Unintentional chicken parents in Colombia. Now what?

[FunClucks]

Here are the two original hens and the guys. - Negrita, Capuccina, Mocaccino and Cocacolo. In the last week two more hens have appeared sporadically, a female version of Mocaccino and another black hen.

They're adorable! I love them!!!

How large is that red and black rooster? Does he seem half the size of the hens and the other rooster? If so, I'd say he looks like a game/game mix to me, and they are some of the best adapted to be feral chickens. But your hens and the other rooster do look like a mix of something that escaped from someone's back yard.

 

[AdrianaG]

It is unclear to me if these are a game type chicken well adapted to the area or someone's domestic chickens that got out and maybe bred in the wild a time or two. I agree, the closer they are to standard domestic chickens, the more they would require that type of care to thrive.

@AdrianaG can you post pictures of the chickens? We should be able to tell by looking at them what kind they are.

I just posted pix a few posts down.

 

[triciayoung]

Welcome. Your chickens are adorable. Many have shared their experience and opinions. You need to do what is best for you. Whatever you decide, as you can see by this thread, the experience is here to help you answer questions.

 

[AdrianaG]

They're adorable! I love them!!!

How large is that red and black rooster? Does he seem half the size of the hens and the other rooster? If so, I'd say he looks like a game/game mix to me, and they are some of the best adapted to be feral chickens. But your hens and the other rooster do look like a mix of something that escaped from someone's back yard.

Cocacolo is smaller than the other rooster and Mocaccina, about same size as Capuccina and Negrita. One of our contractors has some fighting roosters and they are similar in coloration but much lankier.

There are farms all around us, I don’t doubt they started out at one of them but they have chosen my lot to hang out, snack and procreate. I have no clue where they roost at night.

 

[FunClucks]

Cocacolo is smaller than the other rooster and Mocaccina, about same size as Capuccina and Negrita. One of our contractors has some fighting roosters and they are similar in coloration but much lankier.

Usually, the smaller the chicken, the better it can fly into trees to get away from predators.

I was in Key West, Florida recently, and they have feral chickens. They are some type of game mix, and are the size of bantams. They thrive there, and wander the island in tribes - a few roosters to a hen, hen and rooster pairs, solo roosters, occasionally a solo hen.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

That is our goal, convert the feral hens to egg suppliers. If only there were birth control for feral hens! My hope is that after this clutch is out of the nest Negrita will continue to lay her eggs there. We thought we had succeeded with Capuccina, but after giving us eggs for a coup,e of weeks she has decided to go broody on a nest of 2 eggs, one fake, one real.

If you don’t want her to hatch chicks, remove the real egg. One of my hens goes broody a few times a year and I remove her eggs right after they’re laid and eat them. Fake eggs are good to get a hen to lay in a specific place, but unfortunately they can also encourage broodiness.

Here are the two original hens and the guys. - Negrita, Capuccina, Mocaccino and Cocacolo. In the last week two more hens have appeared sporadically, a female version of Mocaccino and another black hen.

Those don’t really look like feral chickens to me. They look like mixed breed domestic chickens, which is probably why the hens lay more than ferals would.

Our interest at this time eggs, and until Capuccina decided to go broody she was laying an egg a day 6 feet from our door!

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your Plans. Thank's for Sharing the picture's your Chickens are Beautiful! And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska.

 

[DotToDot]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens, and your chicken story is great! Sometimes chickens just happen. This is a great resource for new flock owners.

 

[swampfox440]

Welcome to BYC! pleased to meet you and thanks for joining us.

 

[AdrianaG]

Colombia Chicken Update - after 2 weeks penned up in a
7’ high chain link fence dog kennel with 2’ concrete block at the bottom, mama flew the coop with the babies. (the babies were able to hop up to the top of the concrete block wall and squeeze through chain link openings, mama must have flown out the top.). Based on advice from some of you guys, we opted to let mama do what nature wanted her to do and let them roam free. In a couple of days, the family shrank down to 4 chicks, then 3, then the chicks disappeared altogether, leaving only Negrita. 3 weeks later they showed up again at our feeder, loud and demanding. We speculate that they had been trapped in a neighboring coop and managed to escape! They are so obnoxious that DH has named them The Little D*ckheads! We just confirmed that Negrita is building a new clutch but is not brooding yet, can we eat those 7 eggs? 3 Little D*ckheads is enough for now!

The other hen, Capuccina, went broody on one fake egg and one real egg. We were out of town on Day 21 and when we returned there were signs of hatching but no chick to be found. She then proceded to brood on the remaining ceramic egg. At Day 23 I decided enough is enough and have blocked access to her nesting spot. She is not a happy camper. Hopefully she will reset hormones and start laying again.