I feel like this should go under"Chicken Care" but I could not find an index for this-only for baby chicks. Thank you all in advance for your advice!
I have raised silkies as pets, for 5 years now. I recently saw an ad, someone selling silkie's, 1-2 years old. I was in want of some mature hens, and new blood lines, as well as new colors. I contacted the seller over the phone, she seemed knowledgeable, raised chickens for 10 years, hatched over 70 per season. She said she wanted to start raising a different breed and needed the coop the silkies were in.
When I arrived at the farm, to see the flock, they were in a very small coop, there were 10 hens, and 15 roosters. The coop was clean, and she stated she was not free ranging the flock because her dogs were aggressive towards the flock. She said the silkies feet were Muddy, because a float in the water pan got stuck, and I could see a mud puddle around the water pan. The rest of the coop was covered in a fine bedding, soft and deep. When I started picking the hens up, I could tell they were not used to being handled, as they struggled to get free. The hens are missing most of their head feathers(I am sure because of over breeding)Their toes were caked in mud, which I assumed would come off once they could free range, and part of my coop has a hard ground my other chickens love to dig in, make dust baths and I have soft bedding and soft ground for them as well. They also smelled bad-which I assume was from being in a confined space. Now, I know some people would have just run the other way at the sight of these birds, but my heart went out to them, and if I had the space, time and money, I would have taken all 25 home. As it was, I could only purchase 5 hens.
It has been two weeks, I have left the 5 gals alone, to allow them to get settled in the coop with the others(they are adjusting very well). Today I looked at their feet, and the mud(clay) has dried on hard. I tried dipping their feet in water, and rubbing off the mud, but it will not come off so easy, and the gals were none too happy about it, fussing, clawing and flapping. I would like to give each a warm bath with some baby shampoo, but I am afraid it is too cold yet, and I have no place to keep them until they dried off, and as wild as they are, I do not see the bath going well, and no chance of using a hair dryer on them, and I want to avoid stressing them further.
So, my question is, any ideas on what I can do to get the mud off now, and, if I am to leave the mud on the hens toes until the weather allows to give them a bath (maybe around April 15, here in Texas) has it, will it or can it harm the toes or hens?
I have raised silkies as pets, for 5 years now. I recently saw an ad, someone selling silkie's, 1-2 years old. I was in want of some mature hens, and new blood lines, as well as new colors. I contacted the seller over the phone, she seemed knowledgeable, raised chickens for 10 years, hatched over 70 per season. She said she wanted to start raising a different breed and needed the coop the silkies were in.
When I arrived at the farm, to see the flock, they were in a very small coop, there were 10 hens, and 15 roosters. The coop was clean, and she stated she was not free ranging the flock because her dogs were aggressive towards the flock. She said the silkies feet were Muddy, because a float in the water pan got stuck, and I could see a mud puddle around the water pan. The rest of the coop was covered in a fine bedding, soft and deep. When I started picking the hens up, I could tell they were not used to being handled, as they struggled to get free. The hens are missing most of their head feathers(I am sure because of over breeding)Their toes were caked in mud, which I assumed would come off once they could free range, and part of my coop has a hard ground my other chickens love to dig in, make dust baths and I have soft bedding and soft ground for them as well. They also smelled bad-which I assume was from being in a confined space. Now, I know some people would have just run the other way at the sight of these birds, but my heart went out to them, and if I had the space, time and money, I would have taken all 25 home. As it was, I could only purchase 5 hens.
It has been two weeks, I have left the 5 gals alone, to allow them to get settled in the coop with the others(they are adjusting very well). Today I looked at their feet, and the mud(clay) has dried on hard. I tried dipping their feet in water, and rubbing off the mud, but it will not come off so easy, and the gals were none too happy about it, fussing, clawing and flapping. I would like to give each a warm bath with some baby shampoo, but I am afraid it is too cold yet, and I have no place to keep them until they dried off, and as wild as they are, I do not see the bath going well, and no chance of using a hair dryer on them, and I want to avoid stressing them further.
So, my question is, any ideas on what I can do to get the mud off now, and, if I am to leave the mud on the hens toes until the weather allows to give them a bath (maybe around April 15, here in Texas) has it, will it or can it harm the toes or hens?
