Just moved in and inherited the girls ... but this doesn't look right!

[Rlroberts01]

so forgive my ignorance.... the books I bought haven't come in yet!! We moved into our new house today and excitedly inherited 7 hens! Although I believe I have a few Rhode Island Reds I do not know what the others are. This I am not overly concerned about but I AM concerned that some are missing feathers on their back.

To my knowledge - and the previous owners reports - there are no roosters. I uploaded some pictures of the girls and the one who has the most feathers missing. Their feet all look in really good shape to myuntrained eye - no scaling - but I did see one girl whose underside of her hind was also raw. Is this as simple as a mounting hen or might I have a problem on my hands?

The coop (imo) is too small and so is their enclosure but it was relatively clean - water needed to be changed and I'm going to buy new bedding tomorrow but not gross or neglected.

Should I be concerned beyond improving their conditions and giving them more "to do?"

 

[sawilliams]

Looks like mounting, there could be a mounting hen (I have 2) but I would guess it's a pecking issue and like you said there might not be enough space.

Can you give an approximate size of thier area? Both the coop and thr run

 

[KentuckyRooster]

The one in the back in the second to last photo is looking like a rooster, see the curly looking featehrs. He's mounting them and making them bald.

 

[sawilliams]

Do either of the 2 barreds have bare spots? The striped ones...

I've heard they can be bullies if they get the chance to take over as head hens...

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

I believe the all black to be an Austrolorp and the black and whites to be bared rocks.

Could be feather picking possible due to boredom or maybe you need a higher protein feed. Also if you could expand or "re"arrange the run that might help by giving them something now to do and explore.

 

[Rlroberts01]

Looks like mounting, there could be a mounting hen (I have 2) but I would guess it's a pecking issue and like you said there might not be enough space.

Can you give an approximate size of thier area? Both the coop and thr run

The enclosure is probably about 8x10 and it is a large version of those coops you can buy pre-made, raised with four nesting boxes, I think only one real roost and maybe 4x4 size.... I think it is definitely too small. They have a second one on the be property... I'm not sure if they would move coops but Im going to see what we can upcycle to combine, raise, and make their outdoor area MUCH larger!

 

[Rlroberts01]

The one in the back in the second to last photo is looking like a rooster, see the curly looking featehrs. He's mounting them and making them bald.

Oh my gosh you guys are amazing!! Is it just because of the crown flap that you can tell?! That would at least explain it!

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

Definitely NOT enough roosts and I honestly do NOT see a rooster in the bunch.

 

[Rlroberts01]

You guys are a plethora of information!! Thank you so much!! You are making me feel better. My plan is totally to make their new home top priority but in the interim I'm going to see if I can at least shift their run and add some interesting new things. Again thank you all so much!! I'll try to get a better picture of the one you are referencing as a rooster tomorrow morning.

 

[sawilliams]

8x10 run should be ok for 7 chickebs (10 ft each)

The coop is small 4 hens max though in some cases a few more can be housed comfortably.

Certainly work on the coop if you can.

Since you do have a second coop you could possibly seperate a few for a while also. Make sure three is no blood and keep an eye on ones with sore spots as the extra red can encourage pecking too