MissPug+Chooks Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Hi Guys, At the yard where I keep my horse a random chicken as appeared. She looks pretty rough - skaggy feathers, bit ragged looking but she is very friendly. She lets me pick her up and will sit in my arm for a good 10mins without wanting to hop down - I have called her Polly Polly Chicken! At home I have my 2 who are lovely healthy, vaccinated and wormed Omlet chickens, I would like to bring Polly Polly Chicken home as she is the only chicken there and usually the fox gets them - but I am worried about a)bringing her home and spreading whatever potential diseases/worms etc to my girls and b)how I would introduce her - I have a and whilst I know that it can hold 3 girlies I'm worried it would be cramped. I 'inspected' Polly Polly Chicken and it seems that she might have some red mite problems which I can sort out with some spray but I did see that her manure is like black oil - is this worms or something worse such as coxi/salmonella/e-coli? Any thoughts opinions are welcomed! xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 If you do bring her home you need to keep her segregated for a good few weeks, I'd worm her and treat her for any bugs. Could you borrow a rabbit hutch or something similar for a few weeks. Lots of people have given great homes to "Chickens of fate" but you need to be sensible about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 If she's living rough, as it were, then I'd suspect the poo reflects what she's eating. Can you beg/borrow a rabbit-hutch or dog crate or similar? Then maybe you could keep her confined while you treat any mite problems and get her on to a proper diet, and then use it for the introductory period. It can be hard introducing one to two, but it's do-able. I'm assuming, of course, that you're going to take her home. Go on, you know you want to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPug+Chooks Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 I am umming and ahhhing about it! She is such a cutey I just want to make sure she is safe and gets some quality nutrition! I have a wire dog crate - it wont fit in the Omlet run though. What would the ideal introduction require? Should I bring her in (to the conservatory) at night if she has no shelter per se? Ohhhh excited about expanding my flock ( just in time to convinve my OH that building a WIR is easy ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Can you get a cat carrier so she has somewhere to shelter and sleep at night whilst in the dog crate? Whatever you come up with must be better for her than her present existance. If I were nearer I'd have her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPug+Chooks Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 This is her... What do you think?! XX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy ben grace Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Shes gorgeous! How can you not have her? If you can sort some accommodation out for her i would go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 She's gorgeous! A cat-basket, or even a recycling box, inside the dog crate, will do for sleeping/laying quarters. If you can park the dog crate next to the Eglu run so that your other girls can see her, that will be sufficient for introduction to begin with, then you can try some free-ranging and gradually get them used to each other. Follow the guidance in the introductions FAQ, I found scattered treats along the boundary (e.g. with them free-ranging and her in the cage, or the other way around) was a good help as they got used to pecking close to each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KateC Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I reckon she has found you for a reason. She clearly likes she being with you! I am sure if you follow the advice of those who have had experience of this before you will be fine. She does look a sweet girl. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPug+Chooks Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 Awwww I am going to try! Do i need to keep her away from them so that if she has anything contagious - then my girls wont catch it? We've just sewn some grass seed (to repair the dustbath holes in the garden!!) so free ranging is strictly off limits at the moment! I have a small bit of yard out of my side door which has 6ft fences on 2 sides and the house on the third side. I could get some sort of fencing to block off the fourth side so that she has somewhere to walk and scratch around whilst shes in quarantine? I can put the dog basket in there with one of the eglu shades to protect her from the elements... Sound like a plan? I found out that a man at our yard 'rescued' it and has no intention of getting anymore so I'm going to see if he'll let me take her home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gongladosh Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I'd say go for it. The other reason 'for' is that she'll gain company of her own type. It'll take a while to integrate her, but if you take your time (and treat medical issues while she's quarantined) you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I agree ...worm and delouse her and quarantine her. She looks as if she has adopted you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Kitty Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Save Polly Polly Chicken! She looks lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pips_pekins Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Awww, Polly Polly Chicken is a sweetie. I hope you are able to take her home with you. She really needs the company of other chickens and a more chicken-friendly environment. I used a dog crate with a cat box for shelter for 2 new bantams and they seemed quite happy. For added protection, I secured extra wire around it as the gaps between the bars of my crate are quite big. I can't really offer any further advice on what to do next. When my chickens FR, their poo does change so it is not necessarily a sign of something wrong, just different things going in Good idea to keep an eye on her though. Use Flubenvet to worm her (sorry if this is obvious ) Good luck with the introductions. Keep us informed of what happens and how things go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Brilliant I'm so glad she's coming home with you I have used a cat carrier as a bedroom during intros it works a treat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy chick Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Aww let us know how you get on I got an old rabbit hutch off preloved for intros, worth a look see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPug+Chooks Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 I DID IT! I brought Polly Polly Chicken home! She is now in quarantine in the Pug's cage with a heavy duty Omlet shade wrapped around her! As you can see from the pictures - shes tucking into her food already and is attacking her new leg ring! She been de-liced, wormed, has tonic in her water and mineral supps in her food - fingers crossed she'll be ok...we're going away overnight but I'm sure she'll be ok Yay! Much love! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Aw, lovely - another lucky chicken of fate. She looks so sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I have been following this thread and am so pleased that you have brought her home. she looks very at home already in the photos. I want a "chicken of fate " It is the only way with our small garden my OH half will give in to more chicks as our garden is small Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Looking forward to seeing how this goes She looks lovely, well done you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPug+Chooks Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 I have been following this thread and am so pleased that you have brought her home. she looks very at home already in the photos.I want a "chicken of fate " It is the only way with our small garden my OH half will give in to more chicks as our garden is small That is the same as me so I'm chuffed that I found her! Its also now more pressure to for H2B to build a WIR Its a good job I got her today; she was wandering around the roads today YAY <3 cant wait to see what her eggs are like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy ben grace Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I am so pleased she is safe with you! She looks so lovely, i hope she settles in well with your other girls and they are not too jealous! Well done you, you did the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pips_pekins Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I am so pleased she has found a lovely new home. She certainly looks happy in her new surroundings. Good luck with the introductions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gongladosh Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 good stuff let us know how she gets on!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPug+Chooks Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Hello I thought i would update you on Polly's progress We had Polly in quarantine for 2 days and then built her a little pen with some netting and bamboo canes so she had an arera to run around in which she enjoyed for a period of time as there is a little bush in there also which she likes sitting under and also bouncing on to get the berries off (rather than just pecking them off!?!) She has seemed to have settled in really well, shes laid 3 eggs since Sunday so i'm positive that she is reasonably happy here! She is a little sweety....she is constantly chatting very quietly to herself and she is very human friendly! She is quite happy to be held for a long period of time (which was handy as we were nervoud about clipping her wings as we've nit needed to it as the Omlet man did G+P's) and she is very inquistive... So inquisitive in fact that she managed to find a way out of her pen. We dont know how she does it, but she manages to get out and so today she has been wondering around G+Ps eglu I am a bit worried as i was keeping her away to protect the girls from anything that she might have so thats all gone down the pan now. We decided to let G+P out as well seeing as the quarantine was obv. over and they seemed ok! There was a 30second scuffle between Ginger and Polly of which Polly won...luckily both got away with grazes on their wattles (any tips on what i should do about them?) I put all girls back in their enclosures after that...but i'm not sure if that was a wise thing to do. Should i just let them fight it out? Im worried that if I am not there to break a fight up that something might go wrong...any idea how long the scuffles will last? It seemed that it was all done with after the initial one and Polly just wondered around on her own afterwards.... Should i still keep Polly in 'quarantine' - is there much point? Btw i set up a facebook page for her too so that all the people at the yard can keep updated with her activities! Xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
