More Newbies from Oregon

[Retirement chickens]

Hi from Oregon's mid-valley. I retired several months ago and the same week, we had three feral (not really -- turns out they escaped from a new neighbor's barn) chickens show up in our backyard. I made the mistake of tossing some sunflower seed their way and they never left. We don't even know the variety, but according to the neighbors they came from a local animal shelter and "were bred to be skiddish and survive an assortment of predators on their own." Turns out there were two roosters and a hen. The roosters liked to wake up about 4:00 am (about 2 hours before sunrise at the time), were tearing up our landscaping, and after a neighbor complained, wound up in the freezer. Up until then, all three were roosting about 30 feet up in pine trees in our back yard and wouldn't let us get within 50 feet of them. They could fly very well (for chickens) and would regularly fly from their thirty foot roost to the ground 50-60 feet away. After the roosters met their fate, the hen proceeded to find a secluded nest spot next to our house and under some large ferns and a rhody, laid 11 eggs, and demonstrated how good a mom she really was. She never left the eggs for 20 days!!! We finally had to put food and water under her beak after realizing that she would not even go one foot to eat or drink. Since mom would not leave the nest, we simply built an enclosure around her. Nine chicks emerged on day 20 and except for the one that escaped the enclosure and encoutered the neighbor's cat, the other eight are about half grown and thriving at a little over two months. We have since constructed a coop and run and are now hooked on our new pets. We plan to eliminate the roosters, and keep about 3-4 hens (including mom). Mom began laying again at two months and the eggs -- smallish and light brown -- are delicious!!! Mom is a small hen, mostly black with irridescent bluish-black feathers and white spots on her neck. The roosters were much larger and mostly white (not even sure if they were the same variety considering the source.) I'll try and post a photo of mom soon and hopefully someone can identify the breed or hybrid.

The web site is great and I'm sure we will spent many hours perusing and meeting new friends.

Art & Teri

 

[b.hromada]

Hello Art and Terri!

from S. Florida! Glad you joined us! What an interesting way to get into the chicken thing, huh? Don't you think they're so much fun!! Enjoy!!

 

[texasgal]

A big Texas size

 

[Cats Critters]

 

[farmgirljen]

Hello from Corvallis! Where in the mid valley are you located? I have close to 80 birds currently, and have an order of black copper maran eggs on the way to try to hatch...Welcome back to the coop!
Jen

 

[Jccatcher]

 

[fldiver97]

from WI. What a way to get into the whole chicken keeping thing!!!! Good thinking, building the pen around the nest, glad you enjoy the chickens. Post pics.....

 

[eaganchickens]

from MN!