Chickens left to die in the bush

[Lacosmom]

My son and a neighbor picked up two from June Springs last week, we lured them in close with food then used a large fishing net. Not exactly pretty but it worked well. Good luck!

[ShannonG]

We got one but not the other. If anyone catches her just let me know.

[ferri]

how is this going? i was thinking about this thread last night and wondered why i hadn't added this smilie when it was needed. i'm sorry.

[Rwede]

I wonder if feral chickens are considered like schedule C wildlife?

If I'm out grouse hunting with the 22, can I plunk a fat, feral laying hen for the stew pot?

It would be a better demise for the chicken than starving to death this winter, that is certain.

BTW, I absolutely despise anyone who abandons an animal like the *bleep* who dumped these birds in the bush. Not only is it abusive to the tame chickens, but it also can spread disease to wild stocks like grouse, quail, and pheasants.

[LTD]

don't think laying chickens are good eatin are they

[Lady tehMa]

don't think laying chickens are good eatin are they

Not as a roaster, but they make good stew or stock birds. My great aunt never wasted a bird. Or a bunny. Another great aunt ran a trapline well into her 80's. She never wasted the meat either - meals at her place were interesting because you never knew what was going to be in the stewpot.

[Rwede]

An old laying hen turned into paprikash makes my mouth water.

[ShannonG]

We ended up saving 6 of the 12. The seventh was super elusive and had a ton of hiding spots, but when we went back for the third time to try to catch her all we found were coyote tracks, two feet and a lot of feathers (sorry if that's a bit graphic for anyone).
They make me an egg breakfast every day and all appear to be in good health, although going through a hard molt which sort of indicates to me their nutrition probably wasn't stellar.
Old hen can be used for stew or soup. Anything slow cooked. Coq au vin literally means 'rooster in wine'.

[Queen K]

Did you report the stolen snowmobile to the RCMP? Maybe they can get a serial number and find the owner.

And good on you to not give up and keep going back.

Good to hear a happy chicken story.

[ShannonG]

Did you report the stolen snowmobile to the RCMP? Maybe they can get a serial number and find the owner.

And good on you to not give up and keep going back.

Good to hear a happy chicken story.

Stolen snowmobile was reported and removed by police the same day.

[Queen K]

Awesome, I wonder who the guy was who got it back. I take it the chickens are settled in?

[ShannonG]

Awesome, I wonder who the guy was who got it back. I take it the chickens are settled in?

..

I feel like they're settling in nicely. They don't panic when I open their door anymore and have learned that twice a day I am bringing my custom blend fermented feed, which they LOVE. They free range nicely and don't stray too far and are good about returning to their house at the end of their day outside. The rooster hasn't shown any signs of being aggressive toward people, which is good, because that buys you a oneway ticket to freezer camp around here.
Old campers make surprisingly good chicken coops; it's spacious and insulated and their favorite nest is the kitchen sink!
They lay huge eggs regularly; I will probably incubate some and create some new layers for next season.
Someone hacked all the feathers off two of the hens with either very large scissors or something like pruning shears; not trimming the flight feathers to prevent flight, but sawing off all their tail and wing feathers right at the base. I cant figure it out.

[ShannonG]

I wonder if feral chickens are considered like schedule C wildlife?

If I'm out grouse hunting with the 22, can I plunk a fat, feral laying hen for the stew pot?

It would be a better demise for the chicken than starving to death this winter, that is certain.

BTW, I absolutely despise anyone who abandons an animal like the *bleep* who dumped these birds in the bush. Not only is it abusive to the tame chickens, but it also can spread disease to wild stocks like grouse, quail, and pheasants.

There could be no such thing as a 'feral' laying hen since chickens enter a weird coma-like state when they sleep and become completely defenseless. If you ever have to administer first aid to a chicken you should do it when they're asleep. They don't fly well, particularly the large fowl breeds and are not intelligent animals. They are just not set up to survive in the wild. And they're delicious.

[wanderer]

I drove down that area about 5 pm, one lone white hen but she scaddadled into the bush closer to the creek too fast for this old person to keep track of.

[ShannonG]

I drove down that area about 5 pm, one lone white hen but she scaddadled into the bush closer to the creek too fast for this old person to keep track of.

Wanderer, thank you for letting me know about the hen you saw. We'll do our best to catch her. She's got a fabulous hidey hole somewhere in the area you saw her.