Found this lady. What breed (mix?) might she be?

[Park-hen]

Hi all! I'm new to the forum and new to chickens. I found this lady who was possibly dumped in a parking lot and had taken to living in the bushes of a busy intersection. After a few days of befriending her, I trapped her with the hopes of finding her a home. No one claimed her or wanted to add her to their existing flocks so I guess this is my starter chicken.

She's been here for about 10 days, and we have gone way overboard with coop building and all things chicken keeping. The one thing that we don't know is what kind of chicken she might be? A neighbor suggested Olive EE and my research indicates this would be a mixed breed. Would anyone be able to suggest what her parentage might include?

I would like to get her flock mates as she seems pretty lonely. Ideally we would want 2 more, and at least 1 full size but (we would like some eggs), but I would imagine birds of the same breed might get along better?

 

[TooCheep]

Thanks for caring for her. She's lucky to have someone like you. Please post your general location in your profile. It frequently makes a difference when we answer questions that are affected by climate, predators, laws, etc.

Flockmates of the same breed really isn't important. You are correct that chicken friends would be very helpful. They are flock creatures and would be much happier with such around.

Sorry, I don't have an idea as to breed. My best guess is a young pullet (< 1 yr old), but likely not a layer yet based on the smallish pink comb and wattles. Please add another couple of pictures from the side particularly to help with verifying sex.

Since you are very new, there is a lot to learn all at once to do the best you can for your chicken(s). Here are a some questions for us to help you with getting her to a better setup quickly:

• Is that coop supposed to be her long-term home? Do you have any plans for that? We'll have plenty of suggestions for how to setup a proper coop and run once we have an idea of your current plans. A couple of pictures of her current setup would be helpful.
• What are you feeding her? (primary food and any treats)

There are some definite considerations for adding additional hens. Just throwing them in together can result in problems. When you are getting serious about that step, let us know and we'll help.

Good luck. Sounds like you are diving in the deep end, but we'll be happy to help.

 

[Park-hen]

Yes, definitely jumped straight into the deep end of the pool, ha!

I've added the location to the profile, thanks for the heads up. We're in South Florida. There's a few people who have BYC in my neighborhood, but this is definitely an urban area.

She's a bantem from what I can tell, and she's temporarily being housed in a large dog crate, outfitted with 1/2" hardware cloth so that I can sleep at night. We're building her (and her eventual flock mates) an 11 SQ ft coop with attached run (about 25 Sq ft), plus she has a section of the yard to "free range" on the days I WFH. So far we've scrapped the plan 3 times as I find new relevant information that needs to be incorporated , but hopefully we have everything worked out now and can begin building tonight. The long structure supported by cinder block that can be seen in one of the pics is the base for the whole thing. The other structure that can be seen next to the crate is a catio which is enclosed in 1" hardware cloth. The kitties and chicken cannot get to each other.

I'm feeding her pellet crumbles, she's got grit and some form of calcium stuff that does not look like oyster shell available at all times, and clean water. I offer her some chicken seed mix by hand every time I walk in the side yard where she's at, but she's very selective on what she'll take. The first few days I had mealworms that I offered her and she went nuts for that. She seems to prefer to munch on the weeds and the inattentive lizards that she can find, though. She also only graces around the yard when one of the humans is out there, preferring to hide under the crate the rest of the time, so I put her food dishes down there for her to access. This seems to have helped increase her water intake. I feel sad that she's so lonely, although it's making it so that she bonds with me, it seems like. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll jump on my lap one day?

I have her on pine chips for now as that was the quickest thing I could grab, but I'm looking at other types of bedding for the coop. Ideally we'll do the deep litter thing. Any suggestions welcome!

As for flock mates, I initially was leaning towards raising day old chicks, but I'm worried that she'll be alone for the few months before the chicks are old enough to be outside. And then through the whole integration process. How long is too long for a chicken to be by themselves?

 

[Logar]

11 SQ ft coop with attached run (about 25 Sq ft)

That is a bit small. Could you do something like a 4x4 coop and a 6x6 run?

She is very lucky that you found her!

 

[Park-hen]

That is a bit small. Could you do something like a 4x4 coop and a 6x6 run?

She is very lucky that you found her!

Unfortunately not. We're limited by dimensions of the side yard, but they will have access to the rest of the space to free range (an additional ~220 sq ft)

 

[Park-hen]

Should I only keep 2 birds given the space restrictions?

 

[WaterfowlsPoultry]

She seems like a mix of old game english bantam? Perhaps?
I don't know much about whatever breed she is so hopefully other more experienced talented BYC members will chime in.

 

[TooCheep]

Here are the generally accepted space recommendations for full-sized chickens:

-Coop: 4sqft/bird
-Run: 10sqft/bird
-Roost: 1ft/bird

Your setup sounds a little tight, but acceptable for 3 if you can't do better and particularly if they can get out and free range some of the time.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

She's very pretty! Happy chickening!

 

[TooCheep]

She's a bantem from what I can tell, and she's temporarily being housed in a large dog crate, outfitted with 1/2" hardware cloth so that I can sleep at night. We're building her (and her eventual flock mates) an 11 SQ ft coop with attached run (about 25 Sq ft), plus she has a section of the yard to "free range" on the days I WFH. So far we've scrapped the plan 3 times as I find new relevant information that needs to be incorporated , but hopefully we have everything worked out now and can begin building tonight. The long structure supported by cinder block that can be seen in one of the pics is the base for the whole thing. The other structure that can be seen next to the crate is a catio which is enclosed in 1" hardware cloth. The kitties and chicken cannot get to each other.

Yup. Definitely looks female. Please post some additional pictures of the area and details on the coop/run plans. There are a lot of details that can make a difference.

I'm feeding her pellet crumbles, she's got grit and some form of calcium stuff that does not look like oyster shell available at all times, and clean water. I offer her some chicken seed mix by hand every time I walk in the side yard where she's at, but she's very selective on what she'll take. The first few days I had mealworms that I offered her and she went nuts for that. She seems to prefer to munch on the weeds and the inattentive lizards that she can find, though. She also only graces around the yard when one of the humans is out there, preferring to hide under the crate the rest of the time, so I put her food dishes down there for her to access. This seems to have helped increase her water intake. I feel sad that she's so lonely, although it's making it so that she bonds with me, it seems like. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll jump on my lap one day?

You can hold off on the calcium until she starts laying, but it doesn't harm anything. Ideally, the crumbles should be about 90% of her food, with treats being about 10%. Her behavior with the scratch feed (seeds) and mealworms sounds very normal. As for crumbles, I assume you mean grower crumbles? Those are fine for now, but she is large enough for pellet feed which has far less dust. I personally recommend never using layer feeds (sounds counter-intuitive right?). Just use all-flock feed long-term with the grit and oyster shell on the side all the time. That way different laying stages, molts, etc. will be much easier to handle.

I have her on pine chips for now as that was the quickest thing I could grab, but I'm looking at other types of bedding for the coop. Ideally we'll do the deep litter thing. Any suggestions welcome!

That's a good option. When we have a better idea on the new coop, we might have more concrete ideas. One option is fall leaves for deep litter (free and effective), so bag those up when the time comes. Assuming you have leaf fall in S. Florida??

As for flock mates, I initially was leaning towards raising day old chicks, but I'm worried that she'll be alone for the few months before the chicks are old enough to be outside. And then through the whole integration process. How long is too long for a chicken to be by themselves?

I'm also concerned about being alone for 2+ months. Any new birds will have to go through an integration process, so it is just a question of sooner or later. Check into possibly getting young pullets. They will be more expensive, but can be integrated much sooner. Up to you...

Sounds like you've been doing a lot of reading and have some good ideas already. Keep it up and ask questions. BYC is an excellent resource for newbies.

PS- Nextdoor.com and Facebook groups are two possible sources for local chickens.