New chicken mama

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Mrs. Jenson, your research can only help in your endeavor to keep chickens. Thank you for learning about our fine feathered fowl. Keep the questions coming and these folks will be glad to give you answers. Maybe some pics of the limp chicken's foot will aid these folks in their diagnosis. And lastly, welcome home to BYC...
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC! :frow

First, you need some hugs. :hugs I am so sorry for all the trials, chickens really need to come with a manual! :D Chickens that have never roosted before will definitely need coaxing to learn, so definitely do up at roosting time and get them on the bar. Make sure you are using a proper size roosting bar, a 2x4 with the 4 side up makes a wonderful bar.

As for the one with the bad foot, do not make him roost, make provisions on the floor for him or even cage him in a large wire dog crate with lots of hay or shavings to stay warm.

And definitely post pics in our Emergency forums on the bad foot, it may be from frost bite or some defect from birth... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures.10/

Make sure there is enough light in the coop for proper health and hormone production. 1/2 to 1 square foot of vent space per bird in the eaves or ceiling.

The proper rooster to hen ratio is 1 to 8-10 hens.

Good luck on this new adventure, you will learn things as time passes, ask a ton of questions here on BYC and just give them the best possible. Welcome aboard!
 
DobieLover said:
Hello, Brenda, and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Pictures of your coop, inside and out, will help do define potential issues with roosting, other than they need to be trained, and with ventilation.
I don't recommend that you feed layer mix to the roosters. The entire flock should be fed an All Flock type feed with multiple containers of oyster shell on the side for free choice eating.
The flock you inherited with the house may have been just pets as the hens had stopped laying. That would explain the death. Old age.
Composted poop in the coop could mean that the previous owner used the Deep Litter Method for coop litter. That in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I also don't think using DE is a good idea around the flock. It's a respiratory irritant.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply! I will post before and after pictures of the cleaning along with other pictures of the coop and some pics of my flock. I will look at the food to see what type we just bought...I think it’s an all flock but need to double check. We also bought oyster shell and grit to toss out and mix in with their pellet food. The owners told us that the chickens are about 2 yrs old. As for the deep litter method—the stuff we removed was close to dirt. It was very apparent that they never cleaned the coop. When using the deep litter method, what does the pine shavings/poop look like when removing? Surely not like dirt.
 
Ted_Harrell said:
Mrs. Jenson, your research can only help in your endeavor to keep chickens. Thank you for learning about our fine feathered fowl. Keep the questions coming and these folks will be glad to give you answers. Maybe some pics of the limp chicken's foot will aid these folks in their diagnosis. And lastly, welcome home to BYC...
Click to expand...
Thank you! I will upload some pictures today. 😊
 
TwoCrows said:
Hello there and welcome to BYC! :frow

First, you need some hugs. :hugs I am so sorry for all the trials, chickens really need to come with a manual! :D Chickens that have never roosted before will definitely need coaxing to learn, so definitely do up at roosting time and get them on the bar. Make sure you are using a proper size roosting bar, a 2x4 with the 4 side up makes a wonderful bar.

As for the one with the bad foot, do not make him roost, make provisions on the floor for him or even cage him in a large wire dog crate with lots of hay or shavings to stay warm.

And definitely post pics in our Emergency forums on the bad foot, it may be from frost bite or some defect from birth... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures.10/

Make sure there is enough light in the coop for proper health and hormone production. 1/2 to 1 square foot of vent space per bird in the eaves or ceiling.

The proper rooster to hen ratio is 1 to 8-10 hens.

Good luck on this new adventure, you will learn things as time passes, ask a ton of questions here on BYC and just give them the best possible. Welcome aboard!
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply! I will post pictures of my roosting situation and of Pimps foot. I also have to investigate the ventilation situation in the ceiling and eaves. I’m pretty sure it’s boarded all the way up. 😒
 
Brenda Jensen said:
Thanks for your reply! I will post before and after pictures of the cleaning along with other pictures of the coop and some pics of my flock. I will look at the food to see what type we just bought...I think it’s an all flock but need to double check. We also bought oyster shell and grit to toss out and mix in with their pellet food. The owners told us that the chickens are about 2 yrs old. As for the deep litter method—the stuff we removed was close to dirt. It was very apparent that they never cleaned the coop. When using the deep litter method, what does the pine shavings/poop look like when removing? Surely not like dirt.
Click to expand...
When removing material when using DLM it looks like dirt.
Do not mix grit or OS in with the food. Offer both in separate containers.
Just because they said the birds were 2 years old doesn't mean they were telling the truth.
 
Ted_Harrell said:
Mrs. Jenson, your research can only help in your endeavor to keep chickens. Thank you for learning about our fine feathered fowl. Keep the questions coming and these folks will be glad to give you answers. Maybe some pics of the limp chicken's foot will aid these folks in their diagnosis. And lastly, welcome home to BYC...
Click to expand...
Thank you! I will post pictures of Pimps foot today 😊
 
DobieLover said:
When removing material when using DLM it looks like dirt.
Do not mix grit or OS in with the food. Offer both in separate containers.
Just because they said the birds were 2 years old doesn't mean they were telling the truth.
Click to expand...
This DLM is very interesting and may not be for me. But we shall see. I originally bought superset containers for the grit and OS but then returned them and added into their food. Back to the store I go. 😂 Can you tell a chickens age?
 

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