I'm dealing with a rescue chicken and I'm getting VERY freaked out for the rest of my flock... this chicken was pretty much unloaded on me without notice and I don't have a good way to separate her from the rest of my birds. She has been through hell, I'm sure - certainly battled a bunch of roos... Her back feathers are missing, her head feathers are missing, her legs look scaley, she's missing half her toenails... I have a date with the bird-vet on Saturday and they told me not to treat anything with home remedies until they look at her. But this morning, as I was guarding her and some babies while they eat and drink (I have to fend off some of my other chickens so they don't bully them out of their meal) I saw this poor hen take a HUGE dump!!! It was AUDIBLE and when I walked over to have a look it was a huge pile of poop - possibly 2/3 cup of poop which mostly looked like wet food, like maybe it wasn't digested properly??? More than anything I'm concerned about my flock as they are all young and healthy and beautiful... But this poor hen needs SOMEONE to help her! Does anyone have any thoughts? If I managed to create a separate living spot for her, is it too late anyway (she has been mixed with my flock for a couple weeks)?? I only have a backyard flock and don't have lots of room to create another secure run for her. EEEEK!!
Oh boy.....if she's been with your flock for two weeks, then I would say isolating her is a mute point. At the very least, why don't you dust her for mites and lice, and also you could rub her legs with some vasceline mixed with some Sevin Dust powder, and that will kill those scaley leg mites........you could put her in a tub and wash her with some baby shampoo if she's dirty...... Or wait for the vet like you've mentioned......but alot of people don't vet their chickens.......You should do what you're comfortable with doing though...... And good luck! Hope it all works out for your little rescue hen. Sharon
http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0 check out the link above. I knew about it but had forgotten where it was until a fellow BYC member had found it again for me regarding a different topic. Very helpful - gives lots of examples of "normal" chicken poo
