Help! I've found a chicken!

[Karran]

Went to take Mrs Spaniel for a walk and we spotted a little brown hen about to cross the very busy main road at rush hour! 😱.
Tied Mrs Spaniel to a post and shooed the hen on to the quieter side street.
She must be a pet as was happy to be picked up and sat calm as anything in my arms as I took her home.
I've put her in my aviary now and gave her some bread as her crop was empty and she was clearly grateful for.
What do I do with her? I'm not sure my aviary is big enough for her to live in fulltime, not sure I can trust her to potter alone - Mrs Spaniel won't bother her but we get a lot of foxes...

I assume she can't eat the Cockatiel mix and Google says green leaves and wheat. She can help herself to the bird grit but what else can I feed her or do I need to know about?

I don't know of anywhere local with hens, nearest ones would be two or three miles away and she couldn't have flown that far or even got that far without having a road accident?

Someone must be missing her surely?

 

[silv]

Bless her, maybe she is someone's pet and she has escaped from their garden, or else she has stopped laying and been dumped (sadly that happens often here) Is there a Facebook page for lost pets in your area? Maybe you could try that.
Hens make great pets, they eat anything, you could give her some dogmeat and I don't see why she couldn't have some cockatiel mix, fruit, greens etc till you can get some wheat or poultry mix for her. Hopefully you will find her owner.

 

[milliepops]

sorry, no practical help but you have missed an opportunity to tell us why the chicken was crossing the road

oh, and agree with silv, my chooks ate anything and everything in between their layers pellets.

 

[Karran]

sorry, no practical help but you have missed an opportunity to tell us why the chicken was crossing the road

Local lido is on other side! May be she fancied a swim!
Good news about the mix. I wondered if her beak would be able to break open sunflower seed shells!
Will make Mrs Spaniel share some dinner for now. Have popped a post up on Facebook but knowing the area I worry that it may be replied to by someone after a meal!!

 

[Clodagh]

Really shouldn't feed her dog meat. Bread will be fine for anow, especially if brown, when you decide to keep her (!) she will need pellets.

 

[{97702}]

Genuine question, can you really feed chickens dog meat? Surely they aren't carnivorous? Mine always had mixed corn or pellets when I was a kid, but they liked greens etc as well

 

[Equi]

I had to lock the chooks out of the cat house cause they would fight the cats for the cat food. They’ll eat literally anything, they’re omnivarious.

Layers pellets will be the best for her long term but until you get her home or get her a bag she can have some veggies and cockatiel mix. She won’t break the seeds open most likely just peck them whole.

 

[Karran]

If I chose to keep her, can she live alone albeit with the Cockatiels as company or does she ideally need other hens? I have had the offer of a new home for her but the thought of fresh eggs is tempting! If I can't find her owners I want to do right for her obviously!

 

[Clodagh]

Genuine question, can you really feed chickens dog meat? Surely they aren't carnivorous? Mine always had mixed corn or pellets when I was a kid, but they liked greens etc as well

Chooks are true omnivores, you should see them if they get into a nest of baby rats! It is actually illegal to deliberatly feed them stuff like dog food as that sort of thing is what gives us disease outbreaks.

 

[Clodagh]

If I chose to keep her, can she live alone albeit with the Cockatiels as company or does she ideally need other hens? I have had the offer of a new home for her but the thought of fresh eggs is tempting! If I can't find her owners I want to do right for her obviously!

She will be fine alone, they can get very tame and she may well sit on your lap. Housetraining is an issue though! You may not get any eggs, it depends on her age. We need pics!

 

[{97702}]

Chooks are true omnivores, you should see them if they get into a nest of baby rats! It is actually illegal to deliberatly feed them stuff like dog food as that sort of thing is what gives us disease outbreaks.

I feel like I did mine a disservice now I'd love some more.... trouble is, so would the lurchers and greyhounds.....

 

[Karran]

Hmm. Thought I attached a pic earlier. But here is Henny Weasley attempting to cross the road!

 

[Karran]

And Henny Weasley sat in an aviary that is desperately in need of a good clean! She currently is roosting on top of the cage. I've read they like to be high up when they sleep?

 

[{97702}]

You have named her already That is so sweet - she isn't going anywhere is she

 

[Leo Walker]

My hens, little fluffy bantams will try and take food from the dogs when they eat in the garden in the summer. Nothing likes food like hens! Other than that they co exist happily with the whippets. The oldest couldnt care less. The youngest occasionally darts about trying to make them fly, but they arent that interested. We dont leave them alone with them though. The cat is absolutely terrified of them despite being the most hard core hunter I have ever met!

Naturally they roost in trees. If shes gone up on top of the cage then thats where shes happiest. If you are going to keep her you really need another one though. They are such social creatures and this time of year when its freezing they keep each other warm by huddling up. Its not essential, but its similar to keeping a horse alone.

 

[Karran]

You have named her already That is so sweet - she isn't going anywhere is she

Debatable. I'm gonna have an attempt at finding her owners, will pop to local vets and to the kiddy farm tomorrow and see if they know of anyone who keeps hens locally who may have missed one.

If she does need a friend she can't stay unfortunately, my garden simply can't support a chicken coop as well as the aviary (which I think may be too cold for her if weather goes really downhill) and an outdoor enclosure for the tortoise and be a decent size for Mrs Spaniel and her F1 style laps of the garden. However I also know the longer she stays here the harder it will be to say goodbye!

 

[Equi]

If you’re not really set up for it it’s best to let her go. They do like to have a little flock. When my flock died out I had one old hen left and she followed me about like a puppy and I always felt bad leaving her alone but she didn’t lay anymore and was an egg breaker so no one would take her. She eventually had to be put down cause she lost the use of her legs.

 

[QuantockHills]

i'll have her... got a dozen that free range on 3 acres.... but i'm in Somerset...?

 

[Karran]

Thanks. I do have a couple of people that have offered to rehome her. Going to hang on till the weekend in case I can track her owners down and if not rehome her to be a bird in a flock!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We let our last hen move next door to join their flock when she was left on her own. After a while she went to neighbour's daughter's place to show newly freed battery hens how to be a free-range hen. If I remember rightly, she was there about 2 years before succumbing to old age.

 

[JillA]

Genuine question, can you really feed chickens dog meat? Surely they aren't carnivorous? Mine always had mixed corn or pellets when I was a kid, but they liked greens etc as well

They eat worms and other grubs so why not? Mine will steal the cats food if it isn't on a high enough shelf and would KILL for dried mealworms

 

[Leo Walker]

Debatable. I'm gonna have an attempt at finding her owners, will pop to local vets and to the kiddy farm tomorrow and see if they know of anyone who keeps hens locally who may have missed one.

If she does need a friend she can't stay unfortunately, my garden simply can't support a chicken coop as well as the aviary (which I think may be too cold for her if weather goes really downhill) and an outdoor enclosure for the tortoise and be a decent size for Mrs Spaniel and her F1 style laps of the garden. However I also know the longer she stays here the harder it will be to say goodbye!

They need surprisingly little room. I think its something like 0.5m per chicken. Mine live in a big childs play house with branches to roost on, and then I have a big run going the length of the garden, but thats because I have too many to admit to! A pair of chickens would live quite happily in a decent size aviary, especially if they got some free ranging time.

This i actually for quarantine and where chicks go before they go into the main flock, but it could easily house 2 bantams size wise

 

[silv]

Chooks are true omnivores, you should see them if they get into a nest of baby rats! It is actually illegal to deliberatly feed them stuff like dog food as that sort of thing is what gives us disease outbreaks.

How does that cause disease outbreaks? Everyone I know feeds dog food to their chooks in the spring to get them on the lay, perhaps it is different in the UK. Chooks eat meat, surely worms are classed as meat and goodness knows what else they are eating when free ranging around my 6 acres. Birds eat road kill how is that any different? Not trying to start an argument with you, I am just curious.