Mystery illness over; is it safe to introduce to flock?

chickepoo

In the Brooder
12 Years
Jul 21, 2007
25
1
34
Buffalo, MN
One day about a month n half or so ago, my husband came home from work telling me this guy brought in a hen he was preparing to shoot because she was ill. The guy made a sad little pen to put her in until he had time but it was breaking his heart and kept putting it off. My DH saw the poor thing; RIR pullet with a crooked neck, no chest feathers, emaciated, and couldn't walk. He asked if he could let me try to fix her I guess...

Needless to say, after a heat lamp, lots of water, fruits/veggies, antibiotics and lil bit of time, she appears to be doing very very well. She can hold her head straight, she is walking around (I found a small sore I attributed to sitting in feces) and talking. Even has an attitude! At any rate, I was hoping to integrate her to the rest of the flock but I am worried about whatever it was she was ill with....is she safe to put in with the others? I have a socialization plan, but I don't want to get the rest of my kids sick. Am I over the iffy time?
 
Was she ever actually sick? (sneezing, nasal discharge, diarhea? Is it possible she was just overcrowded, pecked, kept confined in a filthy cage without enough food? It doesnt sound like she had a disease, just terrible care... in which if it has been thirty days and she looks okay you should be able to introduce her. If she was "sick" at all, I would NOT introduce her, as she may have just become a carrier instead of "cured" and could decimate your whole flock. That is just my thoughts... anyone else?
 
With as little info that I got about the guy, he had a small flock and cared for it. Her poops were solid, but she wouldn't stand and her head was flopped to the left. No runny anything, which was promising. I know there are some diseases that said the neck thing was telltale, but the rest of his flock was okay I was told. I inspected her when she first came to me, and I found a sore on her rt foot, but I wouldn't consider it a big enough one to keep her off it (says me! it could have been so infected/painful...poor girl) I brought the food to her, which may have been key to her recovery and the beginning of her problems since I doubt he did that. If she didnt make it to the food dish, she didnt eat.

Berries and bread are her favorite, with a plop of warm farina when its cold out. We named her Wobbles.
 
Do you have a chicken that you could put in with her for a while? say for a month? I hate to say one that you could lose, but that is about the gist of it. If she is a carrier the buddy would probably get sick from the stress of the intro. It would also be a way of re-socializing her with chickens. Be sure and practice good bio-security measures until you are confident she is okay. Very nice of you to take on this difficult task.
 
It appears to me as if she really didn't have very good care. Can she see your other birds? I put my new birds in a run nest to my flock and let them see each other and kind of get used to each other somewhat. When I do introduce the new birds, I let everyone out into the yard and scatter some scratch around so the flock fixate more on the treats than the new birds. There are pictures on my BYC Page.
 

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