Rescued Rooster and Hens
All the neighbors chickens (7 hens) kept coming over to my place in the fall and hanging out, probably because they knew I'd give them a treat. These three for some reason stayed overnight and slept in the pines on my property instead of going home to their coop. I think I've been adopted!
UPDATE: Well as of April 8th, these girls are officially mine. The neighbor had 7 hens and during last fall and the beginning of winter these 3 slept in my pines. Then one night something got one of the neighbors other 4 chickens as I found her half eaten carcass on my property. So I caught these 3 and took them over and asked her if I could keep them secure in her coop until spring when I could fence in my lean-to for them. I told her I'd come over every day to feed them etc. She said that was OK since she usually keeps chickens for only 3 years (in a TINY coop area) and when they stop laying she lets them out to run loose so 'nature can take it's course'. Well, I knew what that meant and it wasn't good news for the other 3 that were still running around. So I looked for the other 3 for days and saw no sign of them. Unfortunately i was too late for those 3 and I suspect the night that the one was killed, the other 3 probably got taken by predators too. Anyway, after working on the lean-to for the past 3 days I finished it yesterday and I went to these girls. I will keep them in the lean-to for about 3 weeks and then will let them out to free range during the day. As for not laying eggs anymore...the neighbor doesn't know what she is talking about. I have had free range chickens before and mine would lay good for many years as long as they got a healthy natural diet and freedom to range. And lo and behold, these girls left me two eggs this morning! These girls are lucky...I let my chickens live their entire natural life span and they are never penned except in the coop at night which they return to by themselves.. And my goats LOVE their chicken friends. When I had a flock before, the goats made friends with the chickens and the chickens would even go for rides on their backs! People could learn a lot from the animals!
BELOW: The hens enjoy a good meal of crumbles. They are paticularly fond of table scraps too. Next week they will be let out in a fenced area to start eatig insects. A week after that they will be out to free range and only be locked in at night for their safety.
BELOW: The latest addition...Rudy Roo the rooster. I just adopted Rudy the rooster from Sasha Farms farm animal rescue in Manchester,MI on May 22, 2011. Immediately he took his job seriously and watches over his 3 ladies like a guard dog.
I am a firm believer in animal intelligence...but just four days after I rescued Rudy, something
happened that even astonished me. Having had chickens and roosters
before, I am aware of the 'duty' of the rooster to protect his hens, to
assess a situation and warn his hens of danger. I have seen the rooster
call the hens to him away from danger or alert them to take cover in
case of an aerial predator so I know their amazing mode of
communication. The 3
rescue hens I have are so friendly with me, they follow me everywhere.
So when I got in my truck to go to the store this morning, I was a
little concerned that one of the hens was following me as I drove down
the driveway. She was running close beside the truck between the driver
door and very close to the back wheel. The hens trust me so they know I
would never hurt them, and she was unaware of the danger of running so
close to a 4000 lb. vehicle. Even though I was driving very slow, I was
afraid she'd suddenly cut to the right and get caught under the wheel. I
kept banging on the window and yelling to try and scare her away from
the truck, but that just wasn't working. I had already passed the
rooster and other 2 hens, and as far as I knew they were all safely far
behind me, so imagine my surprise when the rooster literally came out of
no where.....running like a bat out of hell and getting between the
truck and the hen. He then slammed hard into her and knocked her to the
left and away from the truck. At which point he knew she was safe and he
stopped dead in his tracks and started clucking to her in what to me
sounded as if he was scolding her. This was so much like a person
risking their own life by running to push someone out of the path of an oncoming car to save the
life of that person, a feeling of wonderment overtook me. Throughout my life I have
been in awe of animals and have been witness to their many astounding mental
feats and show of affection towards others of their own kind...and even other species...but this I think tops them all. To me Rudy showed such human-like
qualities today, that I cannot understand how people do not believe
animals have emotions, have intelligence and the ability to access a situation and act
accordingly or to 'solve' certain kinds of problems or be willing to
risk their own life to save a loved one.
ABOVE: The rescued rooster and hens follow me around like dogs. They love to be in my company...and often try to 'help' me when I am tinkering or working around the farm. Rudy the rooster likes to help me out when I give the riding mower a tune-up....must be a guy thing LOL Now if I can only teach them how to hang the laundry, weed the garden, trim the goats hooves...........