My ancient rescue hen, Lilly

[Ghostbelly]

ooh did you check her for mites?

 

[froggiesheins]

So sorry I haven't responded! I have been so busy lately. It's that time of year, I guess. The hen is doing very well. She is either going into or coming out of a moult, because her tail feathers are all funny right now. I won't know how well she lays for quite a while I think, between the moult and the move. She's gotta be pretty stressed right now. I'll post some updated pics ASAP, but it wouldn't hurt to remind me. She's pretty skittish as far as touch goes, but she's not afraid to bust out of her tractor and demand food when I don't come soon enough. She's quite pretty and seems healthy, though I don't think she would have lived so long is she was prone to illness.
Does anyone know if it would be safe to put a hen of her age with roosters? Would the mating be too much for her? My mom is worried that going from no companion at all, to all the sudden lots of companions, 8 or so being boys chasing you around, might be a little stressful for such an old girl. What do you think? Maybe we should keep her with only hens?

If she were my hen I would not let her with the roosters, its stressful on those old bones & brain, LOL. If you have the room and time, select one of your most sweet hens and put her with "old lady" first to get aquainted...and then go from there. It might be easier for her to go into the flock [of girls only] if she has a buddy to "protect her".

There are two old beat up hens that live where I keep my horse, and they want NOTHING to do with roosters. That is the reason the two ended up here, they would be hiding from the roo, from whereever they did originally live and would come over to this property to escape him. You could see all the feather loss from him "rooing" them. Finally they never left. We do have one old man roo that is a true gentleman and doesn't mount them anymore but offers protection for them..so sweet to see.

Just a little story to help you possibly make a decsion is all. Congratulations on your old girl, give her tons of TLC and she will warm up to you in no time....LOL

 

[LaynaDon95]

ooh did you check her for mites?

lol Yes. First thing I did, actually. She got a clean bill of health. I'm watching her for a bit longer before I put one of my other girls in with her, just to be safe, but she looks great so far!

 

[Ghostbelly]

oh good i'm glad to here she is doing fine

 

[LaynaDon95]

I forgot to get pics up again! Well, I have an update, anyways. I went ahead and put one of my Buff Orpington hens in with her so she could have some company. There was a bit of pecking order establishing at first, but nothing serious, so I left it alone. The BO is not happy about being "held captive" away from the flock, but she is nice to the BR (whom I'm considering calling Lilly, but I haven't decided) and the BR is definitely enjoying her company. It is obvious that she missed being around other chickens.
She has become very social and much less timid. I hand feed her scratch and other treats a lot and she really loves it. She is the nicest hen I have now, which is really weird, considering I hatched and hand raised almost all of my chickens except her.
I moved her tractor to the garden yesterday, hoping to be able to let her out for a bit so she could scratch around without being harassed by the rest of the flock. It seemed to be working, and she was quite enjoying herself, until the BO jumped the fence to join the flock again and the BR followed her. Being a new hen, of course all the roosters wanted to claim her as their own and started chasing her. I ran over to get her, and she ran up to me, let me pick her up, and laid her head on my arm while I carried her back to her tractor. It was so sweet. I caught the BO, who didn't give up her freedom quite as nicely, and put her back in the tractor with "Lilly".
This morning I took Lilly out of her tractor (but not the BO) and let her explore the garden while I sat and supervised. She stayed right next to me the whole time, and I picked up some fallen beans and fed them to her. When it was time to feed the other animals I picked her up, and set her back in her tractor. She didn't seem to mind a bit. She is so easy going.

 

[fishnet1971]

Yea!!!!!!! Oh that is just sooooo heartwarming

 

[Little Peep]

Wow she's a BR and she is Pretty!

 

[LaynaDon95]

One of the roosters trying to figure out how to get in...

 

[Poinsettia]

What a wonderful story!

Thank you for rescuing her.

Acts 2:38
www.sfaw.org

 

[Poinsettia]

What a Beautiful Hen!


Acts 2:38
www.sfaw.org