dumped chicken rescue. advice wanted.

[AngelaY]

My great uncle had neighbors who had chickens, who moved away a while ago. When they moved, they left their chickens. Just let them out in the woods to fend for themselves. They tried to catch them but they're not friendly enough for them to even get close. Well, the chickens got picked off by predators pretty quickly, all except for one. She's been out there by herself for almost a year, and she has gone broody in my great uncle's outdoor wood-burning stove (no rooster, the eggs are infertile). So I'm going out there on Sunday to take her back to my flock where she can hatch babies if she wants, has friends, and never has to worry about predators ever again.

Anything I should know before bringing home a feral chicken?

 

[Brooks_]

Quarantine? Integration? What advise are you seeking?

 

[AngelaY]

Quarantine? Integration? What advise are you seeking?

I plan to quarantine her for 2-3 weeks if possible, and I've integrated single chickens before so I think I'm good there. I was more wondering how I should go about bringing her back, and if I should do anything special for her once she's here. Or if anyone has done something like this before and could share their experience, so I'm not going into this blind.

 

[Brooks_]

I would think that a semi-feral chicken will be more challenging, but not impossible. Good luck. You're doing the right thing.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am not huge on quarantine, mostly because it is practically impossible to do in a lot of people's set ups...but this is one time that I would be very careful. I too am unsure of your question, but think how I would approach this might help (might not too?)

I would spot her out, and collect her in the dark. First grab might be your only chance. Might try a fishnet on a long handle. If she is broody, I am expecting her on the ground?

Besides, handling her, with a towel over her head, and examining her carefully for parasites, I think this is a bird I would do the fecal float thing for worms.

After 2 weeks - she still looks good, then I would add a single bird to her. If neither gets sick, that would be a pretty good indication it is going to work.

In the long run, she would be an highly experienced free range bird, which would be nice to add to the flock.

Mrs K

 

[AngelaY]

She's home! She doesn't seem to be broody anymore (doesn't surprise me very much due to the massive change in scenery.), and she's a LOT more docile than I expected! i put my hand in her box, fully expecting her to peck me, freak out and run away, or both, but she just let me reach out and pet her! I still can't believe it! She seems to be pretty healthy, except she has some leg mites... any idea how I can get rid of them for her?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

She's home! She doesn't seem to be broody anymore (doesn't surprise me very much due to the massive change in scenery.), and she's a LOT more docile than I expected! i put my hand in her box, fully expecting her to peck me, freak out and run away, or both, but she just let me reach out and pet her! I still can't believe it! She seems to be pretty healthy, except she has some leg mites... any idea how I can get rid of them for her?

I’ve been using this article for my quail with scaly leg mites: https://the-chicken-chick.com/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens/.

 

[Blondiegoldiechicks]

I plan to quarantine her for 2-3 weeks if possible, and I've integrated single chickens before so I think I'm good there. I was more wondering how I should go about bringing her back, and if I should do anything special for her once she's here. Or if anyone has done something like this before and could share their experience, so I'm not going into this blind.

Do anything special when she's there absolutely you should give her treats like mealworms make her feel welcoming. I found a chicken that was all by herself and I brought her home she was in really bad shape all I did was feed her mealworms picked her up spend time with her named her got her to know her name and now she's healthy and follows me around with the rest of my flock.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Good for you! Can we have some pics?