hello everyone
i just joined this forum yesterday. i am a new chicken mommy myself. i have 5 babies that are 5 weeks old. so far so good with my flock. i have some friends who went away on vacation last week and i offered to come down once a day to check on their chickens. please let me explain a little of the background so you understand what i am talking about. my friends actually live on the water. they own a ton of land! people come from towns away to use their land to fish. they load and unload boats there. its kinda like a small family owned fishing spot. they have a bait shop and hold live events from time to time on their land. anyways... they have a friend who lives on a house boat on the land who is supposed to be the one who actually is in charge of feeding the animals and looking after the land. this guy is a great guy with a big heart but he is a drunk and i know he doesnt always get around to checking the pets and feeding them. so i also offered to come everyday to feed the pets and make sure nothing on the land was out of order or vandalized. my friends have 1 cat whom is an outdoor cat. she is getting old and obviously cannot keep catching her own food since old age is catching up with her. i have been feeding her everyday so she doesnt go hungry AND so she doesnt start eyeing the chickens. they also have 2 pigs. the pigs are fine. they are happy and get food and water. they are penned up so there are no problems there. the chickens however....
my friends have 4 older chickens and 2 baby chicks. there are 3 older hens and 1 older rooster. the 2 babies are around 6 weeks old. not too much older than mine. these chickens are all free range. they have a couple acres of land to roam and they also have a home base next to the house (a coop where they go at night by themselves). well i just got back from checking and feeding the chickens and cat....
IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!
LIKE A CRIME SCENE!!!
when i pulled up and got out of the car i went straight to the porch were the chicken feed is kept. usually the chickens hear me and come running. this time only 1 older hen came running. she was all alone. this is very abnormal for my friends chickens! the older ones were never far from one another. especially the roo! he was always around the older females. i couldnt find the 2 baby chicks either! i kept calling for them and calling for them. these 2 babies are NEVER without one another. for instance, if one baby is lost the other screams for it until they are re-united. well, i finish feeding the one hen that came to me and i go with my partner to look for the missing chickens. i walked to the front of the house and found a TON of feathers spread over a good 10 feet area. no chicken though... i walk further into the yard and find another big mess of feathers. this time i found one of the hens
she had been ripped apart! it was horrible... i ended up finding a shovel and i buried her. i will be making her a little tombstone later today. my partner and i walked the land searching for the missing chickens and chicks for a good hour. probably longer. we couldnt find them! there were no other feathers and no chickens. not even a little peep or cluck! its as if they disapeared. we walked to the rear of the property and walked the train tracks looking and still no chickens. im so nervous. i cant find them! what if they are hurt and i cannot find them
by this time im not only heartbroken but i feel defeated. i walk back to where the chickens usually come to get fed and i start calling out one more time while throwing food on the ground. praying one will come running.... thats when i heard a few little peeps!! i knew it was one of the babies! OMG i found a baby! but its little buddy was no where to be found. only one baby chick
those babies would usually scream so loud if separated. anyways, i follow the little peep and i find the baby stuck behind a fence. i ran all the way around the track to where the chick was holding up on the other side of the fence. thats when i noticed all the little white feathers
the other baby chick was white and those had to have been her feathers... this baby i found alive was hovering in the spot where all the white feathers were found. this poor chick didnt even want to leave the feathers of its friend... i scoop it up real fast and i put the chick in a cage i found on the property and took it home.
this baby is a female i think. i have to take pics to post to show you all, but i think its a female. i put the chick in the coop/run with my 5 babies and it was so thirsty and stood at the water and drank for a good 5 or so minutes. than it ate so fast like it was going out of style
at first i thought my chicks would be fine with it. but now im nervous. this poor baby just went through some really traumatic stuff and lost its best friend and now my baby sebright is picking on it! im not sure if my sebright is a male or female. but its around the same age. it keeps picking on the new baby! like pecking at it! this little baby is so scared and traumatized it is just standing there letting my bantam sebright peck at it! what can i do to help ease this new baby into my flock? its already had a rough day and lost its best friend. now its at my house living with my chicks. its a new experience and i want this baby to be comfortable and fit in and adjust without issue. im not sure how traumatized this baby is? it just lost its best friend and its such a sweet baby. is it normal for my naughty bantam to peck at it? its not even trying to defend itself. it just seems to stand there. i will go take a pic of the new baby for everyone to see as well. it kinda resembles my barred rock but i dont think its a barred. i just want this baby to be alright. i am VERY new to all of this. i never thought i would be rescuing a chick just shortly after becoming a chicken mom myself. any advice would be greatly appreciated. thank you all for listening and have a good day!
i just joined this forum yesterday. i am a new chicken mommy myself. i have 5 babies that are 5 weeks old. so far so good with my flock. i have some friends who went away on vacation last week and i offered to come down once a day to check on their chickens. please let me explain a little of the background so you understand what i am talking about. my friends actually live on the water. they own a ton of land! people come from towns away to use their land to fish. they load and unload boats there. its kinda like a small family owned fishing spot. they have a bait shop and hold live events from time to time on their land. anyways... they have a friend who lives on a house boat on the land who is supposed to be the one who actually is in charge of feeding the animals and looking after the land. this guy is a great guy with a big heart but he is a drunk and i know he doesnt always get around to checking the pets and feeding them. so i also offered to come everyday to feed the pets and make sure nothing on the land was out of order or vandalized. my friends have 1 cat whom is an outdoor cat. she is getting old and obviously cannot keep catching her own food since old age is catching up with her. i have been feeding her everyday so she doesnt go hungry AND so she doesnt start eyeing the chickens. they also have 2 pigs. the pigs are fine. they are happy and get food and water. they are penned up so there are no problems there. the chickens however....
my friends have 4 older chickens and 2 baby chicks. there are 3 older hens and 1 older rooster. the 2 babies are around 6 weeks old. not too much older than mine. these chickens are all free range. they have a couple acres of land to roam and they also have a home base next to the house (a coop where they go at night by themselves). well i just got back from checking and feeding the chickens and cat....
IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!
LIKE A CRIME SCENE!!!
when i pulled up and got out of the car i went straight to the porch were the chicken feed is kept. usually the chickens hear me and come running. this time only 1 older hen came running. she was all alone. this is very abnormal for my friends chickens! the older ones were never far from one another. especially the roo! he was always around the older females. i couldnt find the 2 baby chicks either! i kept calling for them and calling for them. these 2 babies are NEVER without one another. for instance, if one baby is lost the other screams for it until they are re-united. well, i finish feeding the one hen that came to me and i go with my partner to look for the missing chickens. i walked to the front of the house and found a TON of feathers spread over a good 10 feet area. no chicken though... i walk further into the yard and find another big mess of feathers. this time i found one of the hens
she had been ripped apart! it was horrible... i ended up finding a shovel and i buried her. i will be making her a little tombstone later today. my partner and i walked the land searching for the missing chickens and chicks for a good hour. probably longer. we couldnt find them! there were no other feathers and no chickens. not even a little peep or cluck! its as if they disapeared. we walked to the rear of the property and walked the train tracks looking and still no chickens. im so nervous. i cant find them! what if they are hurt and i cannot find them
by this time im not only heartbroken but i feel defeated. i walk back to where the chickens usually come to get fed and i start calling out one more time while throwing food on the ground. praying one will come running.... thats when i heard a few little peeps!! i knew it was one of the babies! OMG i found a baby! but its little buddy was no where to be found. only one baby chick
those babies would usually scream so loud if separated. anyways, i follow the little peep and i find the baby stuck behind a fence. i ran all the way around the track to where the chick was holding up on the other side of the fence. thats when i noticed all the little white feathers
the other baby chick was white and those had to have been her feathers... this baby i found alive was hovering in the spot where all the white feathers were found. this poor chick didnt even want to leave the feathers of its friend... i scoop it up real fast and i put the chick in a cage i found on the property and took it home.
this baby is a female i think. i have to take pics to post to show you all, but i think its a female. i put the chick in the coop/run with my 5 babies and it was so thirsty and stood at the water and drank for a good 5 or so minutes. than it ate so fast like it was going out of style
at first i thought my chicks would be fine with it. but now im nervous. this poor baby just went through some really traumatic stuff and lost its best friend and now my baby sebright is picking on it! im not sure if my sebright is a male or female. but its around the same age. it keeps picking on the new baby! like pecking at it! this little baby is so scared and traumatized it is just standing there letting my bantam sebright peck at it! what can i do to help ease this new baby into my flock? its already had a rough day and lost its best friend. now its at my house living with my chicks. its a new experience and i want this baby to be comfortable and fit in and adjust without issue. im not sure how traumatized this baby is? it just lost its best friend and its such a sweet baby. is it normal for my naughty bantam to peck at it? its not even trying to defend itself. it just seems to stand there. i will go take a pic of the new baby for everyone to see as well. it kinda resembles my barred rock but i dont think its a barred. i just want this baby to be alright. i am VERY new to all of this. i never thought i would be rescuing a chick just shortly after becoming a chicken mom myself. any advice would be greatly appreciated. thank you all for listening and have a good day!