Welcome Hermie


A lot of time has passed since my last entry.  The topic of this blog entry is my new chicken.  I guess you could call her a pet chicken.  Her name is Hermie.  She is a hermaphrodite.  She belonged to my neighbor, B.

Hermie's life started as a young fight rooster.  When she was a young pullet/cockerel, she was rescued when the fighting cock ring got busted.   B. rescued, I believe 7 roosters.  After they developed he realized that Hermie was not a fully a rooster nor hen.  She has the large tail feathers of a rooster, but the body and attitude of a hen.  She doesn't lay eggs or crow.

Hermie lived next door for I believe two years.  Her life consisted of being the only "lady" with a bunch of cocks.  This made her quite the tough chicken.  Many of the roosters passed in one fashion or another.  In the end, it was Hermie and two fellow roosters.

One spring day, we were all at work.  The valley seemed quite, still from my prospective when I arrived home. Nothing out of place.  However, across the creek, B's roosters had been murdered. Leaving Hermie alone.   We believe it must have been a stray dog.  The roosters where still on the property, just lifeless. The two roosters, laid their life for their lady.  They allowed her to get to safety in her roost as they attempted to fight off the predator.

When B. called that evening, my husband answered the phone.  After hearing the sad story and the concern about the lonely chicken.  We decided we would attempt to introduce her to our flock and let her live her life on our farm.

B. brought over a dog crate to keep Hermie separated from my chickens.  We first tried putting the crate in the pen and seeing how everyone would react.  Brooda, my golden comet, initially ran to the cage and her and Hermie did not seem happy with situation. They were both attempting to fight, crate or not in their way.  We decided it was best to put the crate on the outside of the pen.  That way, no one could be hurt during the first part of the integration.

A week or so passed.  B. continued to bring Hermie over in the morning and taking her home to his coop at night.  After multiple days, we moved the crate inside the pen, but put up a temporary fence around the crate when we were not home.  When I was home, I took down the fence and allowed the hens access to the area with the crate and Hermie.  After a few days, my hens started ignoring the entire situation.

Hermie initially would crash against the crate to get away from me, if I walked into the area.  As with my hens, she began to adapt and get used to my presence.  This took many days and constant interactions.  We finally decided to try her out of the crate and in the pen with the rest of the hens.  

At first she would run at my hens and attack them.  They all coward as if she was a rooster.  A crazed rooster that was only out for blood.  She attempted to mount, but was obvious that she had no idea what she was doing.  This continued for a few days.  B. still would take her home in the evenings.  We were all unsure how she would treat the ladies in the coop.

The worse interaction times with Hermie and my flock was  during treat time.  She would guard the treats and attack my flock when they attempted to eat.  I was beginning to wonder if this relationship was going to work out.  Hermie didn't seem at first to want to back-off from my flock.  I started having second thoughts, but decided to stay patient.

What I thought would take a few days, ended up taking over three weeks to integrate this chicken into my flock.  After multiple lost feathers and the creation of a new pecking order, Hermie was a part of the flock.  In the beginning, she was still a bit rough with my hens, but she has changed dramatically.

Hermie now runs to the fence when I call my hens.  She has allowed me to pet her and is getting less scared of me.  She is still a wild chicken and not as trusting as some of my flock, but she is improving daily.  I realize she will never lay an egg, most likely will never fertilize any either.  However, she has a safe haven on my farm. I suppose that makes her my pet chicken. Welcome Hermie!