Noob to chicken husbandry and already have run into issues.

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Chunck

In the Brooder
Jul 11, 2016
18
2
21
Chino Valley, AZ
Hi, I live on an acre in AZ. My wife and I had been thinking of getting chickens for a while. Our neighbor brought home a young rooster from a friend and thought he'd fatten it up. Well the rooster liked the juniper tree in our yard better than my neighbor's baron backyard. Needless to say we ended up with a pet rooster. My wife figured it would be a good time to start our chicken adventure. We went to a local estate sale a couple days later and there were a couple hens running around. My wife asked about them and the guy said if we could catch them they'd be ours. I got one that day and the other disappeared before I could return to catch it. The one I got was laying 1 to 2 eggs a day (that I had to fish out from under the juniper.) I thought, this is great.

So the adventure begins. While my wife was out of town to stay with my step-daughter, who just had our first grandchild, I picked up a brand new coop and bought 3 Rhode Island Red hens from a local breeder. They were about 3 to 4 mos old at the time, a month and a half ago. We notice one was a little slower and smaller than the others. We named her Dopey. I liked her because she was friendlier then the others. When I let them out of the coop in the morning she'd stand on my foot for a few moments before scurrying off. We also notice she was kind of in a world of her own sometimes. While all the others were hunting bugs in a pack, she'd be wandering around eating the occasional bug and just being Dopey.

We had a storm come through last month and there was a major wind event. It blew the coop over and I had to wade out there to right the coop and check the girls. All the girls seemed fine, however after that the full grown hen stopped laying eggs and even with setting an egg in the nesting box she hasn't shown any interest in restarting. So now we have non-laying pet chicken.

Well we went on vacation last week and my neighbor was looking after the girls while we were gone. He texted me to let me know one of the little hens had died in the coop. He couldn't tell why. He has raised chickens and has experience. Unfortunately I got home to find out it was Dopey. That was last week. Now a few days ago I noticed the next youngest hen was lethargic and wasn't standing as tall as normal. Then yesterday she seemed to perk up. This morning I had to get her out of the coop and set her in the sun. I'm thinking she's not going to last the day. All the others seems to be as healthy as can be. I'm thinking it may be worms because of the info I got from several threads on this website. So my wife is going to look for Valbazen or albendazole while she's out running errands this morning. We have several feed stores and a couple Tractor Supplies here around the Prescott area.

Now we've had the rooster for a few months and the full grown hen for a little less. Neither of them have become ill or had any signs of lethargy or poop issues (they seem to go everywhere.) So I'm at a loss as to why the younger ones would start having problems. Unless it's because they are younger and more susceptible to health issues. I've texted the gal I bought them from and asked what they were vaccinated for. I'm waiting to hear back.

That's my chicken addiction story. I feel like I just joined a group therapy or something... 3;)

Chunck
 
Greetings from Kansas, Chunck, and :welcome. Great to have you in our community! Wish it was under happier circumstances. I'm wondering if it's kind of a confluence of events that is plaguing you. A stressful event...such as birds to the flock...or the coop tumbling around in a storm, will certainly alter egg laying. I'm wondering if you inadvertently imported some diseases when you added new chickens? And with Dopey, it could be that or maybe it had other issues. I think you are doing the right thing by administering to them those medications. That way you can perhaps isolate what's going on. Here is a great place to post the symptoms you are seeing https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
Good luck to you and your flock. Keep us posted! :)
 
Hello there, Chunck, and Welcome to Backyard chickens! I am so sorry to hear about your hens, I agree with redsox, you may have imported disease when you add the RIR's since Dopey arrived already not in prime condition. I would check out the link that redsox gave you and post your problems there. And sometimes stressful events do make hens stop laying for a little while, try to keep everything as calm as possible, and do try to boost their immune systems, because the will need the extra support, and maybe you will be back in business before too long.:) I included a link to the AZ thread, you might enjoy chatting with local people there.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/31227/arizona-chickens
 
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Hello Chunk! I'm sorry that you've had a rough introduction to chicken raising. Clearly your heart is in the right place here but you've assembled a very rag tag flock from sources that I would not necessarily consider to be reputable places to get healthy well bred chickens. Don't get down hearted that you've hit a few stumbling blocks along the way. I would suggest that you consider purchasing any future birds from a reputable source. Like dealing with used cars, buying birds from random people can be risky if you do not know what red flags to look for and I've seen plenty of dishonest folks take advantage of amateur chicken enthusiasts by offloading sick or bad chickens on someone who jus doesn't know any better. I also recommend getting more birds than you think you'll need. Even veteran chicken folks still lose a bird now and again and you don't want to be left in a position where you need a replacement in a hurry. I know none of that info helps with your current predicament. If you can post pictures of the chickens individually that can help us with diagnosis and offering solutions. Best wishes!
 
Well I just went out and checked on the sick hen and she was dead. The remaining RIR seems to be doing well. Although she's had liquid poop. I did notice her poop today had firmer substance. the two older birds seem to be doing well. I'm hoping the Wazine does the trick.

When I was coop training them I whipped up an easy to make PVC gravity feeder. I continued supplementing their diet with the layer crumble from Pet Club. So far the feeder and the crumble seem to be working well.

Thanks for the advice. I bought the 3 girls from a local gal. They all seemed healthy when I went and picked them up. I feel bad I didn't catch the two sick girls in time to help them. When I buy more hens I'll deal with someone with a better rep who takes more responsibility for their animals.
 
I would like to suggest that you take some time and research different chicken breeds and choose a breed that is right for you. Some birds do better in different climates or are stronger foragers, some are more prolific egg layers some are meant to be eaten whilst others were bred to be ornamental. I always recommend quarantining new birds for a couple weeks for observation so that they do not spread any potential illnesses to your current flock. Learn as much as you can about the breed you are interested in. Many hatcheries sell birds that are not of exceptional quality so buy more than you need and keep the best and hardiest birds. If you keep a Rooster then you should consider how you are going to deal with a hen trying to raise baby chicks. There is a wealth of good information out there and on this site and never feel embarrassed to ask questions. We are here to help and chances are someone here has already walked a mile in your shoes. This site saved 3 of my chickens lives from a Vitamen E deficiency when they were 4 weeks old. Best wishes.
 
Well it looks like the Wazine worked. The rest of the flock (all 3) are looking well and their butt feathers are clean. So I made sure to put the date on my calendar to repeat the Wazine treatment. My wife bought some ceramic eggs with the Wazine. I'm planning to put in the nesting box so I can try to prime my one laying hen to start again. I'm skeptical, but it's the only idea I could come up with. The other unknown is the age of the laying hen since she was adopted from an estate sale. I'm not too worried about her age since I'm not planning on BBQing her as her retirement. Before I die I may end up with a lot of retired chickens as pets.

I'm just finishing the fenced off area for the flock that should keep my fixated dog from harassing the chickens. Today I'll be spending a lot of time laying down pea gravel for a bed to move the coop to. Presently it's up against the house. Both of us are getting tired of the chicken poop all over our patio. The new site is right next to a metal shed fixed to a concrete slab so I'm not worried about it blowing away. I'll just need to set a plywood panel to the south side or some other wind block to prevent another blow-over, plus I'll be anchoring the coop with T-bars.

I'll be building a new coop this winter like the one they did on the "Ask This Old House" show. I liked the design and with the gravel I'll get lots of drainage when cleaning the coop. I was also thinking of installing an automatic solar door like the one I found on the "Instructables" website. I love all the free information available on the internet.

Thanks for all the input from you folks. I hope one day to be able to contribute for someone else's questions and problems. In Ham radio we call that "Elmering". (A reference to a Ham operator who promotes the interest in others for the hobby through instruction, information and guidance.)
 

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