I found a chicken!!!

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Nacarona

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Hi everyone,

My neighbours called to say they had found a chicken in thier backyard. I chased the bird around for a while and managed to catch it. Once I grabbed it, it didn't struggle. Now I have the chicken in my rabbit's hutch (the rabbit runs freely in my backyard and doesn't like his hutch anyway). I put in some hay, a bowl of wild bird seed and a bowl of water in the hutch. It seems to like the bird seed. I was wondering if the chicken is a hen or rooster because if it is a hen and it doesn't belong to anyone I would like to keep it (I live in the city so I can't have a rooster). I'm pretty sure it's a hen. Also, if anyone has any other tips/info like what to feed it and what breed it is (I'm guessing a fresian?) I would appreciate it.

Here is a pic of the chicken in my neighbours backyard:


This is where I am keeping it for now:
 
She looks like a typical hybrid brown layer Nacarona. Definitely a hen, and in good condition, from the photo. She's probably someone's pet who has escaped from a garden when the gate was left open or something. She's unlikely to have flown out as she doesn't look the aeronautical type to me.
It would be a good idea to spend Sunday going along your road and enquiring if anyone has lost her, or if anyone knows who keeps chickens locally. Maybe put up a poster or two as well. What you have done for her is fine for now, but she will need different food and there would be problems in store for you longer term if you did keep her. For one thing, its not a good idea to just keep one hen, she would need a couple more for company, and that would mean a much bigger coop and run, and there would be problems introducing newbies to a single hen who thought she owned the place. Also, of course, someone somewhere is possibly worried about her and fears a fox has got her.
There's a lady up my road who keeps ex-batts similar to this one, and one of hers kept going on little trips round the neighbourhood for several months last winter. Like you, I was concerned about her, and did think of kidnapping her for her own good, but she too up residence in a neighbours garden during the day, ate their birdseed, and went home each night, crossing the road quite safely. See this thread http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7518
 
Thank you very much for your help. I live in New Zealand so there are no foxes! I agree that she probably is somebody's pet because she has been eating from my hand and letting me pat her now that she has settled down. I will put posters at the local vets and ask around, as well as posting her on Pets on the net.

Thanks again.
 
Lucky you, no foxes!
What are you feeding your ducks with? If this is a specialist waterfowl food with pellets in, might be more suitable for a hen for the time being than bird seed.in any case I expect she's hungry if she's been wandering around for a while, and will need a supply of food whenever she needs it, rather than a ration now and then from your hand. Hens like to nibble on and off all day, in one end and out the other, so to speak, so she will take what she needs if you can give her a feeder full to help herself from. As she's so tame, I would agree with you that she's someone's much- loved pet.
 
I feed my duck cereal and bread. I will probably have to buy chicken pellets for this hen. Would rabbit pellets be better in the meantime? I have put an ad on Pets on the Net. I am not allowed to post links yet but if you go to the website and click "Lost and Found Pets" then scroll down you will see it. How should I give her water? I put a bowl of water in the hutch but she keeps knocking it over.
 
Hi Nacarona.
One of my hens recently disappeared & my husband and I were gutted. Whilst taking care of her for now, please do everything you can to reunite this hen with her family. They must be really upset too.

Now you know how lovely hens are, we'll give you all the support you need in getting a run, coop, feeder, drinker etc. set up in preparation for now wanting to get some hens of your own ;)
 
I can understand how upsetting it must be losing a pet. i hope you are able to find yours. I have made posters and they have been put up at the local vet centres and in the letter boxes of nearby houses. I have also reported her to the SPCA. If she has a family who are looking for her I really hope they find her. She is such a friendly chicken.

I have a bag of proper chicken food now and she has eaten some of it. I let her out and she has been wandering around, scratching and finding worms. She has been going back in the hutch to rest in the top floor. She found the icecream container full of water I put out for the wild birds and has been drinking from it. She seems happy to be free and is getting on well with my rabbit. I have decided to call her Daisy.
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Great news: I have found Daisy's owner! Apparently their other hen has been really missing her. I will miss her too; she is such a sweet hen, but I'm glad she can finally be reunited with her owner and hen friend. She is busy laying at the moment but once she has laid her egg I will bring her back to them.

:( :)
 
What a lovely ending to the story. It sounds as if you've made two new friends, Daisy and her owner. I'm glad she left you a leaving present.
Are you going to get some chickens now? You will miss her!
 
That is great news that you have managed to re-unite her with her owner, and especially well done on the effort you made into putting up posters and adverts :-)17 :-)08 :-)08
 
I won't get my own chickens because the neighbours don't like the noise. However, in a month Daisy's owners will be going on holiday and need somebody to look after their chickens. I will be looking after her and the other hen then and maybe even some chicks because the other hen is sitting on eggs!
 
Daisy turned up in my front yard a few weeks ago along with the other hen she lives with. My dog chased them off but I was able to track them down, catch them and return them to their owner. I am quite surprised she found her way back; as far as I know she had only been to my neighbourhood once and she only would have seen my front yard up close twice through the wire of the cage I put her in. She's a better navigator than I am.
 
Hello, I loved your chicken story!
She obviously had such a lovely time with you she brought a friend to show her.
I'm sure just a couple of little brown hens will enhance your life.
Your dog will also love them (probably) when he realizes he can protect them.
 
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