"Wild" Chicken

3baymares

Crowing
14 Years
Feb 20, 2009
141
71
271
North Atlanta area, USA
A few months ago a small hen showed up outside our girls' coop making lots of noise. I ended up putting her in the pen with our hens after she didn't leave (2-3 days) and I saw a fox going after her one evening.
My question is .... is it worth my time to try and tame her so she is not so frantic in the coop when I come into feed (etc.). She is getting quieter after a few months have passed.

Is taming an untame chicken possible and worthwhile?

I am calling her a game hen... what do you think? She is now one of our best layers as well! :)

 
Hen pictured is an American Game (fighting chicken). Black coloration most typical of strains known as Warhorse or Sid Taylors although others can be so colored. I keep games. They are very easy to tame even when starting with a flighty bird. Games I have in yard are handily the most personable birds you will find and are relatively easy to train to fly up to you for food. Hens also make exceptional mothers. Egg production can be decent for about 6 months of the first two years of life where you might be able to get 120 eggs per season. By the time hens are six you will be lucky to get 40 eggs per year.


An update on this hen now that a few years have passed. She, Jane, has been the best hen of all. She is the smartest and has been a great mother to 3 separate groups of day-old chicks. So glad she found us. I'd love to have a flock of her smart healthy breed@
 
Hen pictured is an American Game (fighting chicken). Black coloration most typical of strains known as Warhorse or Sid Taylors although others can be so colored. I keep games. They are very easy to tame even when starting with a flighty bird. Games I have in yard are handily the most personable birds you will find and are relatively easy to train to fly up to you for food. Hens also make exceptional mothers. Egg production can be decent for about 6 months of the first two years of life where you might be able to get 120 eggs per season. By the time hens are six you will be lucky to get 40 eggs per year.
 
She most likely will never be a lap chicken, and may never be very comfortable in your presence. But, over time, by offering treats, and providing a calm approach, perhaps sitting in the run with little movement, tossing some scratch for the flock, she will become less skittish.
 
I'd go with game hen. You could look at Henderson's chicken breeds chart, or some of the hatchery web sites. They have good pics of a lot of breeds. Might help you to id her. What color and size egg does she lay, is she as big as your other birds???
 
If your other girls get along with her that is a huge step, often difficult to achieve. Maybe more important than how she gets along with you.
 
When we get some from our friends there very skittish.but I've found if you catch them,pet them,give treat,say shhhhhhh its OK every time you are in the coop or run,they get friendlier.one of most loving hen was like that very very skittish...but after sometime.she became very very very sweet hen.
 
Here's a pic
400
 

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