Ex-battery hens. How long to recuperate?

[The Chickeneer]

So we went to the Cherry Auction today which is largest outdoor swap meet in California and they sell everything there. Well I was walking through the animal section where there are countless amounts of chickens, ducks, peacocks, snakes, lizards rabbits and so many exotic animals that I have no idea what they are called.One pen stood out to me and it was a cage full with ex-battery hens. They where white leghorns, and had the typical giant floppy comb with nasty feet and feathers missing, which is what you'd expect coming from a giant battery cage facility. I decided to some because they looked so miserable and also because they looked like they had great potential. Battery cage hen houses only keep their hens for 2 years, which is when they hit their peak of egg production, then after that they get rid of them. So it was no surprise that a bunch of them ended up here at the swap meet. They were $4 each, and I bought two. One of them laid an egg on the way home, so i guess thats a good sign that they're somewhat healthy.

I put them in a separate pen away from my flock and I gave them water with ACV and feed with chicks starter in it because of the higher protein which will help them regrow their feathers. My question is how long till they grow back their feathers and be healthy and strong enough to free range and integrate with my flock? I've never bought ex-battery hens before, whenever they come in early summer everyone is quick to buy them, so how will they act? Can they learn to forage after being in a cage for so long? Thanks

 

[Brookliner]

I would say that they will have to go through a molt before they get their new feathers. I would feed them a high quality layer feed. With free choice oyster shell and give them high protein treats like peanut hearts, mealworms, BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds - with the shell on.). They are going to be timid being out in the sun on ground for the first time in their lives so you will have to be patient with them. If it is hot you might want to give them electrolytes and vitamins like childrens poly-vi-sol without iron. You don't need to make a strong mixture perhaps a tablespoon per gallon of water. With the sun, good food and protein they should perk up quickly. Don't forget if they are free ranging that in the fall you should have a poop sample tested for worms by your vet and worm accordingly. DAWG53 has good information on what to use and how to use it so you kill off the worms you have and don't over do it. Congratulations on your two new girls.

 

[The Chickeneer]

Thanks. Right now they are being fed an organic layer feed, but i mixed in some chick starter for the higher protein. ACV has a large amount of electrolytes, more so than Pedialyte which is used a lot as well, plus ACV helps detox them and is a probiotic. They are doing great right now, i just need to know when they will be fully feathered and ready to go outside.

 

[Den in Penn]

They may not be fully feathered until they go through a molt. Being summer they definitely can go out any time now. Who needs a down coat in the summer anyway?

 

[The Chickeneer]

Ok thanks, so has anyone ever had ex-battery hens? Anything I need to know?

 

[Bens-Hens]

We went down this path to begin with. We started with four rescue birds.

I don't want to scare you, but keep them quarantined for as long as you can, monitor them very closely, especially if your existing flock is not vaccinated.

Our rescue birds were fully vaccinated, but our 'back yard' birds weren't, the rescue birds were carriers of illness.

From someone that lost an entire flock from mixing commercial birds and backyard birds, take bio security very seriously, if there is a doubt to health (other than cosmetic feathers etc) then don't allow them to join with your flock.

 

[Mrs. K]

I generally am not big on quarantine, but in this case, the whole set up sounds seriously scary to me. An auction with all kinds of animals, all kinds of birds, a highly stressful situation, which often times will give a disease an advantage. Birds that are ragged and have bad feet are not in their prime, are not exuding health, and would be very susceptible to every disease or vermin in that place.

I admire your sensibilities for those poor birds, but I don't think I would ever combine them with my flock, and certainly not until a rigorous quarantine for a long period of time. Too quarantine you need serious amount of space. And you should not free range your home flock on the same ground as the new birds.

You may get lucky, but you might loose all your birds.

Mrs K

 

[SouthDakotan]

a Friend of mine lost her entire flock (but 3) to predators. She restocked with battery hens. They were pretty miserable looking with few feathers & paper thin eggs. We put them on a diet of flax seed, calcium, sunshine, protein & grains. After several months their eggs were almost as strong as those of the other hens. Most have begun roosting normally (no longer sitting on the floor of the coop) but it took having "foster hens" to train them how to behave like hens. They slowly came around to walking about and scratching and acting like fowl -- but it took months to get them up to par. They now are similar in size as to normal birds & their eggshells are strong. Color of the yokes have begun to be orange. Mind you we tend to use natural methods alongside commerical feed. They initially didn't even know what to do with grains. But they picked up on it. Didn't know what to do with greens either! But we feed them thistle leaves and chickweed and other green stuffs so that they slowly are getting the idea. All are good for them & we also give them red worms. So I think its a matter of why you took them & recognize that birds can FLY in to your poultry yard with diseases too.... its not just the birds you purchase that bring risk. Few think of the English sparrows and other birds in their yards as carriers of disease but lets face it. Bird Flu & other such things are happy to be brought in by song birds and other feathered friends, just as readily as poultry you buy from auctions. So don't let people scare you about taking such birds as new members of a flock.

Bird Lover in S. Dakota

 

[The Chickeneer]

a Friend of mine lost her entire flock (but 3) to predators. She restocked with battery hens. They were pretty miserable looking with few feathers & paper thin eggs. We put them on a diet of flax seed, calcium, sunshine, protein & grains. After several months their eggs were almost as strong as those of the other hens. Most have begun roosting normally (no longer sitting on the floor of the coop) but it took having "foster hens" to train them how to behave like hens. They slowly came around to walking about and scratching and acting like fowl -- but it took months to get them up to par. They now are similar in size as to normal birds & their eggshells are strong. Color of the yokes have begun to be orange. Mind you we tend to use natural methods alongside commerical feed. They initially didn't even know what to do with grains. But they picked up on it. Didn't know what to do with greens either! But we feed them thistle leaves and chickweed and other green stuffs so that they slowly are getting the idea. All are good for them & we also give them red worms. So I think its a matter of why you took them & recognize that birds can FLY in to your poultry yard with diseases too.... its not just the birds you purchase that bring risk. Few think of the English sparrows and other birds in their yards as carriers of disease but lets face it. Bird Flu & other such things are happy to be brought in by song birds and other feathered friends, just as readily as poultry you buy from auctions. So don't let people scare you about taking such birds as new members of a flock.

Bird Lover in S. Dakota

Thanks South Dakotan, that makes me feel better about this decision and reassures me a bit. I keep getting one egg everyday from the hen with the floppier and bigger comb, haven't cracked one open to check shell thickness, but the eggs are large and feel normal. I've only noticed one of the hens flying to roost, the other hasn't seemed to get the idea yet. Im going to buy some DE and treat them with it just in case they have lice or something, and will treat their feet because it looks like they have/or had scaly leg mites.
other than that, they seem alert and not ill in any way. I will keep them separated for some time just to make sure.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I really hope it goes well for you. We had a terrible time joining flocks like this, so I only wanted to give you the warning we never had.

Of course, you may have a completely different experience, and I truly hope you do.

FTR, our rescue birds were carriers of Marek's Disease, very rarely found in any other bird. We lost our entire flock to that disease, cost us hundreds of dollars to get back to where we were and took months of a 'clean up' or replace program. If only we had warning before hand. Was not until it was too late and birds were limping around and dying that we found it was on our property, too late to do anything about.

Fingers crossed we have it sorted now, just unlucky and unwise I guess.

All the best, hopefully scaley legs mites is the worst of it.