A baby echidna is recovering after a prickly encounter with a flustered flock of chickens in a Newcastle backyard.
The puggle arrived at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in early April after its run-in with the belligerent birds.
It was alone, dehydrated and had scratches across its belly and hind legs from the encounter, Taronga Wildlife Hospital supervisor Annabelle Sehlmeier said.
Ms Sehlmeier has taken on the role of surrogate mum to the four-month-old, which is too young for vets to determine its gender but has been nicknamed Bonsai due to its "unusually small" size.
She says it has grown from 400 grams to 530 grams in two weeks and feeds off a special milk mixture from the palm of her hand.
"Normally a baby echidna would feed every 3-5 days when its mum returns to the burrow, but this little one wants to feed every day," she said.
"I guess it's making up for lost time."
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