Outside Chicken Came And Joined Our Flock

[andylegate]

Last week, as I was waking up with a cup of coffee, I looked out my door towards my chicken run and saw a chicken outside the run. At first I was like "Oh crud! Betty got out!" because at first glance it looked like my Golden Laced chicken Betty.

But then I realized that it was smaller, tail feathers shaped wrong, and of course Betty is molting like crazy right now.

So someone's chicken decided to come investigate mine. It kept walking all around the chicken run looking for a way in. My rooster, Nugget, who is also a Golden Lace was making all sorts of sounds. My Cinnamon Queens made a lot of sqwaking sounds at it.

I stepped outside with some scratch and it ran quickly away, making squwaking sounds of it's own. So it's real skittish of people. I spread some scratch down, and for almost a week now it's made itself home just outside our chicken run.

Today our schedule and the weather finally made it possible for me to let my chickens free range. The strange chicken came right up to mine. Seemed obvious it wants to join the flock. Not too many confrontations were made.

Finally, it ran into the chicken run and that's where it is now with my other chickens. There's some pecking going on, and Nugget just tried to mount it (it didn't like that). But otherwise not too bad.

I took some pictures of it. I have no idea what the breed is or if it's a hen or a roo (hope it's not a roo). It's a lot smaller than my Golden Lace or my Cinnamon Queens.

Here it is:





It's tail feathers are shaped like a axe head in a wedge.

Here's my roo, Nugget:



And my some of my Cinnamon Queens:

 

[MrsBrooke]

Looks like an Old English Game Fowl hen.

I would recommend quarantining for a minimum of two weeks to make sure she doesn't have anything communicable that your flock could catch, if you plan on keeping her.

Congrats on your new arrival!

MrsB

 

[Wyandottes7]

Looks like an Old English Game or gamefowl mix to me, as well.

 

[andylegate]

Thanks for the help guys!

We'll take precautions with her.

Trying to figure out where she came from.

 

[Kev]

Yeah American Game- what the others are calling Old English Game. Breed used in cockfighting.

It's a female and seems young, perhaps still a pullet.

Would be good idea to dust or at least worm her with a wormer that works on all blood suckers- it would take care of any blood sucking mites/lice.

Many of them are naturally excitable/ Hens are great setters and mothers, however many mothers are very very defensive of their chicks.. can be annoying if in confined quarters and she decides you are a chick killer.

She could have wandered from anywhere, many of them like to roam far. Or escapee/dumped... this breed is kept almost everywhere, including the city. Very high percentage of rescue chickens at animal shelters are this breed for the same reasons.

 

[andylegate]

All my hens right now don't brood. They drop their eggs, and that's it, they're done! Walk off and don't want anything to do with them. Which is good, I don't want chicks right now, just the eggs.

My rooster on the other hand, he get's really annoyed with me when I get the eggs sometimes if he's in the coop. Stomps is feet at me or pecks me when I go to get them. Cracks me up!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Looks like an Old English Game or gamefowl mix to me, as well.

X2

 

[BantamLover21]

She looks like a gamebird hen to me, too.

If possible, I would get the bird out of your flock and isolate it for at least two weeks. You don't know what diseases or parasites it could be carrying and possibly spreading to your other innocent chickens.

 

[andylegate]

Just wanted to update you guys on this.

We named the hen Little Bit. We ended up having to remove her from the run because the others tried to kill her. She was a bloody mess when I got to her, and I pretty much thought that was it for her.

But she survived and is doing very well!

She stays outside and has the run of my land. I know this means I can't protect her from predators, nor can I afford to build another run just for her. She comes out of the heavy undergrowth from the tree line and visits, especially during feeding time. Sometimes she bursts out of the brush making quite a bit of noise, almost like a quail, but not to run away, but to run forward to me. Startles me every time!

She goes around the chicken run, teasing the rest of the flock for a while then walks off back into to the brush. She quickly disappears when I let my flock out to free range.

 

[yochickiemomma]

I'm glad to hear she's doing so well. I take it you live where the winters aren't too harsh for her to be on her own at night.

I have a rooster in rehab/ isolation because of of my other chickens pulling all of his tail feathers out and made him bleed. I'm not sure if its because he's the smallest out of three roosters that ended up in my box of pullets.