How can you tell if a chicken is old or not well taken care of?

[jess5254]

My bad I bought a trio of blue silkies from a lady out of our local paper. When she arrived at our meeting place she had two chickens and one rooster in the box which was very very small like piled on top of each other. These silkies are supposedly 5-6 months old and starting to lay. I had brought a cat carrier to put them in so immediatelt upon arrival I put them in the carrier. Now that I have them home I think I made a boo boo. I cant tell if they were not taken care of or if they are old. I have old roosters and they do not look like this. The rooster has all of his tail feathers gone and he is a bit aggressive. Is this normal for silkies I thought they were mor on the docile side. My two hens are two different sizes one is a lot bigger than the other and they look horrible feathers gone and matted. The rooster has recently started beating up the little hen I was forced to remove her and put fer by herself. I hate doing that but I have only had them a week and still in Quarantine.

 

[RedDrgn]

Your description of the physical condition of the birds seems to be a clear enough indicator that the birds were not cared for like they should have been unless they are in the middle of a rough molt.

I've never had silkies myself, but from everything I ever heard about them, they are about the most sweet and docile chickens one can keep. Do you have pics of the birds that you can share?