Soon2BChixMom
Herding ducks and Wrangling chickens
- Jan 8, 2017
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Last Wednesday I picked up two pullets. I did not quarantine and that's not what this post is about.
The pullets are 7 months old. It was the owners only flock and they decided that chickens weren't for them. The chickens were free ranging with a very tiny coop set up in comparison to how many chickens they had.
I set up a dog carrier with a fence to start integration. I also placed a tarp over the top to give them extra protection from the elements. It worked splendid for two days. The 3rd night, I decided to place them on the roost and my intentions were to get out early to remove from the roost and place in their divided area. Well, I was not paying attention to the weather and that night it snowed and froze - so it was a good thing I placed them in the coop as they would have probably been very cold in the carrier. When I went to open the coop access door it was frozen shut. I have hand issues and it was not budging. The chickens have an auto door that has an overhang, so they would be able to get out once it got light enough.
Anyway, at that moment I decided to just rearrange the run and let everyone be confused and work it out. Because it is obviously not the best time to integrate with the weather changing.
Ok, so yes I'm naive in regards to chicken keeping and did some things that are not the recommended practices. However, it was going well enough. My two new EEs were getting initiated, but nothing to worry about.
Well, here's where it goes from, "hey, this isn't so bad" to now and why I'm even writing about it.
I noticed one of my EE pullets had feathers sticking out funny. I first noticed this when I got her. But, when I did my initial check over - I checked eyes, feet, nostrils, etc. I just figured the feathers were ruffled from being moved. After day 2 of being in the run with others, I decided to grab her and see what was up with those feathers as she should have shook herself enough by now to unruffle feathers.
I found she had a gash.
It was older as there were patches of dried and dirty scabbing. I could kick myself because during my initial check, I also dusted her with permethrin "just in case". I use a stocking as a powder puff. Well, there was a tiny bit of blood on it, but I figured she just got a scratch during the shuffle.
When I actually looked, the skin was pulled up and away from her body. I decided to clean her up, tend to her wounds, and separate her. She is doing fine. She is alert and vocal and she really wants to be put with the flock. But, she has a flap that I'm afraid will catch on something and rip again. I was hoping it would fall off, but it hasn't.
The more that I've had her in my lap looking her over, I think the previous owner's dog had gotten a hold of her as she has two patches of pin feathers about the size of a quarter coming in and she shouldn't be molting at this age. One is on her neck the other on her back. I am only mentioning that it might have been the dog, because I originally was trying to wrangle a different EE that looks like this girl and she got away. When she did the owner mentioned that it looks like the dog got a hold of that one and pulled this girl off the roost.
So why am I writing this book? Well, I am just disheartened with this going on and discovering my original flock has a case of round worms. Plus, the sparrows keep getting in my run (open with aviary netting) and when I went out to check everything one was in the coop.
Oh, and a hawk is sticking around so I have to keep all of the birds confined. Can it get any worse? Ugh....
The pullets are 7 months old. It was the owners only flock and they decided that chickens weren't for them. The chickens were free ranging with a very tiny coop set up in comparison to how many chickens they had.
I set up a dog carrier with a fence to start integration. I also placed a tarp over the top to give them extra protection from the elements. It worked splendid for two days. The 3rd night, I decided to place them on the roost and my intentions were to get out early to remove from the roost and place in their divided area. Well, I was not paying attention to the weather and that night it snowed and froze - so it was a good thing I placed them in the coop as they would have probably been very cold in the carrier. When I went to open the coop access door it was frozen shut. I have hand issues and it was not budging. The chickens have an auto door that has an overhang, so they would be able to get out once it got light enough.
Anyway, at that moment I decided to just rearrange the run and let everyone be confused and work it out. Because it is obviously not the best time to integrate with the weather changing.
Ok, so yes I'm naive in regards to chicken keeping and did some things that are not the recommended practices. However, it was going well enough. My two new EEs were getting initiated, but nothing to worry about.
Well, here's where it goes from, "hey, this isn't so bad" to now and why I'm even writing about it.
I noticed one of my EE pullets had feathers sticking out funny. I first noticed this when I got her. But, when I did my initial check over - I checked eyes, feet, nostrils, etc. I just figured the feathers were ruffled from being moved. After day 2 of being in the run with others, I decided to grab her and see what was up with those feathers as she should have shook herself enough by now to unruffle feathers.
I found she had a gash.
It was older as there were patches of dried and dirty scabbing. I could kick myself because during my initial check, I also dusted her with permethrin "just in case". I use a stocking as a powder puff. Well, there was a tiny bit of blood on it, but I figured she just got a scratch during the shuffle. When I actually looked, the skin was pulled up and away from her body. I decided to clean her up, tend to her wounds, and separate her. She is doing fine. She is alert and vocal and she really wants to be put with the flock. But, she has a flap that I'm afraid will catch on something and rip again. I was hoping it would fall off, but it hasn't.
The more that I've had her in my lap looking her over, I think the previous owner's dog had gotten a hold of her as she has two patches of pin feathers about the size of a quarter coming in and she shouldn't be molting at this age. One is on her neck the other on her back. I am only mentioning that it might have been the dog, because I originally was trying to wrangle a different EE that looks like this girl and she got away. When she did the owner mentioned that it looks like the dog got a hold of that one and pulled this girl off the roost.
So why am I writing this book? Well, I am just disheartened with this going on and discovering my original flock has a case of round worms. Plus, the sparrows keep getting in my run (open with aviary netting) and when I went out to check everything one was in the coop.
Oh, and a hawk is sticking around so I have to keep all of the birds confined. Can it get any worse? Ugh....
Yes I know I shouldn’t do that but I keep an eye out for any excessive aggression towards the newcomer and within 2 weeks time it’s all good. It’s not your fault that the previous owners let their dog play with the chickens. Do you have blue kote? I would just spray some on the wound and put her in with the rest of your flock. I also don’t deworm my birds, I never have. Have I seen worms in a poop? Yes, but it’s very rare. I read somewhere that adding garlic powder to your chickens feed keeps away mites/lice and apparently it reacts with the worms badly. My thinking is if feral chickens aren’t dewormed why should I do it to my birds? Obviously if there’s a heavy work load it would be appropriate to worm, but finding a wormy poop once in a blue moon doesn’t mean I’m going to worm my birds. I just make sure to add a bit extra garlic powder to their feed for a week and wouldn’t you know it the wormy poops disappear. As for the sparrows hardware clothe seems to be the only thing that keeps them out. 
