Single hen

[tom123]

I have just had THE biggest shock in my life...

 

I got home to find my mum, my nan (shes staying with us for a few days) and my brother all in the garden trying to catch a chicken. I thought it was Lucy as she was a lavender colour but noooo it was a lovely lavender araucana hen with a brown neck !!!!!!!

 

She is really nice!! My own CHICKEN OF FATE!!!! you can probably tell how excited I am!!!

 

here she is...

 

 

She is living in the bantam run at the moment while the bantams free range but my friend is bringing round a broody coop tonight then she will be in with the big girls in the next few weeks BUT am really worried about the intros any tips PLEASE????

 

 

Thanks

Tom

[Egluntyne]

Have you tried to find her owner?

[speckled hen]

I was about to ask the same question. If that lovely lady belonged to me I'd be frantic trying to find her.

 

Hope she settles and has a good night x

[Cooks]

I hope you manage to find her owner, I bet they are really worried.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Guest

[Ain't Nobody Here]

She's gorgeous . She looks very young . It would be great if this was a chicken of fate for you, Tom, but I suspect her owners will be trying to find her .

[daj198]

Wow! She's gorgeous It amazes me how many chicken keepers seem to find stray hens in the road or garden etc. I can't wait until I find one!

[nicki9]

When we lost Balti, we were frantic, luckily we phoned the local vets as did the kind gentleman who found her and we were reunited.

 

Perhaps it might be worth ringing local vets, RSPCA, police etc to see if she can be reunited. As has been said, she is gorgeous and probably very much missed.

 

Good luck

[WitchHazel]

Ooh Tom, she's lovely!

 

I hope (for their sake) that you find the owners. I hope (for your sake) that you don't.

 

Hx

[abwsco]

I hope you find her owners. They must be frantic.

[Mrs Frugal]

She's lovely! When Coffee, our chicken of fate, turned up on our doorstep, I put A4 notices up on the lamp posts in the area to try and find the owner because, much as we wanted her, I'd hate to have kept her if her owners had been searching for her. After a week, no one had contacted us so we had no idea where she might have come from so we kept her. A year later, and she's still with us and seems perfectly happy with my other girls.

[WitchHazel]

If you do put up notices, don't put pictures on. Just say that you've found a chicken.

 

If and when anyone replies, you'll know if their genuine if they can describe her.

[Cooks]

Yes I agree, notices all around on lamp posts with a few enquiries at local houses, call the local vets that sort of thing. That is what you would want them to do for you if you lost one of your girls.

 

edited for typos

[Mrs Frugal]

Good point, CM ! I forgot about the vet. I rang our nearest one and told them I'd found a chicken in case anyone reported one as missing.

[tom123]

Don't worry guys! Ill did ALL of these things before I rang my friend to ask for the broody coop until she can be re-united...

 

I have rang the vets and RSPCA, asked my local feed merchants and breeder to put little notices up and have also asked everyone down my road and the neighboring roads whether they had lost a chicken. I did have 1 stupid person tell me they did and when I asked them if they kept chickens they said no weird people!

 

I just hope that they can be re-united but I also hope I get to keep her, blue eggs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

will keep you posted

Tom

[Cooks]

that's good to hear Tom, I am sure the owner will appreciate your efforts.

[Mrs Frugal]

Well done, Tom .

[westleigh]

Maybe someone else found it and popped it in your garden as they knew you kept chickens,just a thought, she is a pretty girl i hope you find the owner if not your very lucky best wishes

[westleigh]

Maybe someone else found it and popped it in your garden as they knew you kept chickens,just a thought, she is a pretty girl i hope you find the owner if not your very lucky best wishes

p.s let us know what happens

[tom123]

*UPDATE*

 

Well today I got home from school and found a lady talking to my mum, she told me that she had just lost a araucana hen she had a picture of her to prove that she was hers BUT she told me that this hen was for sale and she offered her to me for free! for finding her !!!!!! So I now own a lovely blue-red araucana hen called fizz!

 

The lady said she was very grateful of my posters, phone calls etc and said that she is glad that the hen has gone to a lovely home.

 

 

WOOHOO!!!

 

Now the intros

 

tips please?

 

Thanks

Tom

[bluekarin]

*UPDATE*

 

Well today I got home from school and found a lady talking to my mum, she told me that she had just lost a araucana hen she had a picture of her to prove that she was hers BUT she told me that this hen was for sale and she offered her to me for free! for finding her !!!!!! So I now own a lovely blue-red araucana hen called fizz!

 

The lady said she was very grateful of my posters, phone calls etc and said that she is glad that the hen has gone to a lovely home.

 

 

WOOHOO!!!

 

Now the intros

 

tips please?

 

Thanks

Tom

 

No help on the intros as not had to do that but what a stroke of luck! How nice of the lady letting you have her for free. SHe is a beautiful chicken. Enjoy your blue eggs!

[daj198]

Congratulations! How nice of her

 

I would advise putting Fizz in a separate coop and run so that she isn't visible to your other hens i.e. cover up the side of the run visible to the other hens with shades. Gradually bring the two coops closer together, allowing them to freerange together until they are nextdoor. (NB: Poultry netting is useful to separate them while they freerange to allow them to get used to other birds without being in the same enclosure, it's cheaper on eBay)

 

When Fizz gets pecked, don't interfere unless blood is drawn. When I was introducing Maude, she and Matilda had a nasty peck at each other (biting ) and Matilda was bleeding from the head. If that happens, separate them and it should heal in a couple of days. It was my fault TBH, I gave them corn and they started fighting over that.

 

I hope it all goes well. If you don't have a way of separating them you might be able to loan a local eglu.

[Barkisland]

Fantastic! Now that really is a chicken of fate

[Mrs Frugal]

That is terrific news Tom!! Congratulations on ownership of your chicken of fate .

[Egluntyne]

Congratulations.

[Olly]

oh fantastic news, and she is gorgeous! Just take the introductions slowly - follow the advice on here, I think there's a sticky on introductions somewhere - but keep her separate for a while, and feed treats along the perimeter fence so the others get used to her eating near them.

 

When you do put them together make sure there are plenty of feeding/water options, and just let them sort it out unless blood is actually being drawn. I adopted Pippi on 29th December and she is now holding her own with the other girls, she does still get mugged occasionally but it's much less frequent and there's no real menace in it, just lots of shouting.