Momma hen did it again.

[RebeccaBoyd]

So my semi feral momma hen went missing for almost 3 weeks, infact the last time i saw her was when i took pictures of her and Tuffnut and Hiccup the hen. I was beginning to fear she had died but nope. Surprise my dad called as he was letting one of the horses hand graze that i needed to come try and round her and her babies up. The crazy hen decided that we needed Halloween babies. I took a flogging from her but it worked in my favor as i was able to grab onto her and then was able to gather up her 4 chicks who appear to be about 3 days old. I was not prepared for new babies so right now they are in a dog kennel and everyone is happy. This time around i do know the parentage of these chicks as for the past 2 months toothless has separated himself from the hens since Tuff claimed them both as his so these chicks are full game chickens. They are tinier then the first batch she hatched off back in march. Horrible timing but i'm hoping for more hens as i would love to have a daughter of momma as she is such a survivor, but wanted them in the spring. These are terrible pictures but its all i have now and letting them rest and acclimate to their new home.

 

[Shadrach]

So my semi feral momma hen went missing for almost 3 weeks, infact the last time i saw her was when i took pictures of her and Tuffnut and Hiccup the hen. I was beginning to fear she had died but nope. Surprise my dad called as he was letting one of the horses hand graze that i needed to come try and round her and her babies up. The crazy hen decided that we needed Halloween babies. I took a flogging from her but it worked in my favor as i was able to grab onto her and then was able to gather up her 4 chicks who appear to be about 3 days old. I was not prepared for new babies so right now they are in a dog kennel and everyone is happy. This time around i do know the parentage of these chicks as for the past 2 months toothless has separated himself from the hens since Tuff claimed them both as his so these chicks are full game chickens. They are tinier then the first batch she hatched off back in march. Horrible timing but i'm hoping for more hens as i would love to have a daughter of momma as she is such a survivor, but wanted them in the spring. These are terrible pictures but its all i have now and letting them rest and acclimate to their new home.

I take it dad is around somewhere.
Has your hen lived in a coop? If so I would expect her to return with her chicks at some point. It's what inevitably happens here.
Do you now know where her nest is?

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Momma hen has never lived in a coop. She escaped about 4 years ago during a horse show where the owners brother brought 2 hens of his to be used for a chicken chase for the kids during intermission. She spent almost 2 years living on the hillside behind my house. 2 years ago she started coming to the barn and became somewhat tame. She quit running away and would come within a foot away from you to eat but you could never touch her. The first year she went broody several times on the hillside but as she was the only chicken none of her eggs were ever fertile. This past spring when she want broody in the barn we got her some fertile eggs from a friend and she hatched off 5, 3 of which survived. 2 of those chicks ended up being Roosters Toothless and Tuffnut. Didn't build a coop as at the time they were living in a 15 stall barn. This past august found out the barn was put up for sale. We ended up building a 2 stall barn in our backyard, *which is maybe 1000 yards away* from the original barn and moved our 2 horses. It's not completely finished yet but once it is a coop is being built for the chickens. It took toothless 2 weeks to realize where his new home is and he stays in the new barn or on the hillside directly behind the house. The other 2 chicks *Tuffnut and Hiccup* and momma would come several times throughout the day into our yard to eat but always ended back up to the old barn at night to roost. When momma went missing last month i checked the old barn several times and never found her so i had feared something had got her. She must have nested on the hillside. Daddy has to be Tuffnut as he had claimed both hens as his and would fight toothless if he came near. Now that momma has new chicks the planned coop will be built asap. But for now i have them in the dog crate between the stalls.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

This is Tuffnut who is who i'm assuming the father to these new chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

Momma hen has never lived in a coop. She escaped about 4 years ago during a horse show where the owners brother brought 2 hens of his to be used for a chicken chase for the kids during intermission. She spent almost 2 years living on the hillside behind my house. 2 years ago she started coming to the barn and became somewhat tame. She quit running away and would come within a foot away from you to eat but you could never touch her. The first year she went broody several times on the hillside but as she was the only chicken none of her eggs were ever fertile. This past spring when she want broody in the barn we got her some fertile eggs from a friend and she hatched off 5, 3 of which survived. 2 of those chicks ended up being Roosters Toothless and Tuffnut. Didn't build a coop as at the time they were living in a 15 stall barn. This past august found out the barn was put up for sale. We ended up building a 2 stall barn in our backyard, *which is maybe 1000 yards away* from the original barn and moved our 2 horses. It's not completely finished yet but once it is a coop is being built for the chickens. It took toothless 2 weeks to realize where his new home is and he stays in the new barn or on the hillside directly behind the house. The other 2 chicks *Tuffnut and Hiccup* and momma would come several times throughout the day into our yard to eat but always ended back up to the old barn at night to roost. When momma went missing last month i checked the old barn several times and never found her so i had feared something had got her. She must have nested on the hillside. Daddy has to be Tuffnut as he had claimed both hens as his and would fight toothless if he came near. Now that momma has new chicks the planned coop will be built asap. But for now i have them in the dog crate between the stalls.

Love the story btw. Makes such a pleasant change. The more feral here do not like being touched. A quick beak stroke is about bearable if there is food forthcoming.
Do you know where she roosted in the couple of years she was on the hillside? I get quite a few trying to sit outside here. These days unfortunately it's high risk (night foxes mainly)
and I find the nests and install the hen and eggs in a coop if I can house more. If not, I confiscate the eggs and they return to their respective tribes.

 

[Left Spur]

I can tell that your hen was pretty wild (that body shape and feather pattern), mine is also like that, she can fly up to 2 m, or more i think. She used to escape a few times till i install a net at the top of the coop. I make sure to pile up some dried hay on the coop if she want to lay an egg. When she was laying, she going from aggressive to jurrassic park nightmare. She will fly everywhere scraping, tossing, and breaking everything.
Now i get fed up to her, then sell it.
Well she already hatch some chick, her chick wasnt as aggressive as her so i keep them.

 

[Aunt Angus]

This is Tuffnut who is who i'm assuming the father to these new chicks.

Wow! Gorgeous!!!!

 

[casportpony]

Congrats, they are adorable!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

10 minutes after my daughter saw them yesterday she had them named. They are.. Cheesecake *the yellow one*, Nugget, Brownie and Henrietta. At least this time around she didn't go with the dragon theme.

 

[drumstick diva]

Is Tuffnut molting? I love his eat & west tail feathers.