I have never done anything like this before. Normally I get about a dozen chicks, raise them together and eventually introduce them to who ever is left of the previous flock. However, this year I seem to be having difficulty getting the chicks I want and now find myself with two sets of youngsters. One set is 4 cochins and 1 Marans and they are about 4 months old now. I have another 4 chicks, 2 Marans and 2 EE that are about 6 weeks old. I also have my flock of 7 old girls out in our coop.
Here is the problem. My daughter volunteers at a horse and farm animal rescue and they have an EE hen there that was getting pecked severely in her chicken pen. She has a real mish mash of poultry in there including a peacock. So she moved the hen out and put her in her only other available coop which houses 2 polish roosters that were left there. They seem to get along ok, but are very rough with her. Her whole back is bald and she always looks scared. My daughter asked me if we could take her as she lays nicely and really needs a better situation than the rescue can provide. So I agreed. I will be going to get her this weekend.
I have never done this before. I know I need to quarantine her and I have plenty of crates and cages and will be setting her up with her own set up away from my current flocks. So now I am wondering once I get her, what should I do? Worm her? Feed her a special diet? I know I will be keeping her separate to see if she is healthy or not, but I am not sure what she will need meds or food wise. We don't give our chickens medications on a regular basis, only when needed and will be treating her the same way once I am sure she is healthy. Obviously 2 roosters to one hen is overkill and so I am sure once she is away from them, she will grow her feathers back. She is not sick that I am aware of, but keeping her separate will help me know that for sure and once she has a clean bill of health I can put her out with some of the other girls. Which brings up my next question.
Once she is healthy, where would you suggest I put her? With the older girls in the coop, with the teenagers in their coop or with the babies in their little house? In the end they will all be together, I just wanted her to bond with a group prior to me putting them all together. There is safety in numbers and wanted her to have some buddies. I will be blending them all together later this year once the new coop is built. I figure the older girls will be pretty discombooberated by the move and that will be a good time to slip the new girls all in. Or maybe this is a bad idea. I am not sure. Anyway, any suggestions for the rescue chicken will be gratefully received.
Here is the problem. My daughter volunteers at a horse and farm animal rescue and they have an EE hen there that was getting pecked severely in her chicken pen. She has a real mish mash of poultry in there including a peacock. So she moved the hen out and put her in her only other available coop which houses 2 polish roosters that were left there. They seem to get along ok, but are very rough with her. Her whole back is bald and she always looks scared. My daughter asked me if we could take her as she lays nicely and really needs a better situation than the rescue can provide. So I agreed. I will be going to get her this weekend.
I have never done this before. I know I need to quarantine her and I have plenty of crates and cages and will be setting her up with her own set up away from my current flocks. So now I am wondering once I get her, what should I do? Worm her? Feed her a special diet? I know I will be keeping her separate to see if she is healthy or not, but I am not sure what she will need meds or food wise. We don't give our chickens medications on a regular basis, only when needed and will be treating her the same way once I am sure she is healthy. Obviously 2 roosters to one hen is overkill and so I am sure once she is away from them, she will grow her feathers back. She is not sick that I am aware of, but keeping her separate will help me know that for sure and once she has a clean bill of health I can put her out with some of the other girls. Which brings up my next question.
Once she is healthy, where would you suggest I put her? With the older girls in the coop, with the teenagers in their coop or with the babies in their little house? In the end they will all be together, I just wanted her to bond with a group prior to me putting them all together. There is safety in numbers and wanted her to have some buddies. I will be blending them all together later this year once the new coop is built. I figure the older girls will be pretty discombooberated by the move and that will be a good time to slip the new girls all in. Or maybe this is a bad idea. I am not sure. Anyway, any suggestions for the rescue chicken will be gratefully received.
