Help On Identifying Breed & Gender Of Baby Chicken / Advice On Raising Baby Chicken?

[BreeBrose]

Hi BYC Community! Since I’m very very very new here I’ll introduce myself first before I get into this post: Aloha all! My name is Breanna and I live in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu! I’m a lover of all types of animals but chickens and birds have a very special place in my heart. I feed many feral chickens near and far as well as birds too! Now onto the post! Note: This is a very lengthy/long post, but I tried to give every detail about what happened so my apologies in advance!



Where I live I have a backyard, full of trees, etc. There are many birds in the area so everyday I will throw out a mixture of bird seeds and cooked white rice and feed all the birds that are in my yard. This evening though there was a loud ruckus going on in the yard while the birds were eating! When I went to check what was going on, there was this little baby chicken trying to eat white rice but the birds (mainly big white doves) were all pecking at it and pecking it on the head, then one bird even began chasing the chick! I absolutely have no idea where this baby chicken had come from but I quickly went outside and after a couple minutes of me chasing the baby chick around my yard, I finally caught the baby chicken! It was chirping quite a bit when I first grabbed him but immediately stopped as soon as I brought the chick inside. I put it in a cardboard box with a blanket and offered it some food (white rice that I wet with a bit of water) as well as some water.



It is a very friendly and sweet chick and although I have fed and seen many types of chickens in the past, I can’t quite figure out what kind of breed or gender it is? I’ve included some photos so hopefully you folks would have a better idea of what kind of breed it is than I! Also, I know this isn’t the correct forum for this question, but would you folks have any advice on caring or even raising this baby chicken? It’s very small so although I don’t know the exact age, it appears to be quite young still. There is a park near my home so after I caught the chick, I went to the park to see if I could find it’s mother / other baby chickens around, unfortunately there was no mama chicken or other babies in sight. There is a lady in my area who feeds all the feral cats, chickens, and birds in the area so after that I went to her to see if she’d have any idea where the chick came from? She said that there was a chicken she fed and cared for that just had babies, but some young kids in my area captured her and her babies. She has no clue what happened to them after that but we feared that the mom and other babies have been killed. Most likely we think that was the baby chick that I found mom and we’re figuring that this one somehow managed to get away and it saw the birds eating and saw the food and somehow it winded up and found it’s way in my yard.


As of now, it’s currently asleep. It chirped a lot when I first brought it in but it only peeps here and there now, it also loves to peck at my hand as well as walk into my hand and sit in the middle of my palm. Currently, I have the baby in a small pet carrier, I have a blanket inside and then some hay on top of that, I have a tiny bowl of water inside, along with some food (I boiled an egg and took the yolk out of the egg and mushed it up and gave that to the baby chick along with some chicken feed mixed in, which I have/keep on hand for when I feed or see feral chickens) I have a water bottle with hot water filled inside of it in the carrier as well as a tiny lamp (with a white lightbulb) next to the carrier. My question to you folks on BYC is, do any of you have any kind of idea what breed and gender this baby chick may be? Also, and again my apologies for asking this here as I know this isn’t the correct forum to ask about this topic but, would any of you folks have advice on how to care for this baby chicken? I feed and have fed many feral chickens but am quite clueless when it comes to how to care for one. Any advice on what’s the best way to care for it as well as what’s the best things I could feed it? I’ve had family members tell me to feed him, lettuce, rice, etc, but I am just not 100% sure what to feed it and do not want to feed it the wrong things. Also, what would your folks advice be on raising this baby chicken? I didn’t intend on keeping it, but after I found out the mother could potentially be dead, I have no idea what else to do with it. I’m afraid to leave it at the park because of those kids coming back to harm it, as well as fearing that the neighborhood cats may eat the baby chick too (which I’ve been told by my lady friend had happened in the past) I also called my local humane society but they told me they would most likely euthanize the poor thing if I brought it in. I know of places that have many other feral chickens but since none of those chickens are his mom, I don’t know how other chickens would take or react to it. So. Unfortunately I have no where else left to turn to after that. So, if any of you kind folks don’t mind helping me out or have any type of advice for me it would be much appreciated! I love chickens but am quite clueless about them and I wanna be sure I’m doing everything right and everything I can to make this baby chicken as happy / content / comfortable as possible! Thank you to all who offer me any advice and to all who took the time to read this very long post! Much appreciation and aloha to you all!

 

[DobieLover]

You did a good job rescuing this little one!
It's too young to tell if it's a pullet or cockerel. And I have no idea of the breed. If it is feral, it's likely a mix.
I would invest in a small bag of chick starter and start feeding it that. You can also offer it sod plugs from outside so it can dig and scratch at that to get grit and continue to build it's immunity. I would avoid feeding it anything other than the chick starter unless you also have a separate container of chick grit available for it.
Put a mirror and maybe a feather duster in with it. If you can get it another chick or two about it's age, that would be great.
Once it (they) are off heat you can start looking for someone with chickens to care for them. Or just release them and offer food and water. Maybe they'll join one of the feral chicken flocks. Or do you want to start keeping chickens??

 

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC!
I've nothing to add, @DobieLover covered it all!

 

[BreeBrose]

You did a good job rescuing this little one!
It's too young to tell if it's a pullet or cockerel. And I have no idea of the breed. If it is feral, it's likely a mix.
I would invest in a small bag of chick starter and start feeding it that. You can also offer it sod plugs from outside so it can dig and scratch at that to get grit and continue to build it's immunity. I would avoid feeding it anything other than the chick starter unless you also have a separate container of chick grit available for it.
Put a mirror and maybe a feather duster in with it. If you can get it another chick or two about it's age, that would be great.
Once it (they) are off heat you can start looking for someone with chickens to care for them. Or just release them and offer food and water. Maybe they'll join one of the feral chicken flocks. Or do you want to start keeping chickens??

You did a good job rescuing this little one!
It's too young to tell if it's a pullet or cockerel. And I have no idea of the breed. If it is feral, it's likely a mix.
I would invest in a small bag of chick starter and start feeding it that. You can also offer it sod plugs from outside so it can dig and scratch at that to get grit and continue to build it's immunity. I would avoid feeding it anything other than the chick starter unless you also have a separate container of chick grit available for it.
Put a mirror and maybe a feather duster in with it. If you can get it another chick or two about it's age, that would be great.
Once it (they) are off heat you can start looking for someone with chickens to care for them. Or just release them and offer food and water. Maybe they'll join one of the feral chicken flocks. Or do you want to start keeping chickens??

Hi! Thanks so much for all your advice and input as well! I currently don’t have a feather duster but I did put a mirror inside of the pet carrier, which it woke the chick up and it began to play/peck at it! Eventually it fell back asleep though, I will definitely invest and get a bad in a bag of chick starter tomorrow as well. I love chickens but as I said in the posts I’m quite clueless as to how to properly care for them, if possible I would love to raise it! Regarding getting another chick or 2 that’s its age, and this is a bit of an update to the post too! But my mom was cooking an early breakfast for my dad and had a window open, she heard chirping coming from our backyard and when she went outside to look what was going on she found another baby chick! Exactly the same as the one I found earlier, this one didn’t run away or chirp as much as the first one I found did, this one was much more calm, I put it into the carrier along with the first baby chick I found and they both started chirping super loud for a few minutes, they both sounded so happy! Then they both kind of went into a corner of the carrier and went to sleep together. We have many feral chickens in our area but we also have a lot of young kids who make trouble to the chickens, my mom and I believe that their could be more baby chickens out there too but we just don’t know where, the kids in our area always like to capture the adult feral chickens and torture them, but often times they’ll just play with the babies then toss them off somewhere like nothing, so we believe there could be more baby chickens related to the first one I found out there! I’ll continue updating this post if we find more, but I would love to raise them but my main concern is: as they grow older would they make a lot of noise and cackle and such? I really don’t mind all the noise one bit but my neighbors live quite close to me so I’m afraid they complain if the chickens make too much noise unfortunately. Thanks so much again for all your advice! It really is such a help to me!

 

[DobieLover]

Hi! Thanks so much for all your advice and input as well! I currently don’t have a feather duster but I did put a mirror inside of the pet carrier, which it woke the chick up and it began to play/peck at it! Eventually it fell back asleep though, I will definitely invest and get a bad in a bag of chick starter tomorrow as well. I love chickens but as I said in the posts I’m quite clueless as to how to properly care for them, if possible I would love to raise it! Regarding getting another chick or 2 that’s its age, and this is a bit of an update to the post too! But my mom was cooking an early breakfast for my dad and had a window open, she heard chirping coming from our backyard and when she went outside to look what was going on she found another baby chick! Exactly the same as the one I found earlier, this one didn’t run away or chirp as much as the first one I found did, this one was much more calm, I put it into the carrier along with the first baby chick I found and they both started chirping super loud for a few minutes, they both sounded so happy! Then they both kind of went into a corner of the carrier and went to sleep together. We have many feral chickens in our area but we also have a lot of young kids who make trouble to the chickens, my mom and I believe that their could be more baby chickens out there too but we just don’t know where, the kids in our area always like to capture the adult feral chickens and torture them, but often times they’ll just play with the babies then toss them off somewhere like nothing, so we believe there could be more baby chickens related to the first one I found out there! I’ll continue updating this post if we find more, but I would love to raise them but my main concern is: as they grow older would they make a lot of noise and cackle and such? I really don’t mind all the noise one bit but my neighbors live quite close to me so I’m afraid they complain if the chickens make too much noise unfortunately. Thanks so much again for all your advice! It really is such a help to me!

This kids in your area need a taste of their own medicine. Where are the parents??

 

[BreeBrose]

This kids in your area need a taste of their own medicine. Where are the parents??

Unfortunately the parents allow this sort or behavior. In my area there are a group of kids who harm many of the feral animals, from cats to chickens, it’s really sad and unfortunate. They even go as far as throwing stones at the birds I feed or at the birds at our local park in the area! They’ve done some pretty horrible things to feral cats and chickens in the past and currently they are catching birds in the area and tying tiny bits of strings to their legs so the birds will limp and have a hard time walking. Not many people in my area but a few handful care about birds or feral animals, so people who see these things happening often just let it slide, the cops have been called before as well and it stops for a while but continues on after sometime.

 

[DobieLover]

Unfortunately the parents allow this sort or behavior. In my area there are a group of kids who harm many of the feral animals, from cats to chickens, it’s really sad and unfortunate. They even go as far as throwing stones at the birds I feed or at the birds at our local park in the area! They’ve done some pretty horrible things to feral cats and chickens in the past and currently they are catching birds in the area and tying tiny bits of strings to their legs so the birds will limp and have a hard time walking. Not many people in my area but a few handful care about birds or feral animals, so people who see these things happening often just let it slide, the cops have been called before as well and it stops for a while but continues on after sometime.

Unacceptable.

 

[BreeBrose]

Aloha! Firstly! Thank you to all who took the time to read my post and react to it as well! It means a ton and thank you for the kind welcome! I already wrote this to @DobieLover, but thought I’d also write it in here as a bit of an update for everyone who has read the post or reads it in the future, so! Update: We have found another baby chicken! My mom wakes up at 4 am to cook breakfast for my dad to eat when he gets home from work, she keeps a window open so the house doesn’t get all smokey while she cooks, she heard some chirping coming from outside our backyard and when she went out she found yet another baby chick! Looks exactly the same as the first one we found! This one was a lot more calm compared to the first and didn’t try to run or make a lot of noise when we grabbed it neither. We put it into the pet carrier with the first baby I found and they both chirped a lot! As if they were greeting one another and they were both very happy! Eventually they went off to a corner of the bag and fell asleep. As I said in my post, this lady who feeds the feral animals in my area would feed and care for a chicken who had just given birth, but had saw a group of kids capture the mom and the babies one day. My mom and I believe that the group of kids kept the mom (to make it more clear: chicken fighting is a very big and popular thing here in Hawaii, it is illegal here but people still do it. A lot of the young kids here will capture adult chickens to fight against other chickens they had captured, or other kids will honestly just capture the adult chickens to torture or make trouble to them, so they don’t really have much use for the babies) our thinking is that, the kids must have just tossed the baby chickens like nothing and kept the momma chicken. We believe there are more baby chickens out there so tomorrow we will be looking and scoping the area to see if we can find anymore! I’m worried if more babies are loose because the roads are very close to my backyard, the adult feral chickens here know how to cross the road and so forth, but I’m afraid the babies do not. I’m worried they’ll get run over, end up in one of the open sewers in our sidewalks or get caught by one of our neighborhood cats. I will continue to update this post on what we end up doing with the babies, if we keep them or not, or if we find any more baby chickens too! I’ll post pictures of them both whenever they wake up as well! Thanks again to all who took the time to read and view this post! Also: I asked this to DobieLover too, but it never hurts to ask more than once! I would love to keep and raise these chickens but my main concern is noise! As they grow up and get older would they cackle a lot or make a lot of noise? I used to feed a rooster who used to come to my backyard everyday, he’d sit in my yard all day and go across the street and sleep in a tree. He was a great rooster! But he would cackle 24/7, eventually we got complaints from our neighbors so we lead him up to the park where we live and he now lives there (but we go there every other day to visit him and feed him) I do not mind the noise one bit, I find the cackles of a chicken adorable! But I am afraid our neighbors will mind. So do you folks know if they’ll be super noisy animals? Thank you all again! Mahalo for all your help!