Assortment of problems

[9chickens]

We recently rescued 9 chickens that were abandoned along with all the other "pets". There was a flock of 39 that were free ranging for awhile. We went and picked them up after dark and brought them to our house. I put them in a makeshift coop until the next day when I was able to put together a 7x8 chicken coop. It took all day but at 9 pm they were once again snatched up in the middle of the night and moved.
They are penned up in a 35 X40 area and locked in at night (we have fox,coyote,minks, raccoon, skunks and possum running around)
Right now they have approximately 4.9square foot of ventilation not including their chicken door which is open all day. I am going to double the ventilation if it ever stops raining.
I now have only two that are laying and three have messy rear ends and some have loose stools. We are feeding 16% layer, kitchen scraps, and a little assorted seed. We are sure to get them a lot of fresh water.
My question is do you think this will clear up or is there something I need to do? I am contributing it to stress of being moved around and having the flock split up as well as change in diet. I am sure that being penned up with a crazy man building a coop,cussing at the rain and running power tools didn't help either

 

[HeatherLynn]

Chicken poo can be a bit watery at times. Huge variety of really normal poo. The messy rear is where it makes it look like its an issue. Even stressed I have never had any get like that. I have had babies get cocci and pasty butt. Keep the rear washed and give them probiotics in their food. I also give vitamin and electrolite water. I cut open my probiotic pills and sprinkle over eggs. I also have tried to give mine Kefir. The only time I have had adults with this issue is when I bought them from a unknown source and I ended up with sick birds and a sick 9 year old from touching the birds. Pump them up as best as you can with probiotics and keep things as clean as possible. Lots of fresh water and I always add the electrolites simply as a precaution against dehyration.

I would back off scraps and such until you know whats giving them issues. A good layer feed should do them a world of good. Be thankful any are laying. The last dependable layers I got took over a month before they started to lay again after the move. I got another trio before that and it took almost 3 months ( those were the sick ones though so??)

 

[ChicKat]

9chickens,

wow, a one-day coop build is quite a feat not to mention the rain.....
good for you for adopting them, welcome to the forum.

Give your chickens some time to settle in, it sounds like they have found a good home and they will know it.

For some reason, oatmeal straight from the box, (I always use the old fashioned kind) may help 'cure' the poop problem. (Kept dry of course) Or maybe just getting a new place, waking up in the same place two mornings in a row. ;O) and not haveing a 'crazy man building a coop, cussing at the rain and running power tools' to disturb their chicken zen will help a lot. LOL!! I can just picture it.

 

[9chickens]

Thanks for the information

 

[darin367]

who knows what they were eating before the rescue.... sounds like they'll be fine..some runny poo now n again shouldn't be a worry..... if it continues for a week or so then you might want to address it..... get them on a steady diet n they'll b fine....

 

[9chickens]

Update...
The girls are doing great, the loose stools are gone. They seem to be getting used to us, one came in today and laid an egg while we were insulating the coop.
Just to clarify the one day build only included framing the coop on 4 skids, building 5 nest boxes, mounting the roost, and covering it all with OSB.
The next day I roofed it, built the windows and started siding, the we got more rain so I went and got insulation and wafer board to do the inside. Last night we got several inches of rain and snow so I have been slowed down. I should have it finished in the next day or so weather permitting.
If my math is right my first dozen eggs cost me about $538.63

 

[ChicKat]

Hey there 9chickens--- sounds like you got off pretty reasonably for only $538 and change for those dozen eggs. Lots of folks on this forum have MUCH more expensive eggs. Lol!

Good to hear that your chickens have settled in. Now all that rain that you don't want---just send it to TX.

 

[9chickens]

Just a quick update
The girls are up to 6 eggs a day. Now when they hear us coming out they all run to the gate to see what goodies we are bringing out. I would like to think they are glad to see us but since I have had children, parrots and dogs I know better.
Thanks again to the people that have given us advice on getting our rescue chickens back on track.