New chickens arrive

A big hello from the bipolar state oklahoma
I'm not a complete novice to having chickens. My grandpa has always had chickens, and my mom started raising chickens after I moved out. So I have been around them to collect aggs, butcher them and feed then now and again, but I have never actually raised them myself as far an day to day things . Hubby has no clue, I been turning him into a country boy slowly
We just got our first flock of chickens today, 30 White Leghorn hens all a year old. (Yes I know that's a lot to start with, this was not MY plan, someone got a little overrzelous with making my dream of raising chickens a bit far! I won't name any names right now but I will be telling this story in a later post as it is a rio
. Now that all the kids are grown and moved out it's just me and hubby at home with 4 dogs, 3snakes and now our 30 girls. We love the outdoors, camping,fishing, hunting we love being outside. We live on 13 aces and have a very large fenced area around the coop for the girls to runn (it's a good thin). The also have a small yard fenced area on the chicken door side of the coop. It is also a big walk in coop with 12 nesting boxes, ( I hope that's enough) and lots of floor space.
I'm not sure where or how he got the girls from ( it was a surprise for me!) But they look in horrible condition to me. They are filthy, most of their butts are bare and some have bare spots on their bodies. The feathers they have are ugly looking, their combs are very pale and big ole floppy thing ( now the combs may be normal this way I wouldn't know) they just look like sad unhealthy girls to me. I just want to help them.
Thanks for listening to my long winded story! Here is the link to the story of how I got my chickens if your interested in a little giggle!!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ed-to-make-your-dream-come-true#post_18123900

Hmmm.....:/ wherever you got the hens from..shouldn't be selling chickens in my opinion. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. My white leghorn was absolutely filthy during the thaw. All that mud everywhere. They'll preen themselves and get themselves cleaned up. You said their feathers look ratty. Is it all or just a few? They could look this way because of not having enough space to live ( probably from where they lived prior to being with you ) They will molt probably in the fall but it could be anytime when they molt. I have 1 pullet molting right now. Anyways they should look good as new after they molt. You could buy some feather fixer to help with that. I'm not sure about the color of their combs though. They're supposed to be big and floppy. Are they laying eggs?

A lot of their feathers are ratty tail and large wing feathers mostly. I have not had them long enough for them to lay eggs for me yet, hubby said there were some in the cage they got them out of, he said this is the first time they have ever touched dirt. I'll take some photos tomorrow and post them so everyone can see them first hand. Also we checked on them again before bed and they are not using perches or nests they are all crowded together on the floor in a corner. I don't know if they even know what these things are for. If they don't start using a least the nests is there some way to teach them?

Hi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. It does sound like the birds that you got are from some kind of commercial operation. It sounds "interesting" that they were sold at 1 year old - thats during the height of their egg producing capacity. It could be that they are somewhere near the end of their productive best (although i hope not, for your sake).

As they have never used a roost before, that could take some time. You can try putting a few on the roosts, as darkness falls, and hopefully the others will get the idea. Their wing muscles may not be up to much flying for the moment, but they will get there, as their health improves.

You can try putting golf balls, ceramic eggs in the nests to try and encourage them to use the nest boxes.

Pale comb / wattle colour will improve, as they become used to their new surroundings, and begin to enjoy a non-caged life. Ditto feather condition.

Best of luck
CT

CTKen said:

Hi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. It does sound like the birds that you got are from some kind of commercial operation. It sounds "interesting" that they were sold at 1 year old - thats during the height of their egg producing capacity. It could be that they are somewhere near the end of their productive best (although i hope not, for your sake).

As they have never used a roost before, that could take some time. You can try putting a few on the roosts, as darkness falls, and hopefully the others will get the idea. Their wing muscles may not be up to much flying for the moment, but they will get there, as their health improves. 

You can try putting golf balls, ceramic eggs in the nests to try and encourage them to use the nest boxes. 

Pale comb / wattle colour will improve, as they become used to their new surroundings, and begin to enjoy a non-caged life. Ditto feather condition.

Best of luck
CT

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Thanks for the help, as far as the age thing that's just what he was told. They could be any age as far as we know. I hope they are still laying good if not well we learned something out of it and got cheap meat.its a win either way in my book.

ChknPoo said:

Thanks for the help, as far as the age thing that's just what he was told. They could be any age as far as we know. I hope they are still laying good if not well we learned something out of it and got cheap meat.its a win either way in my book.

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That's a great outlook to have.

Greetings from Kansas and ! Pleased you joined our flock! Glad the chickens you acquired are in a better home now. Hope they turn out to be great layers for you! Bet of luck and thanks for joining BYC!

Maybe they were ex-battery hens. I know they will flourish under your care. I would check for extra baggage that came with them, like lice or mites, worms, and possibly some diseases as well.

Here are some pictures of my poor girls. It makes me sad to see them like this.on the bright side I did have 1 egg this morning and it was actually in a nesting box! So hopefully once they get settled in they will start to look better.[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]