. Hi my name is Amy and we just got 5 hens taken from a very bad situation. I have never had chickens before but have babysitted my neighbors chickens before. I am trying to read a ton to give them everything they need.
Congrats on your new flock! Because these birds came from a bad situation, you might give them a good over all exam looking for mites or bugs. Bugs are common in dirty unkept conditions. Look around the vent, behind the neck and under the wings. You might see a lot of broken feathers, red skin, eggs around the feather shafts near the skin (it will look like black dirt) and the combs can be pale as well. Many times when they have external bugs they have internal parasites as well. So you might get them wormed. Worms will destroy the birds real quick and kill them. Check out this link on worms and worming from our learning center....https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/internal-parasites-parasitic-worms-in-chickens
You might also get your birds on some probiotics. Probiotics help to boost the immune system. 70% of the immune system is in the intestinal tract which is where most pathogens take hold in the body. So get some oxygen and healthy bacteria in the crop and intestines and this will help to keep your birds healthy.
Enjoy your new flock! If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. You have a beautiful flock with some good layers in it. ) Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.