Lost a hen to a hawk, rescued a feral replacement

[DanG144]

I lost one of my Rhode Island Red pullets (18 weeks old) to a hawk on Thursday afternoon. Blast it.
The hawk ate the head and neck.
I saw the hawk the next morning as it came back for another hen, but I kept them in the covered run and coop for a while - maybe forever.

My wife came home Friday night and told me she saw a Rhode Island Red hen in the woods again across from the school where she teaches, and talked me into going to get it. She had been seeing a rooster and two hens since September, but there was only one hen in sight for the last week or two.

So we went out after dark, found it roosting, and brought it home.

I had to laugh, as it was a Bantam, not a full sized bird, and it was not even close to a RIR coloring. She knew what to tell me to accomplish her goal, which was to rescue the bird.

We put the hen into the coop with the other birds (5 RIR pullets, 1 accidental rooster, all 18 weeks old.)

I was hoping they would adjust to her, and apparently they did. She is dead center on the top roost bar tonight with the big birds almost covering her completely. Definitely a survivor type.

Can anyone tell me what breed she might be? I have never had a Bantam before.

 

[salt and pepper]

I don't know what she is, but shes gorgeous, and love your story!

 

[Mattlime]

She is a BB Brown they are good egg layers of white eggs and brood a lot...very protective mothers as they are game birds...easily tame and lovable chickens...

 

[Mattlime]

She also looks like she may have leg mites you need to get rid of them before she can infect the rest...

 

[DanG144]

Thanks for the warning on the leg mites. No good deed goes unpunished.
I'll start treating right away.

 

[DanG144]

A co-worker who has raised chickens for 35 years tells me the new bird is NOT a bantam, but a regular game hen. (To be frank, he laughed at me - he said bantam game hens look similar to pigeons in size.)
If you look closely you can see two 20lb monofilament fishing lines tied, one to each leg. (Immediately removed, by the way.)
He has seen this in the local area (within 10 miles) where he suspected that birds were being bred for fighting.
Each hen and rooster is tied out, picketed, tethered, to its own small shed.
In this way the owner can closely control what rooster is breeding what hen.
Of course other careful breeders could use the same setup.
Treatment for scaly leg mites have started. (Vaseline, for now.)