I am getting fed up with irresponsible chicken owners.....

[Dwells]

I started raising chickens over a year ago now as a means of relieving stress. Most of this experience has done just that but certain aspects such as getting a rooster for every two chicks I purchase and affording a good housing plan for the hens lately there has been an influx of dumb&&s chicken owners.
Fist and foremost I have no issues with free range chickens although mine have coops and runs and even with my set up there is still the possibility of one or two getting out though it has not happened in over a year. Over the last week there have been four very young chickens found near my trash cans. I assume they are coming here because my kids are not the neatest when they throw away old food and leave some on the ground, my issue is the condition of the juveniles. All have had tattered tail feathers and feathers missing off their whole backs and some on the elbow of the wings. None are older than about 2 months old. A week ago I took in one which I have no idea what breed she is a few days later two white youngsters arrived. they managed to leave and I haven't seen them since. I work graveyards and sleep during the day. When i woke up my wife showed me another one that she found near our trash today.I believe she is a Rhode island red but not positive. She too have no back feathers and tattered tail feathers. I have no idea where they are coming from but I can only assume they are no being taken care of. The black and white one along with the RIR ate two full dishes of food when we first took them in and drank a lot of water. I noticed today that the first one is starting grow her feathers back and I hope the RIR will follow suit. So I am over my limit of chickens in my area but can not seem to let them go. Having eight egg layers is far too tempting. Plus a while back I took in an Amerucuana who had been attacked and after a couple months became full feathered and healthy. She produced over two dozen eggs before she succumbed to one our recent heat waves.
Everyone has their way of raising chickens such as letting them roam or keeping them in runs but no matter how they are kept they need to have the essentials such as food and water. I started to believe that someone may have been using the youngsters I found as fodder for training roosters to fight. I know that I honestly can not take in any more. It is bad enough that i have to rebuild the runs and a new coop. I guess i am just venting here but this does tick me off. I got my chickens for their personalities and for eggs. In order for that to occur I have to keep them happy and comfortable. If i was unable to provide that then i would not have stared. I wish certain other people would think the same way.

 

[N F C]

Good morning,

I can understand your frustration with irresponsible owners. Living out in the country like we do, we see that kind of negligence way too often with chickens, dogs, cats, and other animals. Have you tried calling animal control for your county? If the birds are being used for something like cock fighting, the authorities should be given a chance to investigate (or at least they could pick up the neglected birds that are in danger of being hurt/killed by other animals, vehicles, etc.).

It's hard to see any animal in need, bless you for doing what you can for them.

 

[Dwells]

I actually spoke with them earlier on. I didn't mention the birds that I kept though. They basically told me to report any sightings to them, which is difficult because their hours are cut, but other than that they want me to locate the possible owner / owners and then report them. they didn't seem to interested in doing the leg work even though the way the neighborhoods are laid out they can not be very far from where I am.
I even told them that I would capture and bring in any others that I have find, they stated that more than likely they would be put down. Now if the birds were ill and too far gone then okay. So far they just look beat up, dehydrated and hungry. What can you do??????? I just hope there are no others.

 

[juliejmt12]

Ugh! That is just pure neglect and I can see how you believe that they are being used as bait for fighting roosters. I had a chick that was getting pecked and lost some of her back feathers so we separated her and made sure she was happy and healthy before returning her to the group. Hopefully you can find someone in your area to rehome them to if you can't keep them.

 

[Dwells]

Well, this morning the first one we found started crowing so I will have to get rid of that one. Luckily I know someone who will take him. The other one which I suspect is a RIR I am hoping is a hen. I always wanted a RIR (don't really know why). I still believe that they are bait but pecking is like you mentioned is highly possible too. We will see how flock introduction goes when she is healthy.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Sounds like someone doesn't know how care for their birds. If you have that many chickens wandering into your yard it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to find out where they came from. It's not like they are migrating. The references to fighting roosters is absurd. You said they are less than two months old? That's not much more than a chick. Somebody has too many roosters mating young hens, or way too many chickens in a crowded pen/coop. Then again that wouldn't explain how they got into your yard. Free range birds wouldn't look that bad.