our pet hen: Boadecia Buk-Buk

To anyone who knows me , it will not be a surprise that I like animals, and that I have quite a few pets in the family! One of the pets who comes running when called by name, and crouches patiently at your feet when you ask her if she wants to be picked up, is our hen, Boadecia Buk-Buk.

I have wanted a pet chicken for a long time, when I was a child I had a Bantam hen called Pavlova (after Anna..??), anyway she was a sweet natured hen, and she laid a lot of eggs, she was pretty and quite friendly.

In October 2012 we were in a local pet supply store, and there in the small hatchery cage there was one lone little fluffy yellow sad looking chicken, with a blocked up vent. The blocked vent is called "Pasting up" it can kill baby chicken. It can occur if a chicken has become stressed or if it is cold or unwell, and it displays as a  faeces stuck on or in the vent preventing the chicken going to the toilet. The little bird was shivery and sitting close to the light bulb heater. We left the supply store with several bags of chicken raising food, and a small yellow chicken.

She was far too tiny to be put outside on her own, so we cleaned up one of the old rat cages for her, and set it up to be hen friendly; the cage with hen was then placed in the lounge room. As she was 'pasted up' I had to regularly clean her with a soft cloth and warm water. 

November 2012

Both of us loving animals, she was taken out of the cage regularly, patted, talked to, given treats; my husband kept putting her on his shoulder and saying she was a shoulder hen.

Boadecia November 2012

As she got bigger we started letting her out in the garden under supervision.Boadecia was a little nervous at first and would keep running up to us, when she ventured too far in the garden she would nervously look back to see where we were!

Boadecia December 2012

We bought a small cage for her to live in outside while she was still growing. Socrates, the black and white cat took a rather too keen an interest in the cage!

Socrates checks the chicken coop out December 2012

As she grew, we created a pen for her, so she could roam around in safety. 

in her hen house March 2013

As we always chat to her, she knows her name, and will run up to us when we yell out 'Boadecia where are you?' She likes to be picked up and will happily sit on an obliging lap for hours if allowed. She is a frequent visitor to inside the house, and will sit quite happily on an armchair surrounded by cushions.

on a loungechair inside March 2013

She is a lovely pet, very affectionate, and quite 'chatty'. She lays eggs and is a lovely companion hen!

She has her own facebook page, please go and have a look at it and LIKE it, so youcan keep up with Boadecia and her life as a city hen!

Do any of you in the Blogosphere have hens as pets? Please feel free to post a comment!

February 2014

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