Hey all,
We recently got four new hens. I was disappointed when they were dropped off. They weren't in the best of shape when we got them; all had leg mites and were skinny and dirty and had been living in a cage that was coated with droppings. So far they are doing better, putting on some weight, laying eggs and the mites are clearing up since we treated them. They are allowed to roam our yard, eating bugs and grass and today we clipped all their wings, because the rooster has a bad habit of teaching them to jump over the fences.
One of the chickens, we call her "scrawny"... she has a lot of white down feathers showing / looks plucked or picked. And she smells bad. I don't know if she went "dumpster diving" in our compost, or if she smells bad because she is sick?
What should I be looking out for if she is sick? What should I check for?
Fairly new to owning chickens.
We recently got four new hens. I was disappointed when they were dropped off. They weren't in the best of shape when we got them; all had leg mites and were skinny and dirty and had been living in a cage that was coated with droppings. So far they are doing better, putting on some weight, laying eggs and the mites are clearing up since we treated them. They are allowed to roam our yard, eating bugs and grass and today we clipped all their wings, because the rooster has a bad habit of teaching them to jump over the fences.
One of the chickens, we call her "scrawny"... she has a lot of white down feathers showing / looks plucked or picked. And she smells bad. I don't know if she went "dumpster diving" in our compost, or if she smells bad because she is sick?
What should I be looking out for if she is sick? What should I check for?
Fairly new to owning chickens.
