Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Pottage]

Can anyone tell me what sex these two little chickens are. My mother in law has just called to say they've got home from a day out to find them sitting on their driveway. They live quite rurally on a track towards a moor, and the closest neighbour is t least 1/2 a mile away so I don't think they could be escapees.

 

I have a horrible feeling they are dumped cockerels They are very young and still make a noise that sounds more like a cheep than anything else. They are in my garage at the moment with layers mash (all I have to feed them) and water. They are very scared and don't appear to have been handled much. We don't have the room to keep them so regardless I am going to need to find them a new home somehow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2014 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

If they are still cheeping, then the brown one is definitely a cockerel. The other one, not so clear.

[Pottage]

If they are boys I don't know what to do with them. The in-laws won't have them and we don't have space for them, regardless of the fact we have close neighbours.

[coco]

Poor things. Hate to say it but think they are both boys. Do you have a local animal sanctuary that could take them.

[Egluntyne]

If they are boys I don't know what to do with them. The in-laws won't have them and we don't have space for them, regardless of the fact we have close neighbours.

 

Your parents could let the RSPCA know, as they have been dumped.

 

They could be offered on the Omlet Marketplace ~Click~

 

They could try local animal sanctuaries or city farms too.

 

Might be worth asking locally if anyone has lost them, as you never know, they may just have formed an escape committee.

 

Unfortunately, we cannot allow rehoming requests via the forum.

[Pottage]

Yes, sorry I didn't mean to imply I wanted someone on here to take them. I have amended my post accordingly. They seem happy living in the garage, it feels a bit cruel though. They have some turf and food (layers mash, it's all I have) and water in there, but living in a garage forever is no life for a chicken. I know my girls wouldn't tolerate them and they are so small they'd probably kill them.

 

I'm going to call a few local places that I know have chickens tomorrow and see if they can take them. Husband says he would consider keeping them if they *are* girls, is there anywhere I could reliably get them sexed? How do you even sex a chicken anyway?

[Egluntyne]

... How do you even sex a chicken anyway?

 

You have to look at the secondary sexual characteristics.

 

Size and redness of comb and wattles in relation to their age. Bigger and redder earlier in cockerels. In pullets, they usually only become red and developed at point of lay.

 

Thickness of legs. Cockerels are much chunkier.

 

Feathers.

1.The hackle feathers will be pointed on a cockerel and rounded on a pullet.

2. The tail will be far more extravagant on a cockerel, often with elaborate sickle feathers.

3. The saddle feathers on a cockerel will sweep over. The brown bird has the beginnings of this.

4. Stance. Cockerels will be more upright and less fearful. When startled, they may stand and stare, whereas a pullet will startle and cower.

 

HTH

[miller30]

I would say they are both cockbirds looks like somebody has hatched and doesn't want to take responsibility for it so have dumped them for either you to find or get killed by a predator what is wrong with people where abouts are you ?leanne

[Pottage]

I'm in Bedfordshire, but will happily travel (within reason) to find them somewhere nice to live. The little brown one is absolutely adorable, he's been sitting on my lap in the garage sleeping

 

I'm going to call my feed place tomorrow as I know they keep chickens, and there are a few breeders locally that might know somewhere. If all else fails there is an RSPCA in Aylesbury I guess.

 

At the moment I am concerned they have to live in the garage 24/7 whilst we have them. My mean girls are unlikely to take kindly to them being in their garden, and they are so small they wouldn't stand a chance. They have food, water and a couple of little strips of turf in there (leave over from lawn first aid yesterday!) but not really much natural light. The side door of the garage is half obscured glass so they get some light but not a lot.

[miller30]

They will be fine temporarily deffo don't put them near your girls just in case they have any hidden illnesses good luck in rehoming them it may not be easy leanne

[The Dogmother]

Yep, both boys I'd quarantine them away from your lot.

 

Thi sis how 'Cock Roundabout' in Bungay began

[Pottage]

Whooo Bert and Ernie have been rehomed! I posted a plea on my villages facebook page, not expecting anything, and a lovely lady and her dad have just come to collect them. They have loads of chooks and seemed to think they were female bantums. So sad they are gone now though, they were adorable I am allowed visitation rights though. Yay!

[The Dogmother]

Whooo Bert and Ernie have been rehomed! I posted a plea on my villages facebook page, not expecting anything, and a lovely lady and her dad have just come to collect them. They have loads of chooks and seemed to think they were female bantums. So sad they are gone now though, they were adorable I am allowed visitation rights though. Yay!

 

They're in for a shock then! Oh well... Caveat Emptor the red one looks like a RIR cross and has nice splashes in the ends of the feathers, white one looks to be a sussex type hybrid.

[Pottage]

They were happy to have them either way, boys of girls. I'm just pleased I found them a home

[The Dogmother]

Yes, good result.

[Purplemaniacs]

Well done for looking after them and finding them a new home.

 

Chrissie

[WitchHazel]

Some people are so irresponsible.

It really makes me mad that people call themselves "animal lovers", and then decide they can't bring themselves to cull the boys - and so they just dump them. What do they expect will happen to them? How can they possibly think that dumping is better than culling!

 

A neighbour had a cockerel dumped in her garden recently - she doesn't keep chickens. At first, I assumed it might be lost, but it seems it was just dumped.

 

Then Mr H from this forum rescued what he thought was an abandoned bantam pullet, and it turns out it's an abandoned young cockerel.

 

And now you!

 

Grrrrrr.

[WitchHazel]

Well done for rehoming them, by the way.

 

I forgot to say that in my previous rant.

[The Dogmother]

I know what you mean Hazel; my local chicken outlet gets cocks either dumped at the gate in a box, or just chucked over the hedge they are in a rural location, but just off a main road, so they are likely to either get eaten by a fox or run over

 

I also get annoyed when folks hatch out eggs, then haven't thought about what to do with any males.

[Egluntyne]

All's well that ends well.

[Charlottechicken]

Phew, thank goodness for a happy ending!

 

Some people are so irresponsible.

It really makes me mad that people call themselves "animal lovers", and then decide they can't bring themselves to cull the boys - and so they just dump them. What do they expect will happen to them? How can they possibly think that dumping is better than culling!

 

 

Couldn't agree more, so cruel to leave young animals to fend for themselves I had to bite the bullet and learn how to cull when I decided to hatch my own chicks, it's part of the responsibility of keeping animals.

[Pottage]

This whole thing has made me quite angry to be honest. Whilst the in laws live in a rural location, they are right by a main road and the chooks were seen by the road by some of the in laws friends who were driving past early in the morning. They must have been there a while

 

They were such sweet little babies once they got used to me. How anyone can think abandoning them to get run over/torn apart by a cat/fox etc is better than humanely dispatching them in beyond me. I would never be able to kill one, and as a result will never hatch my own eggs even though I would love the experience. It's just not morally right. That said, the babies were so adorable I am considering getting some sex link chicks one day in the future and raising them myself. How hard can it be, eh

 

[Redwing]

lol both male and definitely not bantams

 

lets hope the new owners are still happy to keep them when they start crowing and fighting!

[Pottage]

New owners said she is happy to take them regardless, fortunately.

 

I was very clear in my post that I didn't want to send them off and they turn out to be boys and unwanted again, she was sure she didn't have an issue with that even before she saw them and thought they might be girls. She has roosters at school from where they've hatched eggs, but they keep the boys unlike a lot of schools.

 

I'm pleased in a way everyone thinks they are boys because that makes me feel less sad about not keeping them.

 

Do cockerels always fight then? These two seem to be best friends and stuck together like glue at the moment. Any ideas how old they might be?

[jimnpaula]

Do cockerels always fight then? These two seem to be best friends and stuck together like glue at the moment. Any ideas how old they might be?

 

I think boys only really fight if there are girls to fight over. When we were in New Zealand we would often discover cockerels just living in the bushes in bachelor groups, like these handsome little chaps at Auckland Zoo carpark:

click me