New house came with a huge unmanaged flock. Help!

[DwayneNLiz]

What breed(s) involved. A couple breeds will impact approach on a major way. Breed most problematic is one most likely to pop up if you searcj net with "feral chicken".

i am sure that the breeds are unknown, they came with the house

 

[DwayneNLiz]

@FormidableFlock I wish you the best of luck!! it is a large undertaking

once you have decided you can always come back and ask more questions

 

[centrarchid]

Most breeds easy to id. Sometimes even crosses. Lets see those pics.

 

[azygous]

There have been twenty-three posts and not one mention of testing the flock for the presence of disease and parasites.

That's the very first thing I would do. It's easy to collect a cross section sampling of feces and send them to a vet or lab for a fecal float test. That can tell you a lot - worms, coccidiosis, etc. As long as you are going to cull some of the roosters, choose two or three and send them off for a necropsy. This is even more critical than the fecal testing in that it will tell you if there is a "hidden" disease in this flock that has contaminated the soil for the next few decades (Marek's) or if a disease is present in the survivors that is dormant but could infect any new chickens you would add to the flock in the future (lymphotic leucosis).

After receiving the lab results of these tests, you will be better prepared to make decisions on whether to cull the entire flock, starting over with new chicks or just cull some individuals or forget about having chickens after discovering a serious disease has infected the premises.

 

[FormidableFlock]

The coop looks to be about 10' x 15' and has 12 nesting boxes. It has a ledge on the back for roosting but I need to make an actual roosting area to support the larger amount of birds. We spread some greens and seeds today to attract more towards the coop but it mostly just attracted the pea fowls. Also, tried to take pictures but the pea fowls crowded the area and ran them off. Did manage to snap off a few pics of individuals which I will post shortly. I've already noticed a difference in their appearances and they're starting to look less ragged. A few even started to follow me into the coop but they usually keep towards the door and get anxious when I go back towards the door to cut off their retreat.

I've wanted chickens for awhile and started researching care, disease, butchering, and as much as I could as soon as I knew we would be getting the house (about 4 months). I would like eggs as well as meat though. That is why I was so disappointed with them having been fed junk and haven't ever been handled. I would have liked to cull most of the roosters and inspect the hens vents and feathers to check for signs of good layers and poor health. These birds will continue to be free range to keep down bugs as the property also has a large orchard. I think we just need to bring down the flock size and get them used to us. At this point I'm going to start feeding and watering them in the coop then access the situation once they are used to coop and I can inspect them more thoroughly. I would just hate to spend all this time and effort just to find that few if any are worth anything for eggs or meat.

 

[FormidableFlock]

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This is Betty. She's the biggest, healthiest looking, and friendliest of the hens. She will be a keeper. Any suggestions on her breed?

 

[FormidableFlock]

 

[FormidableFlock]

Poor shot of the coop and still working on getting actual roosts put up. The feeder and waterer were outside getting cleaned when the pic was taken. Floor is sand and gets raked out every 3-4 days.

 

[FormidableFlock]

12 nesting boxes with wood chips at bottom and dried grass that I snagged from a neighbor that has horses. Next paycheck I will be picking up some diatomaceous earth to make a dust bath and will sprinkle some in the nesting boxes.

 

[FormidableFlock]

One of many roosters but he may stay when I start to cull as he seems non aggressive towards the hens and pretty healthy.