over crowded chickens

[chickrunfun]

My wife's about to do a chicken intervention....she's away with girl scouts this weekend and just texted me they came across a 5x10 coop with 3 hens and 4 cocks...everyone's pecked to near bald around their necks and heads

 

[lindalouly]

Tell wife good luck!!!!! And we have her back!!!

 

[chickrunfun]

she just asked me to look up if animal control works weekends...here's me web working now....
I can't believe someone thinks this is ok??
Mrs Noah..that's my baby

 

[chickrunfun]

I am angry. Upset. Taken aback and gobsmacked!

After many calls I finally got a text from wifey saying local PD was there...get this. These poor chickens are property of the county and part of the mosquito control program....WHAT?
So...they got them in this tiny enclosure, crowded and pecking at each other and it's ok because they're county property????

 

[N F C]

How awful! I don't care who treats their birds that way, it's wrong. I hope she takes photos of the poor things and the conditions they are being kept in. Document it all, including who she talked to. Make a big public stink over it and get some attention.

 

[yochickiemomma]

That's awful! I can't stand people who keep animals and treat them as disposable things without feelings. Yes I eat chicken and eggs and yes I cried when I sent some of my girls to the processor but I know that they lived the best possible life and I know they were well taken care of.

 

[Bethann Reilly]

I cannot believe what I'm reading....disgraceful!!! Pics and a letter need to be sent to the local newspaper.

 

[drumstick diva]

Better yet, go to the local newspaper/ news show and see if they will send a camera man/reporter out. That usually brings results.

 

[donrae]

Of course.

When my horses have mud in their pen (Southern Oregon, PNW, it rains here, folks) the county is all over me.

How are these chickens controlling the mosquitos, anyway? Magical wish-granting chickens? Gotta get me some of those!

 

[Bunnylady]

This is a "sentinel flock." Blood samples from them are periodically tested for the presence of mosquito-borne diseases (specifically, West Nile). They used to have some around here, but decided to just get rid of them, and take it for granted that the disease is at least potentially in the area.

For a sentinel flock to be useful, there needs to be a large enough sample group for there to be a reasonable likelihood of at least one bird getting bitten by an infected mosquito. They also need to be confined in a way that makes it easier for the birds to be caught for sampling in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. In a way, the feather picking may be advantageous; it makes it that much easier for a mosquito to bite. Not very nice, but I'm sure the people running the program are working with very limited resources and justify the conditions by thinking that there is more at stake than the quality of life of a handful of chickens.

They need young birds for this; chances are that these chickens are slated to be killed as soon as "mosquito season" is officially over. Actually, I'm a bit surprised to hear that they are still doing this in Florida - I'd think West Nile is pretty much "old news" there. Perhaps there is some other disease that these expendable birds are being tested for?