Need advice from experts

[Ruthster55]

Weak mostly. She didn't feed the hens enough protein is what I'm assuming.

Broody hen-raised chicks should be pretty strong compared to incubator chicks. The babies should be with their mother for a few weeks, though.

 

[black_cat]

Weak mostly. She didn't feed the hens enough protein is what I'm assuming.

If the chicks are on chick starter or all flock they should have enough protein. You can mix some chick starter or all flock in with the hens' food if they aren't getting enough. Mealworms are also a good treat that are high in protein.

 

[Pghelp]

Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Polish, Brahma, Sapphire Gem, Americana, Easter Eggers, Wyandotte, and there are a few I'm forgetting right now....

Wow, that's quite an array of breeds. I ordered a chick assortment just do I could learn about different breeds and figure out which I liked best.

 

[Ab1010]

Not sure why they are dying, honestly. My suspicions are she's introducing them into her flock of around 80 hens and roosters way too young. She puts them in with the adults at around 2 weeks of age! Sometimes a little older, but she doesn't leave them inside very long. She never vaccinates any birds and has way too many roosters. They constantly breed the hens to the point of extreme feather loss and sometimes worse, (i.e. pecking sores etc...). There is a constant state of filth and not enough space for all the chickens, her square footage is around 300. Not enough roosting bars or nests and the hens are always pooping in the nests. She calls it her hobby farm and believes animals are created to serve people. Thats it. It's very frustrating to watch.

If you plan on getting more chicks i would recommend researching why they are dying. I did tell you to take them but I guess I should warn that taking care of many sick chicks at once is hard and time consuming. Ive taken sick chicks with me to work just to make sure they were constantly being treated. I'm also insane probably lol. It sounds like they are just living in bad conditions and if so many are still alive id be shocked about mareks. It is really hard to put in so much effort and loose them. But I can't turn down an animal in need.

 

[Ab1010]

Weak mostly. She didn't feed the hens enough protein is what I'm assuming.

Calcium and protein are very important, letting broody hens be broody too often can cause them to starve themselves to death.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Sounds like it could be something simple like a combination of coccidia and behavioral-crowding issues like picking.

However, to be safe, I would recommend reading up about serious diseases like Marek's and even Newcastle and making sure they aren't displaying any of the related symptoms.

Meanwhile, she needs to do something about her situation of too many roosters. She really needs to take care of that situation herself. Why doesn't she have those roosters "serve her" as she eats them? (old-fashioned way).

I don't see it as your responsibility to help with butchering, because she's the one who wants those chickens to serve her, whereas you sound like you are more interested in having a few chickens as pets that lay eggs.

Make sure that you're supportive (not critical) of the idea of her butchering some of the extra roosters.

Here are a couple of ways you could help her out with the flock problems:

1. Is there any way you could find a few branches and volunteer to nail them in her coop as extra roost poles?
2. Nest boxes are fairly easy to make if you have access to some lumber.
3. Then, once you have helped with those situations and once she has mostly resolved the rooster situation, you might consider taking a few home.

If your family member is having these issues with her “hobby farm” chickens maybe when she finds out that you are willing to take a few of her extra chickens you might really get down to the core of the problem. It might be that the reason comes out as to why she treats them like she does. Maybe she cannot handle the load of the chickens anymore but doesn’t want to admit it. Maybe she is just too proud. Older people are often too proud to admit they can’t do things like they used to or that younger people might be better at handling things than they are. Sometimes they just won’t admit that the burden has gotten too heavy or too dangerous or too difficult for their bodies or brains. My parents lived until their late 80’s and early 90’s and were very proud. They would not admit that they could not handle all the upkeep on their house, paperwork, driving,! , their eyesight, financial matters,! going grocery shopping, doing big errands for big items or large problems having a backup opinion. It’s a big deal when they get a certain age and it’s hard to admit these things. You might find that this comes out not only about the chickens but a lot of things.

 

[Weeg]

I would start by taking the advice from theses other members to get a handle of the grossness in the coop. First, do a whole clean out of he coop, shavings, poop, water feed, every thing. Then add the Poop hammock, hanging feeders/waters, etc. to help keep it clean as long as possible. Then, you nee dot talk to your mom. Instead of using the chickens approch and taking the chickens side, try taking her side. Tell her how unsanitary it is for her, and how unsafe it is for her to be in the coop. Even though it's not that dangerous for her, tell her it is, make your talk really scary to her, and make it seem like she should be scared for her life. Hopefully you will ge tin her head. Then yo ulna take th chicks home and treat them, and treat the rest of ht flock there. 80 chickens though, be prepared to cull some, or a lot if you have 80. You will need to get rid of he ones that are the most sick or aggressive to the hens, and people, sadly that means culling. I you can get in her head then anonymously report her to animal control. And that will hopefully help her realize she needs to do something. Once you have smoked some sense into her, we will go about evaluation and treatment, but she will have to realize eventually, that her "hobby farm" is a death trap, and is not working! SO sorry you have to deal with all this, Avery

 

[Weeg]

Maybe you should show her this thread and let her see all of our feedback! good luck, Avery

 

[Ab1010]

I would start by taking the advice from theses other members to get a handle of the grossness in the coop. First, do a whole clean out of he coop, shavings, poop, water feed, every thing. Then add the Poop hammock, hanging feeders/waters, etc. to help keep it clean as long as possible. Then, you nee dot talk to your mom. Instead of using the chickens approch and taking the chickens side, try taking her side. Tell her how unsanitary it is for her, and how unsafe it is for her to be in the coop. Even though it's not that dangerous for her, tell her it is, make your talk really scary to her, and make it seem like she should be scared for her life. Hopefully you will ge tin her head. Then yo ulna take th chicks home and treat them, and treat the rest of ht flock there. 80 chickens though, be prepared to cull some, or a lot if you have 80. You will need to get rid of he ones that are the most sick or aggressive to the hens, and people, sadly that means culling. I you can get in her head then anonymously report her to animal control. And that will hopefully help her realize she needs to do something. Once you have smoked some sense into her, we will go about evaluation and treatment, but she will have to realize eventually, that her "hobby farm" is a death trap, and is not working! SO sorry you have to deal with all this, Avery

Yeah tell her she will get salmonella or possibly staff from bacteria. Idk of she would but you could just say so!

 

[Ruthster55]

I don’t agree with the advice to exaggerate the hazards. That’s getting into playing the propaganda game against your mother. That isn’t the way to treat this issue. I think you need to work WITH her, not AGAINST her toward the needed cleanup and improvements. Below, I have asked a few questions to see whether you or your parents have the resources to do that. I would rather use questions than crude emotions to assess the issues a little bit better.

Yes, you could mention salmonella, but as a remote possibility. The actual hazards are probably coccidia and feather picking from overcrowding + over-mating.

1. How is your mother + father’s health? Are they capable of feeding and watering 3 or 4 times a day, or are they slowing down a lot? Is the coop near the house or is it a long way away?

2. I have no idea of you or your parents’ finances or ability to do light construction. Is the nearest big box home improvement store 5 miles away, or is it 100 miles away? How much are they spending on feed every week? Is that a hardship by itself, or do they have a few bucks to spend on some fencing?

3. I do see management issues where they’re taking babies away from broody hens that need to be with the hen at least a month or more. Also, the sheep in the same corral are a mangement issue.

Are the management issues because your parents are stubborn, or do they lack resources for better fencing? Explain that it’s actually a lot cheaper to let the broody hens raise the chicks because there’s no electricity involved.

4. Are YOU capable of butchering 2 or 3 of the roosters if your mother and father refuse to do that? Interesting anecdote: here in Latin America, butchering chickens is usually a woman’s job. It’s viewed as just the first step in food prep. Men do the bigger animals like cows and hogs.

Some rural areas don’t have animal control. Is there even an animal shelter operated by local volunteers in that area?

(There might be only a sheriff and deputies. I don’t recommend involving police or deputies in this issue because then it becomes a family dispute).