My new pet...

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lulu

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Joined
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I'm not sue if posting an image will work but I'll try. Anyway, I thought some of you might get a giggle out of my new pet. We keep cochin chickens and for the first time ever we were the victims of a fox visit this year. We had three chicks wh were being 'shared' or co-parented by two hens. The first night the fox came the two hens were got, and two of the chicks. After a day of distress one of the other hens -and one of my favourites at that-took the surviving chick under her wing. But the next night the fox came back and took her too. We are left, after all the visits with only two hens left and the one chick.

The remaining hens showed no interest other than to bully the little chicken, so he's been hand reared, much to my cats' disgust. He's not growing brilliantly, he's going to be a small guy. I was praying he'd be a hen, but I think he's gonna be a rooster, and being a homebred our surviving 2 hens are too closely related to this guy to keep him with them. I'm thinking of getting a second house and a couple of hen of a different breed because I'm seriously attached to this little chicken and letting him go will be hard, and the freezer is ruled out: this guy is a survivor! I've been hankering after some blue egg laying hens, so maybe I'll get him a pair of one of thse breeds.

His name is L.C. Picalily (The L.C. stands for Little Chicken)

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Pretty cute, luvs! I particularly like the photo where you have the chick on your lap and the cat at your feet. LOL!

Where are you in those photos - at your parents' house? Didn't you say that you had to give your parents your cats because you weren't allowed to keep pets at your place?

Lee
 
Great pictures, especially the one with the cat! He''s a beauty, and I'm glad to hear you're thinking of getting him his own friends. :)
 
Pretty cute, luvs! I particularly like the photo where you have the chick on your lap and the cat at your feet. LOL!

Where are you in those photos - at your parents' house? Didn't you say that you had to give your parents your cats because you weren't allowed to keep pets at your place?

Lee


lol, I'm not luvs :LOL:

But, yes, strangly, the photos are taken at my parent place where I also live ATM ;)
 
wish I could give you pictures but will have to put up with my comments. Having a cat and chick too aren't you worried? Never know what the cat is thinking? I hope this chick survives as you said. Seeing a fox come around is certainly scary for anyone. Now that he knows where to get his meals do you think he will find this other one? I know nothing about chicks but just that I wouldn't like something killing a defenseless young one much less the hens. Good luck. Certainly get attached to them quickly. Thanks for the pictures.
 
'm thinking of getting a second house and a couple of hen of a different breed because I'm seriously attached to this little chicken and letting him go will be hard, and the freezer is ruled out:

LOL - that's an expensive little chick and I'd do the very same thing!!!! :LOL:
 
Cochins are on my short list for when I build another coop and get more birds of a little variety, but still egg laying and good in a cold climate.

Nice pics
 
Cochins are on my short list for when I build another coop and get more birds of a little variety, but still egg laying and good in a cold climate.

Nice pics

I would really seriously recommend them. We bought our first as chicks to make sure they were easy to handle and we have had a great time with them. Because they are so heavy a bird they cannot fly, there is no wing clipping etc to worry about. We bought from good exhibition stock, we've never had to trim an over grown beak or anything.

We never incubate but Cochins DO go broody. We let the desperate ones hatch a clutch themselves each year, it brings them happiness. That way they get a baby or two but we aren't massively over supplied with chooks. They are superbly easy to handle and lovely to look at. we get decent egg production from them, most we've been without an egg was five weeks in a long dark winter (we do not supplement light). Eggs are a good size.

The downsides are that cochins are, in my experience, fussy eaters. They like human leftovers etc but will not touch slugs :rolleyes:. They fade in the sunlight, my dear and recently departed red cochin had faded to a very light ginger blonde: exhibitors keep them in the shade to preserve the colours, we let them sunbath and wander through the orchard to choose shade or sun as they choose to preserve their sanity. The blacks keep colour ok, as does our cuckoo who also has survived. Also, those cute leg feathers get wet which can be uncomfortable for the birds. A good late grass cut is necesary so that through winter months they can wander keeping as dry as possible.

In the kitchen: in this instance, yes, I'm a litle apprehenive, but the cats have had chicks about every spring/summer. The difference is then that they roam with their mothers. A rooster is also invaluable for protecting chicks and his hens. (the fox took our rooster first, some days before the others, we had been unjustly frowning at out nearest neighbours :blush: blaming them, but all is clear now). In this case, in the house LC Picalily is with me or in a crate. He's sleeping outside again now, bt when he was inside we put him in a crate in the shower :rolleyes: for protection. This particular cat IS a little envious of him, rather than hungry for him. She loves the chickens and frequently spends summer days snuggled next to a broody hen. Her sister on the other hand.....well, I keep as close and eye as I can on her:ermm:. To be fair, both cats are good hunters but seem to understand that the chicks are family. When they walk among them they yowl and walk slowly as if saying 'We are here but we are not stalking you, we don't mean to scare you' which is very sweet.
 
Oh, and thanks for the garden comments. The veg garden has been very disappointing this year but those back borders are great. The high winds flattened the delphinums this week, bu the glory of the old fashioned roses is really making up for anything else :)
 
I had one of my buff orps go broody for a few weeks. It seemed to throw the other girls' egg laying off. Maybe she was in their favorite nestbox. She wasn't even setting on an egg, just hogging up the nestbox like something big was gonna happen :rolleyes: And without any roos, even if she had been setting on an egg, nothing was going to happen anyway :LOL:
 
I had one of my buff orps go broody for a few weeks. It seemed to throw the other girls' egg laying off. Maybe she was in their favorite nestbox. She wasn't even setting on an egg, just hogging up the nestbox like something big was gonna happen :rolleyes: And without any roos, even if she had been setting on an egg, nothing was going to happen anyway :LOL:

ROFL

Ours each go broody at least once a year. Cochins are BROODY hens, lol. They do tend to go broody in pairs, but the others keep on laying ;)
 
Cute, but can he roll over and do tricks?

Just kidding. After what the critters have been through, I hope he someday can give that fox some of its own medicine with his beak. Or, at least, be the best alarm bell.
Lots of luck and love with your new baby.
 
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