Major hen pecked and run question.

[Kidhenduckohmy]

I bought ten hens and a rooster. The person I bought them from had WAY too small a run, maybe 50 square feet for 50 chickens.
So now I have a few queations. The two hen pictures are the two worse girls. How long before they will look normal? Also they are much smaller than my chickens, which are supposed to be the same age. In fact they look the same size as my babies I bought this spring.
We got an egg from one of them and it is also much smaller than the ones my hens give.
Could their size and egg size be from their environment? Can you stunt a chicken? I didn't ask what all they feed them, but to help catch them he was throwing cracked corn on the ground. If this is all you feed a chicken will it stunt them also? AND, by now feeding them better food and giving them a larger area will they catch up?
It probably was not wise to take on these hens, but silly as it is I am already attached and what to help them out.
My other question is about the run. I have a run with 850 square feet. In one year it looks like picture. I was thinking if I made it bigger, maybe the grass will come back. What do you think? Or will I just have a bigger dirt patch. I now have 27 chickens with two bantams on the way.

[/IMG][/IMG]

 

[mandelyn]

You'll have a bigger dirt patch, it doesn't take them long to eat the grass, it the grass never gets a chance to regrow unless you split the run in two, and give one side a rest.

It can take 3 months or so to get feathers back on a bird. Supposing the feathers are still alive to regrow. Sometimes the follicle is damaged. Time will tell. Molt is coming up, so they should start filling in nicely over the next several weeks. Just depends on what schedule their body is on.

Get them onto a feed that has at least 20% protein (layer only has 16%, it doesn't provide enough protein for birds needing growth). Or offer up protein packed treats at least once a day. If they free range there should be plenty of bugs to help as well. Cat food is an ok option, having a lot of protein (usually 35%) just don't over load them on it. Mine like it soaked in a little water to soften it up.

Get some Blue Kote to spray on red spots, it will reduce pecking and protect the sensitive areas by reducing the red color. Unless you sit down and watch for a long time, you won't know for sure if they stopped pecking each other or not. It can become habitual. The birds you already had when these arrived may also be pecking the new birds, just because they're new.

 

[Kidhenduckohmy]

I was afraid of the bigger pen just turning to dirt too.
They do get to free range in the evening. I only let them out closer to dusk so they don't wander in neighbors yard. Will the extra protein hurt my other hens? Maybe just protein treats will work best as I can do it individually?
Blue Kote. . .is that the same thing you put on horses?
During the day they seem to not be picking too much. There is some fighting as they try to establish their place. The good thing though is when one runs away there is lots of room to move away. Not sure about what they are doing in coop though. Right now coop is too small. I wake up at 4:50 to let them out so they are not closed up long. We are making the coop bigger at the end of July and this will no longer be a problem.

 

[donrae]

A chicken run will pretty much always be dirt, unless as mentioned part of it is fenced off and rotated. You can build frames with seeds under to make a green feeding spot, but you need a way to water it.

I don't think the extra protein will hurt. I feed all my birds an all-in-one feed, I forget how much it has but it's higher than layer and they're fine.

Blue-Kote, in the spray can, just like for big livestock. Turns the wound area blue so other animals/flies aren't as attacted to it. Also antiseptic.

I'd treat them all for mites and I don't know what else---they just look so icky!

I think if they're full grown, they're as big as they're gonna get. If they're stunted, it's permanent. Egg size can increase with better nutrition and living conditions.

 

[Kidhenduckohmy]

I know, they look awful. I did check them over pretty good for mites and lice and I didn't see any.
I will start with the extra protein and get some blue kote. I guess I will just wait
and see what some time will do after that.
I guess I will leave run the same size. I really do not want to mess with rotating. They will just have to wait till evening to get grass.

 

[donrae]

I supplement with greens from around the property, any weeds I pull go in the run, I put grass clippings in there if I don't need them for mulch. I also grow swiss chard, lettuce, spinach.....more than we need so the extras go to the birds. During the winter I offer them some alfalfa pellets to keep yolks nice and orange.

 

[Kidhenduckohmy]

How long before I can expect normal egg laying? It seems I have thrown my whole flock off. Is it normal for a flock to stop laying when you add another group of chickens? They haven't stopped but have slowed down. With the new hens I have 22 layers, but only am getting 8-10 eggs a day. Is stress from new birds causing them to slow down? And is extra feather growing stopping new ones from laying? The new ten hens give me one to two eggs a day. I can tell because they are so small. I do notice most the hens are looking better. Quills are in and starting to look like feathers.

 

[Mrs. K]

You have a nice size run, but I would add some stuff to it, as it is quite empty. Adding a couple of pallets on cement blocks is easy, cheap and it gives your birds a perch, or some shade. A couple of tree branches would also give them some places to sit at a higher level. This allows birds to get away from each other, which will make for a happier flock. Especially as you have added a bunch to the flock.