Unexpected Hen Mom

Pics
Date sort Score sort
A

AdoptedHenMom

In the Brooder
Jul 9, 2025
8
57
41
Hi Chicken Peeps! (See what I did there?) Kind of a long story I'll try to make short. We live on 3.5 acres in what has now become a suburban area. We bought 7 acres with friends and split it. There is a large pond between the properties. The friends divorced and foreclosed on their house. The people who bought it don't speak English and after tearing out a bunch of stuff, basically have walked away and only come on occasional weekends or to drop stuff for storage in the back. The house came with a large metal building. Right after they bought, they obtained a bunch of chickens and at least one rooster that they left in the barn with a large self feeder. As far as I could tell, they never collected eggs. I saw them carrying some dead ones away by their feet, so I guess they were raising them to eat. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, we saw them with the barn door open and then I stopped hearing noises from the barn. Next, our dog was chasing around what turned out to be a chicken. We trained the dog to stay away from "Chickie Baby" and have since bought a corn mix from the local feed store. She sleeps on the reeds over the pond. I read that they mostly lay in mid morning, but I never see her until later in the afternoon. We tried to make a simple nesting box out of a brown storage container complete with the recommended fake egg (golf ball) but she never went near it even with several days of down pours. I discovered when I went to make sure it wasn't wet, that it was full of ants. So I pulled everything out. I'd like to build a coop, but she's been "living" on the property line and I don't want the neighbors to stop by, see she's alive and catch her for their dinner. She's getting used to me and will come within 3 or 4 feet when I bring her the corn mix. I just spread toss the cup full on the ground where she's been eating.

I would like some eggs in return for my feed, I worry about her sleeping over the pond, I worry about raccoons getting her at night, and we live in Florida, so I worry about potential hurricanes.

Thoughts?
 
Welcome to BYC. My thoughts are that you should catch her as soon as possible because raccoons will absolutely do so. Also you should buy her a complete layer feed or a flock maintainer with 18 to 20% protein and some oyster shell for calcium. The corn mix is just a treat and she will become malnourished soon. Good luck and thank you on her behalf!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

Can you reach her in the reeds at night? If you wear a headlamp and can reach her, do so after dark. And, as mentioned, you need to switch over to feeding her a chick crumble or something similar that offers complete nutrition with 18-20% protein. If you build a coop for her, make it an open air coop. If you plan to keep her as yours, I suggest you get her 2 friends as they are flock animals.
Good luck with her.
 
IMG_0554.jpeg
 
Greetings & Salutations. Welcome .

If you decide to take her, she will need a nutritious feed and a safe place to live with a couple of flock buddies.

Pleased you joined our community. This is a great place to Learn and have Fun.
 
Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow

I would just build a coop and run, get a few chicks or chickens, and in time, she'll come to be by them. I'd be afraid of just taking her, granted it's for her own safety, but you wouldn't want them to see her in your run and confront you or call the police. If she comes willingly to be by yours, then there you go!

Another idea is to just go over and talk to them, see if they know any English, and if not, find someone who does to go with you and ask to buy her and a friend, or get the Google Translate app.
 
janiedoe said:
Welcome to BYC. My thoughts are that you should catch her as soon as possible because raccoons will absolutely do so. Also you should buy her a complete layer feed or a flock maintainer with 18 to 20% protein and some oyster shell for calcium. The corn mix is just a treat and she will become malnourished soon. Good luck and thank you on her behalf!
Click to expand...
Thank you for your quick response. I will see what they have at the feed store, but she looks very healthy, so so far, she must be getting enough protein from the worms and bugs she's picking out of the yard. Not sure how I will catch her... I don't want to traumatize her and she doesn't let me that close to her yet. I see there are other suggestions, including building the coop and getting other chicks to encourage her. Not sure we want that much responsibility, but I'll talk it over with Hubby.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom