We decided to add to our flock, 2 roosters to 11 hens and they were starting to fight a bit. I found a craigslist listing for 8 hens for a good price so I went to pick them up.
It ended up being a young girl, in her early teens selling them. she had a set up in a barn with a lot of large cages and too many chickens to count in there. No way to go outdoors, or scratch around, i could tell they were all filthy. She quickly picked them all up and stuck them in boxes. Informed me she hadn't fed them yet today, (it was 7 at night!!!) and that they were missing some neck feathers from the rooster, i just gave her the money and headed home with my new chickens afraid to open the box.
The poor things looked terrible. There combs all floppy and barely pink, filthy feet, disheveled feathers, and completely bald on their necks and some on their chests. I also noticed there poop was just completely black, like tar black, no white spots or anything. I set them up in a make shift chicken tractor in the yard and filled up the feed and waterers. By this morning they had already eaten the whole gallon of food. Their combs are standing up better and gaining a bit of color, and they are happily scratching through the grass.
Now I'm wondering what to do next. I didn't intend to come home with rescue chickens.. I'm worried about bugs, I have insectrin dust and DE. And then should I add anything to their waters, I've got chicken probiotics and ACV. Can I do both at once? Their poo is starting to look a bit more normal this morning, so I wonder what they were being fed. I know to keep them away from my old birds for a while, There is 8 of them and obviously my little make shift tractor is too small for them so we're cleaning out a horse stall tonight for them (there are no other animals in the barn) and will rotate them between there and the tractor so they can get some sun.
Any suggestions would be great, I'm hoping soon they're happy and healthy enough that I can't tell my old birds from my new.
It ended up being a young girl, in her early teens selling them. she had a set up in a barn with a lot of large cages and too many chickens to count in there. No way to go outdoors, or scratch around, i could tell they were all filthy. She quickly picked them all up and stuck them in boxes. Informed me she hadn't fed them yet today, (it was 7 at night!!!) and that they were missing some neck feathers from the rooster, i just gave her the money and headed home with my new chickens afraid to open the box.
The poor things looked terrible. There combs all floppy and barely pink, filthy feet, disheveled feathers, and completely bald on their necks and some on their chests. I also noticed there poop was just completely black, like tar black, no white spots or anything. I set them up in a make shift chicken tractor in the yard and filled up the feed and waterers. By this morning they had already eaten the whole gallon of food. Their combs are standing up better and gaining a bit of color, and they are happily scratching through the grass.
Now I'm wondering what to do next. I didn't intend to come home with rescue chickens.. I'm worried about bugs, I have insectrin dust and DE. And then should I add anything to their waters, I've got chicken probiotics and ACV. Can I do both at once? Their poo is starting to look a bit more normal this morning, so I wonder what they were being fed. I know to keep them away from my old birds for a while, There is 8 of them and obviously my little make shift tractor is too small for them so we're cleaning out a horse stall tonight for them (there are no other animals in the barn) and will rotate them between there and the tractor so they can get some sun.
Any suggestions would be great, I'm hoping soon they're happy and healthy enough that I can't tell my old birds from my new.
