Bullied hen in generally poor con

[IckenchayOverlay]

I adopted a hen yesterday from a suburban owner. Nothing health-related was mentioned in the ad, but when I got there I found that she looks terrible.

I adopted her anyway, thinking I could give her a better home. The only thing the prior owner told me is that she had frostbite on her comb last winter and that she got picked on bad by another hen.

Her feathers are all gummy, possibly from stuff the prior owner was applying to her comb to deter bullying. But I don’t know why it would be all over her. She barely has any comb left, and her feathers are super ratty. Honestly, she looks and feels like a dirty mop head.

She doesn’t seem distressed, but it’s hard to get her to eat. She’ll pick at the carpet (I’m giving her free reign of my apartment until I take her down to my farm this afternoon; there’s nothing dangerous she could get into here), but she rejects most actual food.

I finally found something she would eat, and she started drinking. I know there’s an adjustment period, but I almost wonder if she has poor eyesight and just doesn’t know most of the time that there’s food in front of her.

I’ll take her to a vet as soon as I can, but in the meantime I want to know:

1) is it normal for a hen that’s been severely bullied to be in such poor condition?

2) what’s the best thing to clean her with, or should I just wait for the gunk to molt out?

3) what are the signs of poor eyesight?

4) is there anything I can do to improve her comb?

Thank you!

 

[Auntiejessi3]

@Eggcessive @azygous
Maybe they can help. Both are very knowledgeable. I'd give her a full once over... check for mites, lice and other parasites, any wound, etc so you can get a full game plan rolling. And when you take her to your farm keep her in quarantine away from your flock

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Awe. Poor thing. I have one that gets the brunt, but she is generally happy and has learned how to avoid the top hen.
I would check her over for parasites and just let her chill for a bit before doing anything else.
But, my other concern would be the plan for integrating her with the rest of your flock. It's hard enough integrating multiple hens let alone a single hen.

 

[Skyle]

I'll advice as much as I know.
First thing, as said, check for parasites and quarantine her so there aren't chances to pass any disease to your flock.
I once read that you can recognize poor eyesight in puppies by dropping a cottonball piece in front of them and see if they notice it. You can try but she may simply not be interested.
For the wounds someone more experienced than me will advise you a treatment. Though, I think you can try using some liquid propolis (without any other addictives). I used both in a bullied quail and an infected navel in a chick. Both healed perfectly and very quickly.
For the feathers I'd try with warm water and soap, if it doesn't come away maybe try with some alcohol on a cotton swab?(being careful to not touch the wounds with it)

 

[azygous]

This article of mine should help you with the integration of this hen to her new flock. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

It's very common for a bullied chicken to be starving and in poor condition. Here is another article I wrote on the subject of bullying. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/ As with humans, a bullied chicken comes adopt the victim role and needs to be trained out of it. That rehab effort can easily be combined with her integration.

If you follow my integration plan, the hen will be protected and it will give her comb time to heal. If there are any more sores on her comb by the time she is starting to mingle with the others, Blu-kote on the comb will keep them from hurting her.

As for bathing the gunk out of her feathers, you can give her a regular tub bath in Dawn and that should cut through the greasy grime. Rinse her well, not leaving any soap on her skin or it will dry out. Pat her feathers with a thick towel to blot up most of the water and blow dry. Chickens adore being blow dried.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

@azygous I've read your article many times about integrating a single hen although I've never had to integrate a single hen, I have integrated a cockerel using your methods.