Can you report Neglect?

[Claudias Coop]

Thanks for all the replys. I feel better now.
Guess I am used to my girls in their covered coop & run.
Always looking preppy clean, except during dry dirt baths.
If anyone knows anyone who sells chickens in the
Silicon Valley, CA. Gilroy to San Jose, I could sure use
some help.

 

[desertdarlene]

It's hard to judge them if the weather is wet. Do they look well fed and cared for otherwise (other than being wet)? Perhaps when it has stopped raining for a few days, they may look better.

I know with ducks, things can get messy really fast even without rain, so it would be hard to judge a situation on a random visit unless it was obvious that they were starving or mangy.

 

[DuckLady]

It's great that you care so much!

But I agree with others that the weather may have overwhelmed the owner. He might feed twice a day or the food may well have been out of site.

I can assure you that if you saw my spoiled rotten well fed Cheerio glutton ducks, you would think I spent all day dragging them through the mud and rolling them around in it.

Now if you went back another time in another season and you saw the same circumstances, well... you might have reason to worry.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Yup, Let it go!!

My state animal inspector will tell you I have the nicest, cleanest birds and pens in the county!! Not this time of year with over 100 inches of wet snow, an 8.00 bale of straw only looks decent for 2 or 3 days in the runs with these ladies!!! Mud, muddy and muddier!!!! Not much cleaning can be done with -17 degree temps and snows since the 1st of Dec. My birds like to be out!!! My feeders and waterers are also kept inside!!!

 

[vebyrd36]

Usually when I run across a condition like this I go back to visit. Sometimes it is not as bad as it seems. Sometimes people do need help and when a person shows interest in their animals they will share things like they may need help. But, I always consider they are pridefull people so when you are wanting to help allow them to approach the subject with you. My common response is hay I have stuff around the house that I'm not using maybe we can trade for eggs or such. This approach works great. You have a big heart.

 

[geebs]

If you saw my pen in oregon during the rainy season and the water... you would be wrong also... They are like drowned rats... the food container is inside and I only feed enough to feed them and not leave around for varmits... Their water is inside with thier heat lamp and their nighty night bedding.. Is outside a muddy mess... yep... But in the summer it is all grass... It can rain here for weeks on end... They like to go outside rain or shine....They always have access to many shelter spots around...

 

[Ema]

my run gets real muddy , like today for example, the snow has been melting at records speeds, so much so that I got water in the basement and my ceiling int he bathroom began to leak (2 more things added to my list of fix it this spring..YAY ME)

it was practically raining in my run today, and I went out and had to put in more straw in the run cause they were scratching and making holes to get to the muddy ground...anyhow they got all muddy and wet today they looked like filthy little muddy rags, I don't keep food out there and no water either during the winter, its all inside which is cleaned every single sunday.

If people say them today they would be appalled, but truth be told the girls have a great home and dry home and are well fed and cared for.

I would take another look and see how things really are, or just let it go. I find it odd though that the owner wasn't around after you made an appointment though...kind of weird


ohh I wanted to add, that I ran into a case like this last spring, before I even had my chicks, I did revisit after the melt and the chickens looked better, but there were soo many of them, lol....but the little old lady, she can work that farm as if she was 2o yrs old. Her chickens like to chase her ducks around, kind of funny.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I feed and water mine twice a day, i don't leave food out, or water. Once it's empty, it's empty until I come back and re-fill it. If I leave water out in large quantities, it just freezes. I feel that if they are being that neglected, you'd have seen some dead ones. If you see dead chickens in the pen, be concerned. Until then, they are probably just messy, wet chickens.

 

[Camelot Farms]

Ya'll have made me feel so much better! Somedays I would lay my body in front of your vehicle if you tried to come to my farm during red clay mud season.
You might think my chickens were part of a cult ritual with wet red mud on them....ack.

Its a good reminder that we are usually only treated to a snapshot of a persons (or chickens) life.

Wee spoken voices of reason!!
Editing to correct 'Wee spoken' to 'well spoken'

 

[Desert Rooster]

chickensducks&agoose :

I feed and water mine twice a day, i don't leave food out, or water. Once it's empty, it's empty until I come back and re-fill it. If I leave water out in large quantities, it just freezes. I feel that if they are being that neglected, you'd have seen some dead ones. If you see dead chickens in the pen, be concerned. Until then, they are probably just messy, wet chickens.

x2