Guadaupe
Chirping
- Aug 3, 2025
- 20
- 73
- 56
Hi everybody!
So a neighbor came today and offered me to adopt her chickens, saying that her dogs want to eat them. They're two years old and according to her they're healthy. She also told me she could give me the structure she has for them so i can keep them separated while they get used to each other.
I said yes, and went for them (bc i couldnt stand those babies getting killed by the dogs) and now i think i am in some kind of trouble? and need some advice.
I have a small flock of 3 chickens. One of them has gone through surgery and is still in recovery inside of my house (and the re-incorporation to the flock is going to be tough because her sisters are being very mean to her everytime I put them together).
But now i have these three new girls (she told me they were two...). I have a pen that i built to help the reincorporation of Pipa (my surgery hen) to the flock, so i have them right there. Thing is they can't sleep in there, the pen is meant for one chicken, not for three adults.
The so called 'structure' that she offered is a self made tunnel, made with chicken wire and water pipes, covered with tarp. By no means i am going to leave the new girls sleeping outside in that thing, having stray cats, dogs, foxes and other animals around. Plus they are not very clean. My girls dont smell at all and these new girls have some smell. One of them has her butt feathers covered in poop, their toes are not clean either, their combs could be cleaner, etc.
I was thinking of giving them a warm bath with epsom salts, but i dont want to over stress them.
They are also not used to human contact (and my girls are very used to being picked up, they squat when i get close to them).
This post got longer than i thought but i wanted to give the best context i could to my situation.
Right now they are in the pen inside of my house.
The direct questions would be
1) How long do you think i should keep them separated just to check that the three new girls are _fine_?
2) Do you think giving them a warm bath is a good idea?
3) For the integration with my flock, do you think i could keep them inside the pen inside of the coop so they can get used to each other and then -under supervision- try to make them be friends? I was told that i could use a water gun if i see bullying attempts. I guess i could use next weekend to do this.
Thank you SO much!
So a neighbor came today and offered me to adopt her chickens, saying that her dogs want to eat them. They're two years old and according to her they're healthy. She also told me she could give me the structure she has for them so i can keep them separated while they get used to each other.
I said yes, and went for them (bc i couldnt stand those babies getting killed by the dogs) and now i think i am in some kind of trouble? and need some advice.
I have a small flock of 3 chickens. One of them has gone through surgery and is still in recovery inside of my house (and the re-incorporation to the flock is going to be tough because her sisters are being very mean to her everytime I put them together).
But now i have these three new girls (she told me they were two...). I have a pen that i built to help the reincorporation of Pipa (my surgery hen) to the flock, so i have them right there. Thing is they can't sleep in there, the pen is meant for one chicken, not for three adults.
The so called 'structure' that she offered is a self made tunnel, made with chicken wire and water pipes, covered with tarp. By no means i am going to leave the new girls sleeping outside in that thing, having stray cats, dogs, foxes and other animals around. Plus they are not very clean. My girls dont smell at all and these new girls have some smell. One of them has her butt feathers covered in poop, their toes are not clean either, their combs could be cleaner, etc.
I was thinking of giving them a warm bath with epsom salts, but i dont want to over stress them.
They are also not used to human contact (and my girls are very used to being picked up, they squat when i get close to them).
This post got longer than i thought but i wanted to give the best context i could to my situation.
Right now they are in the pen inside of my house.
The direct questions would be
1) How long do you think i should keep them separated just to check that the three new girls are _fine_?
2) Do you think giving them a warm bath is a good idea?
3) For the integration with my flock, do you think i could keep them inside the pen inside of the coop so they can get used to each other and then -under supervision- try to make them be friends? I was told that i could use a water gun if i see bullying attempts. I guess i could use next weekend to do this.
Thank you SO much!
