new residents

[cactus-hen]

I hope everyone had a good holiday. Well, I came home from vacation and found three new chickens in the chicken yard! The yard is next to open land around my house. Apparently someone dropped them in the yard. I had a nice young man caring for all the animals. He did not notice the new pullets. I was gone for ten days and do not know how long the chickens have been here. Is there any point in separating them now? They stay away from the other chickens, but do roost in the coop.

 

[chookchick]

Could you separate them? Have you had a chance to look them over carefully for lice, mites, respiratory symptoms, worms, etc...How is the flock reacting? I think I would separate them out if I had the facilities to do so--so many awful stories of diseases being introduced, and some of them take a while to show up. In fact, if someone cares so little to do such a thing, they were probably not well cared for.

 

[GraceAK]

That is really weird... I would follow Chookchick's advice, and if theyre healthy, then.... It's a new year miracle?
What kind of chickens are they, and can we see some pics?

how old do you think they are? I wanna hear more about this!

 

[twentynine]

Possibly 10 days?

No need now, whatever they had yours have, and whatever yours had they have.

Magic chickens, they just appear! I haven't tried that one yet. Possible scenerio------

Wife: 29 I thought we weren't going to get more chickens.

29: I don't know where they came from.

Wife: Sure.

29: I swear they musta fell out the sky!

 

[cactus-hen]

They are black with dark legs and faces, young(no big combs or wattles), but not chicks. I am not well versed on breeds but appear to be Australorps. They don't have a lot of meat on their bones but are not skinny. No mites or lice that I can find. I sat out in the chicken yard for about 2 hours yesterday and didn't hear any coughs or sneezes from the group. I cleaned the yard in the morning and didn't see any wormy poop. There were several runny poops but my chickens produce those on a regular basis. They tend to stay away from the flock. My chickens don't chase after them but will peck them if they get too close. I have a 40x40 yard with plenty of places to get away. When I caught them they had full crops so they are getting enough to eat. I feed my chickens by throwing food on the ground. I have five water bowls spread out around the yard, so they have access to water at all times. At this point I don't think I will separate them. They roost in the far corner of the coop, stay away from the others and there is no other place that is secure for them to be. I will just consider this a new years miracle.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Congratulations on your miracle.

I agree it is too late to separate them. They do sound like my Australorps but may be young Jersey Giants or something else. If you could post pictures someone may be a bit more definitive.

 

[write2caroline]

I am thinking that after ten days your chickens would already have been exposed. I wonder if someone lost them nearby or if they were actually dropped off. I would imagine people would drop off roosters but pullets? That surprises me!

Post some pictures of your New Year's bounty!
Caroline

 

[cactus-hen]

Well, the mystery has been solved. I had lost 8 of the last hatch of chicks to hawks and my niece felt sorry and bought me three Australorps from the feed store. It was my Christmas present from her. They are POL pullets and she just dropped them in the yard on Christmas eve. They were the last of a group of chicks that the feed store had. I'm told that they are almost four months old. I'll watch for illnesses but at this point there is nothing that I can do about exposure.

 

[kota1369]

I would say there is no reason to seperate at this point. I had 3 chickens and then a friend who has chickens had a hen dropped off one her property. I think this hen was probably an easter present and raised by a kid. This chicken would watch tv on your lap, eat on your lap, sleep on your lap and help you do house work if she could. At my friends house this chicken was getting the crap beat out of her. I took her in and my 3 Ameracauna's were nasty with her, she was terrified of dogs and it did not look good. I also, did not quaranteen her. (not thinking and being stupid) After the 1st 18 hours or so she ended up in a large dog crate next to my chicken tractor. This lasted for about 5 days. I would let them out to free range and kept an eye on them. Fortunately, my yard has alot of places to hide which helped Sugar get away. They did way better free ranging then they did in the tractor. After that period went by I put her back in the tractors coop at night after everyone else was settled down. She took some bullying the next day but not very bad. Two days later she layed the first egg and was QUEEN chicken just like that. Within 5 days all 3 of my other chickens layed their first eggs. Now, Sugar is the queen chicken.
I have had her over 3 months and things are fine. She did get bubble eye and I treated it right away. The other 3 never appeared sick and everyone is doing well.
Do I recommend taking in chickens and not quaranteeing them........... NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was not thinking and thank god things worked out. But, what is done is done and I say enjoy your new friends and be glad they seem to be healthy.

the lady with 4 dogs and 4 city chickens

 

[cobrien]

I would definitely separate them and I say this from experience. My flock was somehow infected with a virus (lymphoid leukosis). Like many viruses it is passed through body fluids, and does not live outside of the body or in living cells for long. The 2 main ways it is transmitted in chickens is from mother to chick (while in the egg), and 2nd is through ingestion of feces. So it is very possible for chickens to be around an infected chicken for 10 days without being infected. I'd move them now to be safe, it is not worth the risk.