anyway - coax the hen with handfuls of scratch/grain/corn. It will take a bit, but make sure she knows it comes from you. Every couple of days drop the feed a bit further from her and check to make sure she eats. Then try leaving a trail of seeds towards your place....make sure she has plenty of cover on her planned route so she can escape if she needs to. Good luck and let us know how it works out...

 

[riacz]

Thank you! She was actually eating right out of my hand today, but she wouldn't stray too far from the safety of the pine tree. I like the idea of leaving a trail leading to my house, I will try that! As far as I know, there are no farms or slaughterhouses anywhere nearby. I know there is one lady who raises chickens about a mile from here, but she says she's not missing any of hers.

 

[junebuggena]

Chickens have terrible night vision. If you wait till night-fall, you should be able to catch it fairly easily. Chickens do have to be 'trained' to use a coop. The most effective way to do this is to shut them in the coop for a few days.
If you post a picture, we might be able to confirm that it's a hen, and we might be able to tell you what breed.

 

[riacz]

Mine sleeps in a tree, out of reach, although my son did climb up there one day and got her down so we could put her in her coop. Sometimes, though, she just climbs higher, and since my son is a grown man, he can only climb so high after her before branches start to break. The other one slept in a huge tree last night, but I don't know how high up she went. One of the doctors I work with also raises chickens, and he said mine is a Welsummer. I was looking at pictures online last night, and I'm pretty sure the one down the street is a Light Sussex. I'm hoping they are both hens, because we are not allowed to have roosters in my neighborhood. I will post some pictures as soon as I can, so you can hopefully tell me they are hens. Thank you!

 

[aart]

I'd build a run attached to the coop and rig the run door so you can close it from afar with a string or wire.
Start feeding them in the run and eventually you'll get the opportunity to close the door.
Had to do this with a dog crate to catch a 'feral' chook....took some time and patience.