may get a couple of abandoned chickens in a few days

[aran]

I took my baby boy goat to the vet to be neutered today and there were two beautiful young pullets...welsummers i think looking at the pics on the internet who were dumped in a bag outside the place last night...what the hell is wrong with ppl? Anyways they look very healthy, appear tame, have been wormed and deliced (although the vet said he didnt see any) and in 5 days if noone claims them ( seems unlikely given how they turned up) i will take them home with us on Wed next week. Beautiful birds i cant imagine why ppl would do that to them. They look well fed, healthy and tame.

Now do i need to have the vet vaccinate them for mareks etc?

 

[biretta]

Unless you have a sizeable flock, as in a commercial operation, I've read that such vaccinations as mareks is unnecessary. Just give them adequate space and keep the living quarters clean. I don't believe my 5 hens have been vaccinated (the feed store couldn't tell me for sure) but they are really healthy. Oh, and I also do not feed them medicated feed.

 

[aran]

thanks mate...nope my birds have about 35 sq feet each in the run at this stage. I have 24 birds in there now and its about 900 sq feet. None of my birds are vaccinated. I have 5 ducks also.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Make sure you post some pics of your soon to be new commers. I hope everything works out.

 

[bayouchica]

That's wonderful news, great save! Those are some lucky chickens.
A few months ago, I rescued three baby chics that were a prank for someone's wedding night un bad part is the manager of the hotel dumped them in a field. Grrrr... they ended up on Freecycle & I got them.One ended up dying but the other two are just fine. Makes you wonder about people these days....

Good luck & I hope you are able to get them.
Miriam

 

[SpottedCrow]

Well, aran, it's like this...people suck...LOL
I'm really glad that they'll be going with a person who knows how to take care of these lovely sentient beings.

 

[BeckyLa]

I think the pullets are very fortunate. First, whoever had them took good care of them. Second, they loved them enough to place them somewhere where people care about animals, and, third, they're going to have you! How wonderful for them and fortunate for you! I hope they'll make great hens for you.

However, I think you should seriously consider making a quarentine area for them faaaar away from your other birds. Although they appear healthy, and even the vet thinks they are, you have no idea what these birds have been through before they were found. Stressed birds can come down with any number of illnesses just as a result of the stress. And the symptoms typically don't even show up for 2-3 weeks. So, for the safety of your current flock, please quarentine your news girls for at least a month.

 

[Standard Hen]

I have heard of people dumping off roosters but never pullets, unless they thought they were roosters. How lucky they are. I remember I think it was on this board someone found a crate of roosters in the middle of winter on a desolate road just tossed out like they were nothing. People can be just crazy and seem to get crazier everyday.

 

[aran]

i do have a separate coop and run although it is only about 8 feet from the other run/coop with my main flock in. I have 5 ducks i "rescued" from a lady who had them in suburbia when she wasnt allowed to in that spare coop in quarantine currently. They have been in there probably a week now and look great...maybe in 5 days time when the chickens come i can put the ducks in with the main flock and isolate the new girls for a few weeks. At least there are two of them so they wont get too lonely.

 

[aran]

i brought home the new girls today...they are just beautiful...dont look to be any older than about 4 months...and they are very friendly...eat out of your hand, allowed my son to pet them , calm when being carried. They have brown ear lobes, and yellow feet and legs. Their combs are small and similar in shape to my RIR. The colour of their feathers are the same as pics of golden red sex linked pullets i have seen on line.