A Polish Chicken Seems To Have Wandered Into Our Life.

This afternoon as I was enjoying the afternoon sun and watching the kids play in the front yard. I cast my eyes across the road and saw a chicken. I said "Look kids, a chicken!" and then it tried to cross the road. I couldn't have that... so I went and rescued it. It seemed ok with being picked up... must be somebodies pet. It looks quite spectacular: Sleek black feathers on it's body, white Tina Turner style feathers on it's head. So I brought it home... to the kids delight. When DH arrived home not long after we toured the neighbourhood (the chicken was safely at home in a cat carrier (cleaned, bedded and with water). We asked several household who we knew kept chickens... not theirs.

Next we plan to place notices in the local shops: "Found: A Chicken, please call and describe etc"

DH and I have been considering buying a few chickens. We have quite a large backyard. Funny how the universe has sought to give us a test run.

Anyhow... any tips on how I should care for this bird? I have already discovered that the local magpie doesn't like it. When I took the chicken out the back and placed it on the ground the magpie almost instantly swooped it... I flew to it's defense but the magpie was determined and started swooping us both! Hmmm.... a coop will be needed.

At this stage we have fed it whole grain bread soaked in water. We have a vegie garden so might offer it some leafy stuff tomorrow. If the bird is here longer than a few days i might buy some poultry seed.

Anything else?

Meaty catfood is great for chooks and they normally love it! Breads not really that nutritious for them, but leafy stuff, carrot peels, potato peels, basically any scraps are great.

left over spaghetti! Our chooks thought it was worms! You can also get pellets for them, or wheat. The chickens at my horse agistment eat any seeds you throw them, so you could use a parrot/bird seed from the shops.

Congrats on the 'accidental chicken'. I love chooks, but DH's dogs would eat them.

This is what we do and we aren't experts by any means but our chooks seem happy.

Our chooks get all our vegie scraps (not onion of course and they aren't fond of potatoe scaps) w also give them bread (we don't soak it in water but do break it up for them) we also get a laying pellets from the local farming supply shop.

We get the best brightest yoke eggs ever :lol: goodluck

Our girls get scraps and chook pellets (bought at the supermarket). They also like to get out and eat grass and scratch for worms and snails etc.
The like their water kept nice and fresh.
I like Polish chickens - they look kinda punk.

I was just showing DH some Polish chickens and I came across this - David Bowie & Polish Chicken pmsl.

they love mashed potato... but like the other girls said... nice clean water, whatever vege scraps and bread scraps you have... they arent to fussy and it wont need any layer pellets until you know whether you are definately keeping her... she may be too shocked with her new home to lay immediately...

LOL at the Bowie/chicken pics!!! :D

We have called the chicken "Tina"... as in Tina Turner... black body, white, grey hair do.

DH has gone to buy some chicken wire, a hay bale and some pellets. We have a woodshed that will be easy enough to convert (while still able to store the wood).

Tina seems to love apples and is so docile... even our teenage DD has held her and protected her from the magpie.

Thanks everyone for all your tips :)

I don't know about feeding chickens meat, that doesn't sit well with me for some reason. Can you just feed them on grains and vegetarian (I know they eat bugs & worms)...

Okay... bread isn't good for chooks or any birds. It gets stuck in their crops, which can cause constipation and them to go egg bound... bad bad bad.... ouchies...

The best thing is for them to free range and get bugs out of the gardens and fruit & veg scraps. I used to buy my chooks a bunch of spinach a week as well. They love green leafy veges. Layer pellets are good and remember that a chook can't lay eggs without extra calcium, so either you can get shell grit at the place you get hay etc... get a medium course ground one, or you can grind up sea shells yourself if you are near a beach.

I wouldn't give chickens meat, but they do eat snails and lizards etc... so they do get meat that way... sometimes they break their own eggs and eat them. But personally I wouldn't do it. My grandma used to throw all scraps including meat/ham/chicken scraps to the chickens and they ate them :dunno:

Cat food is high in fat and protein, so maybe not designed for chickens? They need a low protein and fat diet.

Yep, no more bread. Tina is eating layer pellets that i have embedded into apple halves. She didn't seem to like them by themselves. She is also currently foraging in our backyard. She seems more interested in the weedy garden beds than the vegie patch so far. She has had a good scratch around in a patch of bare dirt. She seems very happy. No sign of the magpie for the last few hours.

Gven that DH and I don't eat red meat we won't be buying it... so hopefully the protein she gets in our backyard will suffice. There are lots of worms and bugs. We don't use pestide (except on the rose bed which i might stop now) so everything should be safe.

I have 3 books on keeping chickens which i'll read as needed. I think i have the basics covered now.... but any anecdotes will be appreciated :)

We are thinking of buying 2 more Polish hens to keep her company.

My last chickens refused to eat the pellets... so I bought layer mash which is a mix of different grains and corn etc etc.... and they took to that better. Its more difficult to establish chickens that have resorted to fending for themselves onto pellets, but it can be done :D

ETA: Oh!!! Try them on a slice of watermelon.... or tomato.... they love the red stuff ;)

Thanks Christy :) I've been reading up on Polish chickens and apparently because of their crest (head feathers) mash isn't recommended because it can get stuck in the crest and make their eyes sore. But I'll definitely give the red stuff a go!

Locking them up at night is the way to go as you never know what will come over the fence.
Extend the wire so foxes cannot did into the pen. If you have a tree overhanging the woodshed make sure it cannot be gotten into that way. Foxes etc have been known to climb trees to get into chook pens.
We used to give our chooks all kitchen scraps.
Have fun and enjoy fresh eggs, how I miss that. We cannot have chooks as we have a Jack Russell :(

HERE is my commemorative thread for Tina who fell victim to a fox this morning. Rivlas: You must have had a psychic moment... we did indeed have a tree hanging over the woodshed in which Tina was housed. It climbed up it and then squeezed in through a rusted hole in the roof... then amazingly managed to get back out through the same hole... it was the only possible entrance/exit. Lesson learned the hard way :(

oh no!!! :( I'm so sorry to hear that Bath.

:(
that's very sad news.