Is this normal for a new bunch of girls?

[Phlimm]

So we had four chickens many years ago in AZ and they were quite lively and laid eggs all the time. When fed, we had to dodge out of the way lest we get pecked if we stood too close to the food. Any veggie left overs from our table would be devoured quickly. They would run around the yard and do all manner of hilarious chicken related things. There were some pecking order issues but nothing too extreme.

Fast forward to this week. A new state, and a new group of hens. One Lavender Orpington, one Ameraucana, one Cream Legbar, and one Black Copper Maran. A nice privately made coop about the size of an outhouse with three attached nesting boxes and a fully enclosed run that is 8' long, 6' wide and 3' high. Cut straw on the floor of the coop and in the three attached nesting boxes. The floor of the run is my backyard, so...grass. They have been here three days and two nights.

The situation:

• Got them from Craigslist from someone with lots of ads for a wide variety of birds. Seller claims they are all about 12 months old (can I verify this in any way?).
• The transaction took less than one minute because of covid concerns. She tossed them into the cage in the back of my car and I drove off.
• I did notice that her birds were in a linked plastic boxes about half the height of milk crates. Lots of them in the back of a pick up truck. Seemed a bit...eeewww.
• Upon getting home, I was taken aback because
  • All four have bald patches on their backs in varying sizes. Exposed bare skin with (I think) the start of feathers growing in.
  • One has upper beak damage - as in partly missing. She seems to be able to drink/eat.
  • Seller claims the bald spots were from roosters and that the feathers should grow back shortly.
  • Seller says she trims beaks so they don't peck each other due to the large number of birds she has. The other three do not appear to have been 'trimmed'.
  • The beak damaged one does not appear to be particularly in distress. But seeing her tongue flick around after eating/drinking is a bit off putting.
  • Seller claims she never had trouble eating/drinking and the beak will grow back in a couple of months.
• They not very energetic. All of them just stand around looking at each other or slowly meander to and fro and pick at the layer pellets and water and grass.
• I have not personally witnessed any pecking order behavior or bullying.
• They have not eaten as much as I would have expected them to. There is a largish round pan with layer pellets (enough to cover the bottom) always present.
• There is a three gallon watering jug always present. Have filled it once the day we got them. Maybe half to two thirds full now.
• It has been hot but also has rained pretty hard a couple times.
• Fresh Georgia peaches were picked at but only if they happened to walk past the pieces and noticed them.
• Lettuce leaves appear to have been ignored.
• First night:
  • Only one figured out how to get to the roosting rails in the coop.
  • Two slept basically on top of each other on the ground in the run.
  • The other one ended up roosting on the handle of the watering jug (after many attempts).
• Second night:
  • Two made it to the roosting rails.
  • The other two again slept on top of each other just inside the entrance to the coop.
• Zero eggs. When we got our chickens in AZ several years ago, one laid an egg in the car on the way to our house.

I am looking for any advice, ideas, theories, etc.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They sound like a confused batch of birds. They don't understand what happened. New home, New food, New surroundings. They also may not have been friendly to each other from where you got them. They need time to adjust.

 

[fatcatx]

Between the heat and stress, I would not be surprised if it took a week to get them settled. Also it sounds like they may have been kept in questionable or over crowded conditions so health may not be at 100%. Many birds will ignore unfamiliar foods unless one takes interest in it.

 

[aart]

Yikes!
Buyer Beware.
Sounds like you got some 'well used' birds.
They may not lay again until near solstice, molting time is near.

Post some pics of your coop and run and the areas on the birds that concern you.
Pics of their heads and combs might give a clue to laying status.

 

[Hidrainja4]

SSSTTTRRREEEESSSSSSS
Check for mites, Give them two weeks to get use to the new home. I would give them extra vitamins like rooster booster or liquid. Beak trimming is awful I don't buy trimmed birds. But at least they got a good home with you and should be fine with good care.

 

[Folly's place]

Yes, look for mites or lice, at night with a flashlight, and treat them if any are found.
They have a better home now, regardless of their age, or how they actually do for you.
Good luck!
Mary

 

[NatJ]

• They have not eaten as much as I would have expected them to. There is a largish round pan with layer pellets (enough to cover the bottom) always present.

An average chicken should eat about 1/4 pound or 3/4 cup of feed per day, so that would be three cups for four chickens. Source:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/figured-out-how-many-cups-of-feed-equals-one-pound.673097/

They might be eating less because of stress, or they might be eating but not scratching it out and wasting it like normal chickens do If you are concerned, you could either measure the feed, or look for visibly bulging crops, or catch them a few times to feel their crops. If they regularly have food in their crops during the day, they are probably fine.

• All four have bald patches on their backs in varying sizes. Exposed bare skin with (I think) the start of feathers growing in.
• Seller claims the bald spots were from roosters and that the feathers should grow back shortly.

The seller might well be right about that.

• First night:
  • Only one figured out how to get to the roosting rails in the coop.
  • Two slept basically on top of each other on the ground in the run.
  • The other one ended up roosting on the handle of the watering jug (after many attempts).
• Second night:
  • Two made it to the roosting rails.
  • The other two again slept on top of each other just inside the entrance to the coop.

Roosting might be a new thing for them--depends on how they were housed before, which of course you do not know.

A lot of what you've described matches what I've read of ex-battery hens or ex-commercial hens. Yours might be younger that most ex-commercial birds (if the seller was honest), but it seems likely that they were raised in commercial-type conditions. So they will need some time to adapt and to learn "chicken" skills (like eating new foods, scratching in the dirt, having room to run around, sleeping on a roost, and so forth).

 

[Phlimm]

Thanks for the replies. They've started to eat the feed on a regular basis now. No eggs yet.

Two of them seems to be able to understand how to roost, the other two end up on the floor of the coop or in the nesting box. For the last two nights, I wait until they are asleep then move them up to the roosting bars myself. Should I keep doing that?

I've attached several photos so people can see what I am talking about.

The whole group together. Cream Legbar is the beakless one.

Back of the Black Copper Maran.

Another pic of the backs. These are the worst two. The Lavender Orpington's back is much less noticeable and the Ameraucana's back does not appear to have any issues.

Their new home with the appropriate dog tax applied. He loves to sniff around the coop but does not bark at them.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

I love your purple coop! Your new girls are probably a bit stressed.

The patches on the backs are likely from roosters.

The beak of one of my birds was partially shaved off a couple months ago. She was startled and scraped it on the wire of the run. It is growing back now. One of my little girls has a chip in the from of her beak. I think she did the same thing as the other.

They are very pretty birds!

 

[NatJ]

One Lavender Orpington, one Ameraucana, one Cream Legbar, and one Black Copper Maran.

The whole group together. Cream Legbar is the beakless one.

???

The Cream Legbar is in the back/middle of the picture, with a tuft of feathers on top of her head, and her beak looks fine to me.

The one on the far right, with extra feathers under her chin hiding the wattles, is the Ameraucana. I'm pretty sure she's the one with the short beak.