Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

I got 15 one-day-old RIR chicks at an auction last week. 14 of them are growing and thriving---they have almost doubled in size! But one of them doesn't seem to have grown any. It has gotten a few little feathers on its wings(not as many as the others have), but it is litterally half the size of the others. It is eatting and drinking some, maybe not as much as the others. It has had pastey butt for the last several days. I clean it up, but by the next day, its all matted up again. A friend suggested that I move it into another brooder by itself, so I did. But really, its been with the others for a week. If he is sick, aren't the others already exposed? Is there anything else I can do to help it gain weight?

Also, I bought 4 8-week-old pullets at the same auction. They haven't been anywhere near the babies or my other hens. (I am a huge believer in quarentine with all my pets.) I didn't notice when I bid on them, but when we got them home we noticed that they are super skinny. They just seem to have no muscle mass at all. We have had them for a week and they still eat like they haven't ever seen food before. I'm feeding them starter/grower with some BOSS and chick treat mixed in. I throw them fruit scraps once a day too. (I've been canning and I have lots to go around.) They have maybe gained a little weight, but is there anyting I can do to help them along?

As always, I appreciate the help. I so wish I knew more about chickens.

Then maybe I wouldn't feel so over-my-head EVERY DAY!

First...you might want to NOT buy chickens from an auction and expect to get a good bird. Around these parts the only chickens that wind up at auctions are culls and chicken mill products, so you can expect to have chickens that are not in the best of health.

Second...the advice to throw medicine into these inferior and unhealthy birds will only yield birds who need medicine to keep good health. Please don't compound your mistakes by making more of the same. Two wrongs won't make a right....you'll be very lucky indeed to have a good flock from poor beginnings and crutching husbandry methods.

Third...now that you've made the initial mistake, the only recourse is to cull the obvious poor doers and feed optimally for the rest and give it time to see who thrives, who does not. Those that do not should be killed and eaten or killed and fed to the dogs/buried/etc. BOSS and chick treat shouldn't be anywhere near unhealthy young birds and certainly not loads of high powered medicines either. At this point they need to develop their own immunities and they need optimal nutrition to do so...not treats. If you had a malnourished young human would you include candy in their diet?

Never give a med unless you are sure the animal HAS the need for it....if you want to take fecal samples and have them analyzed(or otherwise waste your money and time)then do so, then treat accordingly if treating your flock for intestinal parasites is going to be part of your husbandry methods. If not, then wait and see how the flock does on good nutrition and time, good management and culling the inferior specimens. If you want a strong flock out of the mess you bought, the only way to identify the strong members will be those who are given the normal, good care~this does not include drowning them in meds~and thrive on that care. Those that do not thrive on normal, good care are the ones you should remove...these will never make really good chickens that will produce for years to come. Yes, there are always exceptions but who wants to gamble on that?

Time, sunshine, fresh water and good, healthy nutrition and husbandry is enough for any flock....the ones that do not do well with that level of care are not worth your time.

As a rule of thumb for the future~if you are feeling overwhelmed while taking care of chickens, you either need to get rid of chickens and never try it again or settle down, take a breath and realize you are dealing with chickens....merely chickens. It's not Life in the ER or any other melodrama...it's merely chickens and they are tough, resilient animals or they are animals that die easily~either way you have little control over that. What you cannot control needs to be let go....chickens are for food, enjoyment, fun, etc...if you are feeling stressed then the chickens are not good for your life and need to go.

It's relatively simple.....sit down, go the beginning of the thread, read, drink a cold beverage, settle in and learn from some folks who can teach you how to not feel "overwhelmed" or make you feel panicky over your chicken purchase and new interest.

 

[stonykill]

First...you might want to NOT buy chickens from an auction and expect to get a good bird. Around these parts the only chickens that wind up at auctions are culls and chicken mill products, so you can expect to have chickens that are not in the best of health.

Second...the advice to throw medicine into these inferior and unhealthy birds will only yield birds who need medicine to keep good health. Please don't compound your mistakes by making more of the same. Two wrongs won't make a right....you'll be very lucky indeed to have a good flock from poor beginnings and crutching husbandry methods.

Third...now that you've made the initial mistake, the only recourse is to cull the obvious poor doers and feed optimally for the rest and give it time to see who thrives, who does not. Those that do not should be killed and eaten or killed and fed to the dogs/buried/etc. BOSS and chick treat shouldn't be anywhere near unhealthy young birds and certainly not loads of high powered medicines either. At this point they need to develop their own immunities and they need optimal nutrition to do so...not treats. If you had a malnourished young human would you include candy in their diet?

Never give a med unless you are sure the animal HAS the need for it....if you want to take fecal samples and have them analyzed(or otherwise waste your money and time)then do so, then treat accordingly if treating your flock for intestinal parasites is going to be part of your husbandry methods. If not, then wait and see how the flock does on good nutrition and time, good management and culling the inferior specimens. If you want a strong flock out of the mess you bought, the only way to identify the strong members will be those who are given the normal, good care~this does not include drowning them in meds~and thrive on that care. Those that do not thrive on normal, good care are the ones you should remove...these will never make really good chickens that will produce for years to come. Yes, there are always exceptions but who wants to gamble on that?

Time, sunshine, fresh water and good, healthy nutrition and husbandry is enough for any flock....the ones that do not do well with that level of care are not worth your time.

as always well said!

 

[gardendufus]

.

It's relatively simple.....sit down, go the beginning of the thread, read, drink a cold beverage, settle in and learn from some folks who can teach you how to not feel "overwhelmed" or make you feel panicky over your chicken purchase and new interest.

While I wholly ascribe to this philosophy, and commend you for saying it bluntly, I am now forced to stay glued to this thread to read the backlash!

 

[Beekissed]

Yep...we're used to that.

We aren't much like other threads that run around and claim the sky is falling when a newbie presents a problem. We don't find that has any good entertainment value at all and,while fun in theory, it only adds to the general BS out there on raising chickens.

 

[gardendufus]

Quote: as always well said!

I totally agree with this and thank you for putting so bluntly what a newbie like myself could never say with authority, I fear I am now forced to stay tuned for the inevitable backlash.

Having lots of trouble today with things not looking like they posted (cuz I didn't hit the submit button even), making a new post, and then finding out that yep, they posted and now I'm being repetetive.

 

[thedragonlady]

Identify years of experience? Please?

This is a non-alarmist, don't scare the newbie type thread so we usually don't post how they MUST do anything ASAP!!!!!!! Chickens are chickens and time isn't really of the essence....a slow, deliberate approach is more advisable with some rational thought and action which usually yields a more satisfactory and long term result.

Hello Beekissed,

I have had chickens for 60 years, standard bred show birds for over 50 tears.I am an ABA life member, and Master Exhibitor. I have had years in farm animals : Horses, Nubian Dairy Goats, Belted Galloway Cattle, Suffolk Sheep, pigs and other assorted critters .Former Ga. DHIR Dairy Tester, and Typhoid-pullorum tester. I did Re-hab of injured and sick wildlife for the Georgia DNR for years also. I know how fast the stress of being sent through a sale and moved into new quarters can kill a bird who is wormy or full of coccidia.

Back2MyRoots asked for help, and I gave her my advice. I NOT tell her that she MUST do anything.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Very well said Beekissed, as always. There won't be any backlash from this end. I may not be an OT in chicken years because I don't count the years as a child, don't remember much about them anyway. But I'm an OT in people years and have a Masters in Common Sense. I've come to the realization that this is the only thread you can voice honest down to earth advice and not get a warning for flaming, what ever that is. Keep up the good work. There's a lot of us out here that don't want things sugar coated and I'm one of them.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

First...you might want to NOT buy chickens from an auction and expect to get a good bird. Around these parts the only chickens that wind up at auctions are culls and chicken mill products, so you can expect to have chickens that are not in the best of health.

Second...the advice to throw medicine into these inferior and unhealthy birds will only yield birds who need medicine to keep good health. Please don't compound your mistakes by making more of the same. Two wrongs won't make a right....you'll be very lucky indeed to have a good flock from poor beginnings and crutching husbandry methods.

Third...now that you've made the initial mistake, the only recourse is to cull the obvious poor doers and feed optimally for the rest and give it time to see who thrives, who does not. Those that do not should be killed and eaten or killed and fed to the dogs/buried/etc. BOSS and chick treat shouldn't be anywhere near unhealthy young birds and certainly not loads of high powered medicines either. At this point they need to develop their own immunities and they need optimal nutrition to do so...not treats. If you had a malnourished young human would you include candy in their diet?

Never give a med unless you are sure the animal HAS the need for it....if you want to take fecal samples and have them analyzed(or otherwise waste your money and time)then do so, then treat accordingly if treating your flock for intestinal parasites is going to be part of your husbandry methods. If not, then wait and see how the flock does on good nutrition and time, good management and culling the inferior specimens. If you want a strong flock out of the mess you bought, the only way to identify the strong members will be those who are given the normal, good care~this does not include drowning them in meds~and thrive on that care. Those that do not thrive on normal, good care are the ones you should remove...these will never make really good chickens that will produce for years to come. Yes, there are always exceptions but who wants to gamble on that?

Time, sunshine, fresh water and good, healthy nutrition and husbandry is enough for any flock....the ones that do not do well with that level of care are not worth your time.

As a rule of thumb for the future~if you are feeling overwhelmed while taking care of chickens, you either need to get rid of chickens and never try it again or settle down, take a breath and realize you are dealing with chickens....merely chickens. It's not Life in the ER or any other melodrama...it's merely chickens and they are tough, resilient animals or they are animals that die easily~either way you have little control over that. What you cannot control needs to be let go....chickens are for food, enjoyment, fun, etc...if you are feeling stressed then the chickens are not good for your life and need to go.

It's relatively simple.....sit down, go the beginning of the thread, read, drink a cold beverage, settle in and learn from some folks who can teach you how to not feel "overwhelmed" or make you feel panicky over your chicken purchase and new interest.

Great information! I wish I had heard this 7 years ago. Back then I thought that if you rescued birds you could "fix them up" and they would be fine, healthy, and beautiful.

At the prime of my newbiness I bought 5 easter eggers, 2 black australorps, and a barred rock hen at a swap and a few places that were mostly culls. 3 easter eggers and 1 black aussie died of disease. Now, the barred rock hen has heart failure. Out of all that trouble I only got 1 good bird, a pretty easter egger, and then 2 half way decent birds.

I'm going to be culling that barred rock hen real soon. I would cull the 2 half way decent birds as well but after all the work I have into them, I guess they can stay. I'll not ever buy any birds that do not come from a reliable breeder again.

 

[fowlman01]

While I wholly ascribe to this philosophy, and commend you for saying it bluntly, I am now forced to stay glued to this thread to read the backlash!

No backlash from me......I agree with everything beekissed posted and I am an OT.

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

Nah...we're all kind of old to be caterwaulin' over chickens, so there isn't much to be fighting over nowadays. I think everyone pretty much accepts that this thread is a little...um...ah...different? We don't really like drama and we're pretty secure in our own methods, so we don't feel too drawn into defending them or touting them too overly much. We just say "this is what works for me and from reading the thread it also seems to works for many of the OTs"...take it or leave it. It's lovely to know that you can say that and mean it....advice freely given and with no strings attached.

Kind of refreshing, huh?