Mystery Hen Found in my Yard

[sophiaw00]

You could always just put a board or piece of plastic over and around their kennel area to keep them dry if it rained while you were away until they are integrated. At this point and actually from the beginning it is pointless to keep them separated, your chickens were exposed to any and everything they had and vice-versa the moment they stepped on your property and dropped a poop. And you know how often chicken poop. Plus your chickens free range so they are exposed to everything in the environment.
The frothy poop is a sign of worms and I would treat the new girls and your original flock for worms because they have now been exposed.
I personally don't use chemical wormers but I do used diatomacous earth (food grade) to worm my chickens. I mix in 1cup per 5gallons of food and I also throw a cup in their dirt bath too, it help to stop lice infestation. Just don't breath a lot in.
I commend that you have taken in these little ladies. Thank you for being so kind and helping them out... caring for and loving life enough to do so.
My concern is this ... the next time the people who dropped these girls off get more girls who aren't laying they will do the same thing. The next girls may not be so lucky to finding a loving home. Or you may end up finding chickens wet,hungry and abused in your yard. As you said you really don't have the space for these girls and at 2.5 feet you don't. I am not recommending that you get rid of them.
What I am recommending is that, if you can find out who dropped these poor hapless souls off... I would send animal welfare after them. Both because the animal welfare office needs to be aware of them and their practices and possibly to check on the welfare of the birds still in their care, if you can call it that.
To me this is the equivalent of dropping 2 puppies or dogs on the side of the road or a batch of kittens. People can be so cruel.
I hope these girls comeback after their hard molt and provide you with many eggs. My girls didn't produce not one egg when they had a hard molt instead of tossing them away I increased their protein and provided a heat source for them. Jeez... mine are now laying well and even better than before. And RSL'S don't stop laying until they are very old. Yes they slow down but don't quit almost til the very end.
I wish you the very best with all your girls.

I will try to get a name. All I know is that the people who dumped them are my neighbor's friends and I have a feeling they won't give me his name.

As of worms, it has been confirmed that they are infested. I saw some worms in Amari's droppings. Using the link that @Majd provided, I believe they are cecal worms. The link says they rarely cause significant problems. Should I still worm them? Should I also worm the rest of the flock? Also, does anybody have a link to a specific product? I can't seem to find anything directed at chickens on my local farm store's website (Farm & Fleet). I looked up Fenbendazole and only products for horses came up. If anybody could help me with this, that'd be great! I do have some DE but I'm not sure if it's food grade or not. Should I not feed it to them then?

 

[BakerzDozen]

I will try to get a name. All I know is that the people who dumped them are my neighbor's friends and I have a feeling they won't give me his name.

As of worms, it has been confirmed that they are infested. I saw some worms in Amari's droppings. Using the link that @Majd provided, I believe they are cecal worms. The link says they rarely cause significant problems. Should I still worm them? Should I also worm the rest of the flock?

Yes I would worm everyone. If Amari has them then so does Adalia and your chickens have been exposed to their droppings. If you do the food grade diatomaceous earth you don't have to worry about the fact as with chemical wormers you can't eat the eggs for a period of time and neither can the chickens. They have to be thrown away.
As far as mites on their legs you can just cover everyone's legs with a light coating of petroleum jelly (like vaseline) it suffocates the mites.For about a week to ten days.
If you are worried about chicken body lice you can put 1 cup of the diatemaceous earth in their dust bowl and if you can get a hold of some wood ash throw it all in the hole, too. (wood ash has natural lime in it) . Add some extra dirt if you have it or peat moss to make the dust bath nice and loose.
Diametaceous earth is cheap and available at feed and grain stores... 10$ a bag or so. You can also use it as a preventative to worms too. When you free range your chickens they come in contact with the feces of other wild birds constantly. Those birds can spread worms too. I worm as a preventative every 4 months. as I said you just drop it in there feed and stir it up. the get wormed just by eating their regular food.
everything I have told you about is perfectly safe for you, your chickens, and your environment. I haven't had any problems with my girls.
I hope all this information is useful.
And If no one has said it yet. I am VERY PROUD of you. You are a wonderful person full of love and willing to give your love freely to little lost souls. Don't ever change!!!

If you have any other questions you can PM me anytime.

 

[sophiaw00]

Yes I would worm everyone. If Amari has them then so does Adalia and your chickens have been exposed to their droppings. If you do the food grade diatomaceous earth you don't have to worry about the fact as with chemical wormers you can't eat the eggs for a period of time and neither can the chickens. They have to be thrown away.
As far as mites on their legs you can just cover everyone's legs with a light coating of petroleum jelly (like vaseline) it suffocates the mites.For about a week to ten days.
If you are worried about chicken body lice you can put 1 cup of the diatemaceous earth in their dust bowl and if you can get a hold of some wood ash throw it all in the hole, too. (wood ash has natural lime in it) . Add some extra dirt if you have it or peat moss to make the dust bath nice and loose.
Diametaceous earth is cheap and available at feed and grain stores... 10$ a bag or so. You can also use it as a preventative to worms too. When you free range your chickens they come in contact with the feces of other wild birds constantly. Those birds can spread worms too. I worm as a preventative every 4 months. as I said you just drop it in there feed and stir it up. the get wormed just by eating their regular food.
everything I have told you about is perfectly safe for you, your chickens, and your environment. I haven't had any problems with my girls.
I hope all this information is useful.
And If no one has said it yet. I am VERY PROUD of you. You are a wonderful person full of love and willing to give your love freely to little lost souls. Don't ever change!!!

If you have any other questions you can PM me anytime.

Thank you so, so much! I will definaltey throw some DE into the dust pit. I have a bag of it but I don't know if it's food grade or not so I'm worried about feeding it to them. I'm gonna PM you now to ask you specific questions about some products I've found

 

[liz72703]

Here are some discussions about worming that might be helpful. Note in the second one it says that DE is not an effective for worming. Hopefully @casportpony will comment and give you some advice, she is very informed regarding worming and meds.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ing-in-bread-in-case-this-is-useful-to-anyone

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-and-wormer-misinformations-graphic-pictures

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1036635/affordable-valbazen-albendazole-14-75


Liz

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I commend that you have taken in these little ladies. Thank you for being so kind and helping them out... caring for and loving life enough to do so.
My concern is this ... the next time the people who dropped these girls off get more girls who aren't laying they will do the same thing. The next girls may not be so lucky to finding a loving home. Or you may end up finding chickens wet,hungry and abused in your yard. As you said you really don't have the space for these girls and at 2.5 feet you don't.

My thoughts exactly. Since your neighbor said it was their "friends" who dumped these girls (and thought it was alright), news of you taking them in will return to the original owners. They won't hesitate to drop off more "unwanted" birds and do so without another thought. They will justify it in their mind that someone else took these in and the same should happen again. Unfortunately their irresponsibility places a "burden" on you. While I understand you have a caring heart and you are very fond of your new friends, you will want to think about what you will do the next time this happens. If more birds appear, you need to ask yourself if it will be good for your existing flock, since you are really out of space. What is the extra cost *$* in caring for more birds, your and your birds stress level, and any illnesses that may have. (Just something to think about

I do hope your new girls continue to thrive and are integrated with your own flock with no problems and everyone is happy and healthy. I wish you the best.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Many bring up a good point, make sure if any other birds appear to ask your neighbor to call this so called "friend" and give him a verbal beating. It is not okay to dump animals on someone, regardless of the circumstances. Of course, you an always donate chickens to the food pantry, those in need of good food in hard times, feed them to dogs or cats, or of course, eat them yourself. A quick, humane death to feed another sentient being is much better than a slow, painful death alone in the woods, IMO. Good luck with your hens, please post pics when you get the chance.

 

[casportpony]

@liz72703 is correct, DE will not treat worms. Buy some Valbazen or Safeguard.

-Kathy

 

[sophiaw00]

I know I definatley do not have any more room, and if there are problems, I will rehome one or both of the girls (probably both so they are happier with each other). That's my biggest concern right now, is space. I am not too worried about the worms as I don't think the infestation is too severe. I do have two very aggressive hens in my flock that scalped a pullet I tried to introduce. Luckily, that pullet survived, and has since been accepted into the flock, but I really do not want to go through that again. If any more birds show up, I will make sure to have a talk with my neighbors. My mom has already yelled at them once because of how they were caring for their chickens (which was not at all). We fed, watered, and even sometimes sheltered their two hens because they did not. That's why when these girls showed up, I immediatley thought they were the neighbor's hens.

As requested, here are some pictures. I have officially naped the other girl Aspen. Aspen is the darker red color.


^Daisy, my splash marans, in the back ground. She is one of my aggressive hens but has not been mean to them and they seem to get along together. Aspen & Amari have been caught pecking the other girls heads, but these three seem to have a silent peace treaty.

My other aggressive hen, a blue andalusian, hasn't shown much interest in them at all.



I'd also like to point out that the cage they are in is NOT as small as it appears. They have room to stretch their wings out and stand up as tall as they can. It does look small in the photo though. They are only in this cage for a few hours in the afternoon while my girls free range. Plus, they always have something to do in there. I provide them with apples, pumpkin, eggs, or something else yummy every day in there to try to help them gain weight, and of course they always have water.


I have ordered this product: Rooster Booster. It says to mix the entire jar with 50 pounds of feed, so that's what I'll do, and then just feed it to the entire flock. My question is this - since the probability that my flock is already infected is great and I have already ordered a de-wormer, is it safe to allow these girls to free range with the flock? I don't want to keep them locked up if I don't have too. They are pretty dominant so I don't think I'll have much problems with introductions, but I will definaltey take it slow.

The feathers these girls have left are in such bad shape. I don't know if that's just part of the molt or what, but they are scraggly little things. You can see one of Aspen's tail feathers in the last picture and what terrible shape it is in. Amari is still laying me eggs every other day! They are such strong little girls.

I am using the DE to prevent mites and lice, not worms

.

 

[casportpony]

Wormer:

Affordable Valbazen - 60ml bottle for $14.95​

Dose is 0.08ml per pound orally and repeat in ten days.

-Kathy

 

[sophiaw00]

Wormer:

Affordable Valbazen - 60ml bottle for $14.95​

Dose is 0.08ml per pound orally and repeat in ten days.

-Kathy

Thank you, but I've already ordered a product. If it doesn't work, I'll look into this one!