Golden Comets From Auction

[LindsayRae]

Today I sold two of my three buff orpington cockerels. . or roosters now(5months?), and bought 4 golden comets at an auction.

I am super newbie and got chicks for eggs- turned out to be all male- so looked up best hens and bought them without taking a super close look. Some of them are in crates and you cant see a thing. I just took a gamble.

Anyway, when they were handed over I noticed they are pretty beat up. Like, clipped beaks(growing back, not permanent), and bare backs from roosters. For all they have went through, heat and tossed around in small cages, they still seem pretty friendly. . . And they are purring quite a bit.

I want to know if there is anything I can do besides just a great diet, to help them heal up? My other chickens ate straight out of my garden and I just spoiled them rotten. That is why when I look at these girls I just want to give them a bath!!!

Another question is- I have a 5 month old Buff Orpington that is super sweet and fluffy. Is it okay to have these 4 hens with a young rooster? I dont want more feathers being plucked and all that. And--- I do not want these ladies to stress anymore. . ever. I also want eggs. . .

Please help Ol chicken wizards!

 

[Pyxis]

First, be sure you quarantine your new girls away from your other birds for at least two weeks, four if at all possible. You don't want them to introduce diseases into your flock, as there are some really nasty diseases that once a chicken has they always have and you can't get rid of it except by culling the whole flock and starting over.

I would put the new girls on a feather fixer feed or chick feed with a higher protein level so they have an easier time regrowing their feathers. Some scrambled eggs wouldn't be out of the question either. You might also try some hen saddles to protect their backs until the feathers come in. I'd also worm them and dust them for mites and lice before introducing them to your flock so that if they have any parasites it's taken care of and they don't give them to your flock, and it'll make them feel better too.

They should do fine with a younger rooster after they have some time to heal up If these are your only hens (I couldn't quite tell from your post) you might want to get a few more to help 'spread the love' as it were, so that none of them ends up overmated. The hen saddles would help with this too.

 

[LindsayRae]

Thank you so much!! They are my only hens. . . So, them and my one rooster. They are still separate. Kind of calming them down a bit in a big dog crate until I know the next step.

I will worm and debug them tomorrow. They had me at all these little sounds they are making already

I am taking your advice- Scrambled eggs and all. I looked up hen "aprons" and they are really cute- so that is a must. I just feel like they are so sweet I want to make them happy!! My roosters were babied- Watermelon on hot days and fresh chopped veggies for dinner. Sometimes they even had some steak!

Now I have these raggedy ladies that need to heal up. I will post pics when it;s daylight! Poor things. . .or maybe its normal? I dunno!!

Can you bathe a chicken? They need it! Smellin like a poop mountain!

 

[Pyxis]

If they're debeaked and all, I wonder if they are ex battery hens? Too bad you didn't get much info on them from the auction. Yes, you can bathe a chicken, and a lot of them like it, especially the nice warm blow drying afterwards I'd do that, then dust and worm them so you don't clean off the dust you just put on, lol.

 

[LindsayRae]

Oh man! Well, if they came from that sort of atmosphere- They will be happier here. . . Hopefully they aren't done laying eggs. I have a house full of rescued animals. . . whats 4 more?!?!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Many chickens bought as pullets from hatcheries etc. have clipped beaks, not just battery hens.

 

[aart]

Many chickens bought as pullets from hatcheries etc. have clipped beaks, not just battery hens.

Ditto...and they may not grow back.

If you want good egg production and a healthy flock, you should get some clean, healthy chicks and raise them up.

 

[LindsayRae]

I did that and they turned out to ALL be males! Ill figure this out. It's like a learning project! Today they get baths and dusted!

 

[Pyxis]

Many chickens bought as pullets from hatcheries etc. have clipped beaks, not just battery hens.

I've ordered from hatcheries many times and never gotten any pullets with clipped beaks. That along with their breed and condition was making me think possible battery hens, since sex links are the ones used in battery farms to produce brown eggs. I'm not sure what hatcheries are sending out clipped beak pullets often, I've never even seen clipped beaks on chicks in feed stores. If you know which ones I'd love to know so I can avoid ordering from them! I don't want to accidentally end up with chicks whose beaks have been clipped, it's a very cruel practice and I don't want to support it.

I did that and they turned out to ALL be males! Ill figure this out. It's like a learning project! Today they get baths and dusted!

You could order yourself some pullets from a hatchery if you want to be sure you get hens! Go for the sex links if you want to be 100% sure, there's no way to mis-sex them. If you order females, you'll get all females

 

[Cindy in PA]

I've ordered from hatcheries many times and never gotten any pullets with clipped beaks. That along with their breed and condition was making me think possible battery hens, since sex links are the ones used in battery farms to produce brown eggs. I'm not sure what hatcheries are sending out clipped beak pullets often, I've never even seen clipped beaks on chicks in feed stores. If you know which ones I'd love to know so I can avoid ordering from them! I don't want to accidentally end up with chicks whose beaks have been clipped, it's a very cruel practice and I don't want to support it.
You could order yourself some pullets from a hatchery if you want to be sure you get hens! Go for the sex links if you want to be 100% sure, there's no way to mis-sex them. If you order females, you'll get all females

Clipped beaks are routinely done on ready to lay pullets NOT chicks. It supposedly makes them easier to raise to 16 weeks. I wasn't saying chicks are routinely debeaked.