I did something reeallly bad.....

[HorseFreak777]

OK,

So yesterday I picked up two new chickens to add to my existing flock of 4. I stupidly put them together last night, and now this morning, I noticed one of the new one would just sit in a corner, close her eyes, and breathe heavily. I'm worried she may be sick. She also has a swollen eye lid, with what looks like crust. I have no idea if it's from being ill, or being pecked. She is also the one being attacked the most, she won't fight back either, she just screams and runs. I'm really stressing out now. OH, I also noticed she had a slightly unpleasant smell. What should I do? She's already been with the other hens since last night, and I'm afraid they are already infected. HELP!

Should I call the lady I bought them from and see if she will take her back?
Am I over-reacting?

 

[bufforp89]

Sounds like they just roughed her up a bit. Is there any place in your coop that you could put her where they can all see each other but not get to each other? Maybe a wire cage?

For now I would put her in a warm, dark place away from other chickens where she can recover for a bit. Sounds like she is experiencing a little bit of shock but should be ok with some TLC.

Next time make sure that you introduce them to each other slowly. Not cool to throw them all together like that (as you found out) they need time to establish a pecking order, especially with a flock as small as 4-6. Good Luck and hope she recovers!

 

[goldies99]

first...SEPERATE them!...so she doesnt get pecked anymore......if i were you i would try to give her back to the lady and get your money back....
i got 2 hens that did not work with my flock, i had them 3 days...i could see it wasnt working and back they went!....i still wanted more hens, so
i got another 3 hens which are working very well...some times i think there are some that just are not a good fit!....good luck with what ever you do!

 

[elmo]

I would pull the new chickens out of your flock immediately and isolate them. The bad smell could be a symptom of coryza.

http://www.peafowl.org/ARTICLES/15/

It's better to quarantine first of course, but pulling potentially ill birds out of the flock as soon as possible is better than leaving them where they are. It might not be too late to prevent transmission.

I would also thoroughly clean/disinfect feeders/waterers, roosts, etc.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Oh Oh. For starters remove the two newbies and put them in dog crate or even a big cardboard box if that's all you have got. It is possible her distress is from pecking but it could be a respiratory infection. You won't know until you watch her for a while. Rinse her eye with a little saline eye drops and put some neosporin (the one with out the pain relief in it).

Check out this link to compare symptoms. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Coryza does tend to be associated with a sort of smelly discharge from the nose.

 

[HorseFreak777]

I've read on here that if I put the together on the roost at night, they will be OK in the morning, still tussle, but not try to kill each other. It's actually only two of my existing hens that are being aggressive. I actually had to remove my Orpington because she was being the most aggressive, constantly attacking. My Dom will attack, but then stop for a while. So, from my personal experience, introduce them slowly and Quarantine!! UGH! So stressfull!