Hi, I’m looking for some advice on reintegrating some rescue hens and my not-exactly healthy Cockerel Sammy (he will be 1 year in November).
Background info: since December I have been treating, abducting, and rehousing the chickens on the farm I live on. Their conditions are not good, with nutritional deficiencies, severe Scaly Leg Mites, Lice and a variety of problems like sapinglitis, ascites, and probably internal laying. I scooped up 7 not too bad girls at once and introduced them to one of my other Cockerels, Chickie Hawk, and they are doing great. I have a laying flock of my own of 10 hens and my Mr Marans (awesome boy!) and I’m starting up a meat breeding flock (11 weeks old) I also have three cockerels waiting for ladies that are keepers for breeding purposes.
My problems happened when I had to cull two of my three intensive care girls (ascites and internal laying?) that were in with Sammy, in a small hospital tractor. He was distraught with just Hoppy (she suffered a broken leg due to child mishandling and still has a limp) so I figured this would be a good time to steal the two younger, less sick girls of the five remaining sick farm chickens. They were originally purchased with Chickie Hawks ladies but were moved into the main (parasite ridden hell hole) coop due to egg eating. I figure I can treat their SLM with oil easily enough, I dusted them with Carbaryl, discovered some surprise bumblefoot, and put them in my hospital tractor.
Day 1 was fine, Hoppy chased them a little but no big problems, that night Sammy slept with her on the ground (unusual). The next morning the bullying began with the new girls picking on Hoppy. I treated the bumblefoot in the afternoon and trimmed up the new ladies lower beaks a bit (they were basically debeaked when we got them and have some issues eating) then I went to do the Hay, and when I got back They were all in for the night, the new ladies up roosting with Sammy, and Hoppy was in “her” corner, due to her limp she has trouble roosting. Day three I returned from some chores to find Hoppy with her head completely buried under the tractor floor to escape pecking. Some small pecks and bruising, a little bleeding around her neck and comb. She was being kept from the feed and chased a lot and Sammy is no longer intervening with the bullying.
So I just took Hoppy and brought her to the barn, where I have my new chicks in a 4x8 brooder, and a dog crate with a very sick chicken that might make it. I’m still on the fence about her recovery, and waiting for a clear sign one way or the other. The hospital tractor is too small for active chickens (it was designed for three basically immobile chickens that could hardly roost and preferred to ground sleep). Think about sizes like one of the prefab coops everyone is always saying is inadequate, but they do free range whenever I’m around.
More lumber is coming for yet more chicken tractors... so I plan on upgrading Sammy, his two new ladies, and the three yet to be rescued old girls to a properly sized tractor. But with Hay coming in, and the various time soaking, de-briding, and oiling feet and legs, I don’t have enough time to concentrate on integrating the girls or taking on the three new really horrible leg and feet girls. I’m not permitted to use ivermectin on any girls still laying, because the owner won’t bin their eggs. A more permanent set up is coming for everyone once my house is up and the building inspector is gone. But I’ve got a while to go yet on that.
Any adivice is appreciated on getting the girls to get along. I’m wondering if Hoppy will ever be able to be a part of the flock again with her limp? She integrated fine with the two previous girls (Puffy and Bossy, for anyone familiar with my previous issues) before I had to cull them. One day of pecking order establishment then they were a happy little trio with Sammy, ranging and “chickening” for a month or so, until their health declined to the point I found it inhumane not to put them down.
Background info: since December I have been treating, abducting, and rehousing the chickens on the farm I live on. Their conditions are not good, with nutritional deficiencies, severe Scaly Leg Mites, Lice and a variety of problems like sapinglitis, ascites, and probably internal laying. I scooped up 7 not too bad girls at once and introduced them to one of my other Cockerels, Chickie Hawk, and they are doing great. I have a laying flock of my own of 10 hens and my Mr Marans (awesome boy!) and I’m starting up a meat breeding flock (11 weeks old) I also have three cockerels waiting for ladies that are keepers for breeding purposes.
My problems happened when I had to cull two of my three intensive care girls (ascites and internal laying?) that were in with Sammy, in a small hospital tractor. He was distraught with just Hoppy (she suffered a broken leg due to child mishandling and still has a limp) so I figured this would be a good time to steal the two younger, less sick girls of the five remaining sick farm chickens. They were originally purchased with Chickie Hawks ladies but were moved into the main (parasite ridden hell hole) coop due to egg eating. I figure I can treat their SLM with oil easily enough, I dusted them with Carbaryl, discovered some surprise bumblefoot, and put them in my hospital tractor.
Day 1 was fine, Hoppy chased them a little but no big problems, that night Sammy slept with her on the ground (unusual). The next morning the bullying began with the new girls picking on Hoppy. I treated the bumblefoot in the afternoon and trimmed up the new ladies lower beaks a bit (they were basically debeaked when we got them and have some issues eating) then I went to do the Hay, and when I got back They were all in for the night, the new ladies up roosting with Sammy, and Hoppy was in “her” corner, due to her limp she has trouble roosting. Day three I returned from some chores to find Hoppy with her head completely buried under the tractor floor to escape pecking. Some small pecks and bruising, a little bleeding around her neck and comb. She was being kept from the feed and chased a lot and Sammy is no longer intervening with the bullying.
So I just took Hoppy and brought her to the barn, where I have my new chicks in a 4x8 brooder, and a dog crate with a very sick chicken that might make it. I’m still on the fence about her recovery, and waiting for a clear sign one way or the other. The hospital tractor is too small for active chickens (it was designed for three basically immobile chickens that could hardly roost and preferred to ground sleep). Think about sizes like one of the prefab coops everyone is always saying is inadequate, but they do free range whenever I’m around.
More lumber is coming for yet more chicken tractors... so I plan on upgrading Sammy, his two new ladies, and the three yet to be rescued old girls to a properly sized tractor. But with Hay coming in, and the various time soaking, de-briding, and oiling feet and legs, I don’t have enough time to concentrate on integrating the girls or taking on the three new really horrible leg and feet girls. I’m not permitted to use ivermectin on any girls still laying, because the owner won’t bin their eggs. A more permanent set up is coming for everyone once my house is up and the building inspector is gone. But I’ve got a while to go yet on that.
Any adivice is appreciated on getting the girls to get along. I’m wondering if Hoppy will ever be able to be a part of the flock again with her limp? She integrated fine with the two previous girls (Puffy and Bossy, for anyone familiar with my previous issues) before I had to cull them. One day of pecking order establishment then they were a happy little trio with Sammy, ranging and “chickening” for a month or so, until their health declined to the point I found it inhumane not to put them down.
