HensSweetHens
Songster
- Aug 17, 2018
- 66
- 149
- 131
Dear Backyard Chicken community!
(I do realize it's a longer post, and so I thank you for hanging in there while I give a full account.)
I am writing to ask your advice on an issue of animal neglect in a public park here in Colorado. (The coop + chickens belong to the government park/museum) Please bear with me...I'll try to make my summary as concise as I can.
Twelve chickens total, mostly older birds. There is a chicken wire fence around the pen area (pen is fairly large) with a little bit of mulch on the ground and two dusting areas in the open.
My observations and reasons for calling it "animal neglect":
* No access to vegetation at all
* Coop/pen overflowing with rats (they drink/eat from the chickens' feeding troughs)
* Impacted/sour crop (giant crop clearly visible - wright after the coop is opened in the morning). I have successfully treated one of their hens with sour crop at my house that one lucky time when a kind volunteer and myself were able to take the sick chicken home. The director of the museum doesn't allow chickens to be taken from the coop no matter what the reason may be.
* Intestinal worms (I saw round worms in the poop). When I inquired, the administration said the chickens aren't being wormed.
* Bumble foot (I stay for a while at the coop when I bring them vegetables and I observe. Many hens there have the black scabs of bumblefoot.)
* Lice (also seen w/ naked eye crawling on their heads)
* Possible gout (deformation of foot in some birds)
* Respiratory illness (chicken coughing+sneezing strenuously, shaking head + scratching the face excessively, fluid coming out the nostrils, discharge from eyes, etc.) - this has been going on and off for as long as I've been feeding them - 1.5 years.
* Waterers (1-2 gal) aren't cleaned/refilled regularly and are frozen over (those that are outside in the pen area). There is a heated waterer inside the coop, which is good, but that's the one I've seen rats drink from.
* Feeder is never cleaned out, the volunteers "only add to the feeder when is it's low on pellets" (was the answer when I asked the volunteers themselves)
* Summer 2017 I saw a Polish Hat hen that was dark red/blueish in the face, falling over trying to walk and ultimately falling onto the ground unable to get up from the blasting heat of the sun. She acted like she was loosing consciousness (maybe a heart attack). Seeing that she was unable to get to the shade where other chickens were, I immediately ran to the Museum and asked them to help. They said that they'd bring a vet one of the days to check on the sick chicken. Next day - same story. I kept seeing that really struggling chicken and they told me that the vet said "everyone in the coop is healthy". This lasted about a week, with me running over to the museum, making calls, pleading with people responsible for the coop to help that poor bird. A few days later that chicken died (that's my guess, because I didn't see her in the coop/pen area anymore. I inquired at the Museum if they had euthanized her, they said "no").
* Last fall 2017 we had 2 days of crazy cold (-8F at night) in mid October. I came to feed the chickens, and saw a heavily molting hen - pretty much featherless - lying on the ground of the coop - wings sprawled out, face down, shaking violently and pretty much unconscious - dying from hypothermia. Other chickens were coming by and pecking at her, to which she didn't react at all. (I had to throw a lettuce leaf to make them stop pecking her.) Ran to the museum to ask them for help yet again - just to find that it's closed on Tuesdays. No one has responded to my phone call or called back in response to my voicemail. (The museum is closed to visitors on Tue, but the staff is usually still in the bldg working.)
(I have never seen an animal shake of cold like that hen did... and I couldn't help her because it's a government facility with a 7 ft high fenced around! :-((((....) The volunteers hardly ever check on the chickens during the day, when they do (those few times that I myself saw) - it is to take the eggs and leave right away. The volunteers might simply not know what signs to look for when a chicken is in ill, or in pain/distress - but that should not be an excuse when becoming a caretaker of animals. I tried talking to volunteers at the coop (occasionally I meet them there) about the ways to improve things, but have been ignored.
* One of their hens has a lame leg (she hardly walks... slightly jumps rather). The night I was bringing in the hen I helped heal from sour crop back into the coop (the the help of that kind volunteer), I saw the hen with the lame leg lying on the ground of the coop for the night - unprotected from those giant rats and drafts in under the floor. It was 17F that moment.
* The coop has tons of holes at the base, dug by rodents and the holes are becoming bigger and bigger. Volunteers or administration aren't doing anything to fill them in, and secure the coop from drafts.
* There is a coin dispenser machine for scratch. That scratch is pretty much all corn, and is given to the chickens all year round (by visitors/their donations). Scratch is supposed to be given to chickens only in winter/cold months, otherwise they become fat and sickly. Most chickens are pretty large at the Golden coop, as they don't move much in that pen and keep eating scratch daily.
I have talked to the lady at the museum who is in charge of the chicken coop and volunteer program probably 8 times or more... but was shut off every time. I've pleaded with her and the director of the museum for a chance to collaborate, offering my care giving and medication (dewomer) at no cost, no time on their part and no change to their day-to-day operations... The kind volunteer who has been super supportive and concerned has offered to cover the cost for vet visits/treatment numerous times...All we've gotten from them is "thank you but the chickens are fine and we do not need help at this time". The volunteer group does not have each other's contact info, so there is no open communication. There has not been any training provided on chicken keeping/care practices from the words of volunteers themselves.
Since I've started asking people - visitors of the coop - for advice and trying to raise awareness, I've found out that the coop has been a high profile place for complaints, and the administration being "political" and ignorant of the issue. I've heard that people reported the museum for animal neglect before. Somehow the situation is still not good (it's been over a year now since I've started advocating for those poor birds; more than 5 years of this negligence - from what I've heard directly from visitors).
My intent is not to cause trouble/harass anyone. I am just trying to help the birds, and the administration is very hostile to us volunteers, who see the issue of poor chicken care practices. What I've written above is a true account and not an exaggeration.
I am at a loss, and in need of advice/help on the effective approach to change the situation for those birds? Who do I contact to raise more awareness?
Referrals are welcome too, if you know anyone in CO or elsewhere who could help.
Thank you SO MUCH for reading my post!
Perhaps someone knows a link to Colorado poultry keeping law... (I found very little so far) Referrals are welcome too.
Thank you SO MUCH for reading my post and I hope to hear from you guys soon.
(I do realize it's a longer post, and so I thank you for hanging in there while I give a full account.)
I am writing to ask your advice on an issue of animal neglect in a public park here in Colorado. (The coop + chickens belong to the government park/museum) Please bear with me...I'll try to make my summary as concise as I can.
Twelve chickens total, mostly older birds. There is a chicken wire fence around the pen area (pen is fairly large) with a little bit of mulch on the ground and two dusting areas in the open.
My observations and reasons for calling it "animal neglect":
* No access to vegetation at all
* Coop/pen overflowing with rats (they drink/eat from the chickens' feeding troughs)
* Impacted/sour crop (giant crop clearly visible - wright after the coop is opened in the morning). I have successfully treated one of their hens with sour crop at my house that one lucky time when a kind volunteer and myself were able to take the sick chicken home. The director of the museum doesn't allow chickens to be taken from the coop no matter what the reason may be.
* Intestinal worms (I saw round worms in the poop). When I inquired, the administration said the chickens aren't being wormed.
* Bumble foot (I stay for a while at the coop when I bring them vegetables and I observe. Many hens there have the black scabs of bumblefoot.)
* Lice (also seen w/ naked eye crawling on their heads)
* Possible gout (deformation of foot in some birds)
* Respiratory illness (chicken coughing+sneezing strenuously, shaking head + scratching the face excessively, fluid coming out the nostrils, discharge from eyes, etc.) - this has been going on and off for as long as I've been feeding them - 1.5 years.
* Waterers (1-2 gal) aren't cleaned/refilled regularly and are frozen over (those that are outside in the pen area). There is a heated waterer inside the coop, which is good, but that's the one I've seen rats drink from.
* Feeder is never cleaned out, the volunteers "only add to the feeder when is it's low on pellets" (was the answer when I asked the volunteers themselves)
* Summer 2017 I saw a Polish Hat hen that was dark red/blueish in the face, falling over trying to walk and ultimately falling onto the ground unable to get up from the blasting heat of the sun. She acted like she was loosing consciousness (maybe a heart attack). Seeing that she was unable to get to the shade where other chickens were, I immediately ran to the Museum and asked them to help. They said that they'd bring a vet one of the days to check on the sick chicken. Next day - same story. I kept seeing that really struggling chicken and they told me that the vet said "everyone in the coop is healthy". This lasted about a week, with me running over to the museum, making calls, pleading with people responsible for the coop to help that poor bird. A few days later that chicken died (that's my guess, because I didn't see her in the coop/pen area anymore. I inquired at the Museum if they had euthanized her, they said "no").
* Last fall 2017 we had 2 days of crazy cold (-8F at night) in mid October. I came to feed the chickens, and saw a heavily molting hen - pretty much featherless - lying on the ground of the coop - wings sprawled out, face down, shaking violently and pretty much unconscious - dying from hypothermia. Other chickens were coming by and pecking at her, to which she didn't react at all. (I had to throw a lettuce leaf to make them stop pecking her.) Ran to the museum to ask them for help yet again - just to find that it's closed on Tuesdays. No one has responded to my phone call or called back in response to my voicemail. (The museum is closed to visitors on Tue, but the staff is usually still in the bldg working.)
(I have never seen an animal shake of cold like that hen did... and I couldn't help her because it's a government facility with a 7 ft high fenced around! :-((((....) The volunteers hardly ever check on the chickens during the day, when they do (those few times that I myself saw) - it is to take the eggs and leave right away. The volunteers might simply not know what signs to look for when a chicken is in ill, or in pain/distress - but that should not be an excuse when becoming a caretaker of animals. I tried talking to volunteers at the coop (occasionally I meet them there) about the ways to improve things, but have been ignored.
* One of their hens has a lame leg (she hardly walks... slightly jumps rather). The night I was bringing in the hen I helped heal from sour crop back into the coop (the the help of that kind volunteer), I saw the hen with the lame leg lying on the ground of the coop for the night - unprotected from those giant rats and drafts in under the floor. It was 17F that moment.
* The coop has tons of holes at the base, dug by rodents and the holes are becoming bigger and bigger. Volunteers or administration aren't doing anything to fill them in, and secure the coop from drafts.
* There is a coin dispenser machine for scratch. That scratch is pretty much all corn, and is given to the chickens all year round (by visitors/their donations). Scratch is supposed to be given to chickens only in winter/cold months, otherwise they become fat and sickly. Most chickens are pretty large at the Golden coop, as they don't move much in that pen and keep eating scratch daily.
I have talked to the lady at the museum who is in charge of the chicken coop and volunteer program probably 8 times or more... but was shut off every time. I've pleaded with her and the director of the museum for a chance to collaborate, offering my care giving and medication (dewomer) at no cost, no time on their part and no change to their day-to-day operations... The kind volunteer who has been super supportive and concerned has offered to cover the cost for vet visits/treatment numerous times...All we've gotten from them is "thank you but the chickens are fine and we do not need help at this time". The volunteer group does not have each other's contact info, so there is no open communication. There has not been any training provided on chicken keeping/care practices from the words of volunteers themselves.
Since I've started asking people - visitors of the coop - for advice and trying to raise awareness, I've found out that the coop has been a high profile place for complaints, and the administration being "political" and ignorant of the issue. I've heard that people reported the museum for animal neglect before. Somehow the situation is still not good (it's been over a year now since I've started advocating for those poor birds; more than 5 years of this negligence - from what I've heard directly from visitors).
My intent is not to cause trouble/harass anyone. I am just trying to help the birds, and the administration is very hostile to us volunteers, who see the issue of poor chicken care practices. What I've written above is a true account and not an exaggeration.
I am at a loss, and in need of advice/help on the effective approach to change the situation for those birds? Who do I contact to raise more awareness?
Referrals are welcome too, if you know anyone in CO or elsewhere who could help.
Thank you SO MUCH for reading my post!
Perhaps someone knows a link to Colorado poultry keeping law... (I found very little so far) Referrals are welcome too.
Thank you SO MUCH for reading my post and I hope to hear from you guys soon.
Last edited:
Hopefully more will see it and chime in.
