PLEASE HELP I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO

[black_cat]

My understanding is:

The coop is way too small. The nestbox that was supposed to come, is missing. Black_cat was not pleased with the original feed/water placement, but has since decided no other placement is much better in that small space.

The hens had their beaks trimmed at some point long ago (months or a year ago).

The hens arrived with their feathers looking bad, but improved a great deal in the first two days (once they had time to preen themselves after the trip).

The hens arrived terrified, but settled down quite a lot within 36 hours (so I assume they were fairly well-treated before, to settle down that fast.) They're not lap chickens and don't want to be touched/petted, but are calm around people.

One chicken is missing a tail, and one hen arrived with scabs on her comb that are now healing (I'm guessing the comb was injured in catching/transport, but don't know for sure.)

No hen has shown any symptoms of sickness.

Apart from the coop size, and the missing nestbox, it looks to me like the farm did a fairly good job.

They also brought the wrong breed-we ordered 3 barred rocks. They then brought us 3 red sexlinks, which they told us were RIRs, and a leghorn, but the leghorn was free so honestly no complaints on that end.
One of the hens sometimes makes a gurgly noise, often followed by a gagging sound. She acts the same as the other hens so I have not looked further into it. I do not know if those are symptoms of disease or not.
Two of their beaks look a lot like this:

I don't know how to judge how long ago that was clipped.
The other two have beaks that have grown back, for the most part.
I don't know if they are or are not comfortable with being as I am unable to physically interact with them.
The scabs on the comb of the one with issues are not really healing. I don't know what's going on with that.
We were told that these hens were housed together before to avoid pecking order issues. We have had some issues with this so I am unsure if this is true.
We were also given a chick feeder to use for adult hens.
There is no grit or oyster shell in the rental. This isn't a huge, drastic problem but if I didn't know what I was doing, they wouldn't be getting any grit or shell.
I will say that as for the construction of the coop and run, they are very sturdy and well built.
Other than those issues, the service was bad-poor communication through emails, they gave us incorrect information about the coop, they arrived an hour late after the two hour window that they gave us that they would arrive in, and were not very polite.
I'd say that overall this isn't what I'd call a good performance, but to each his own.

 

[NatJ]

I'd say that overall this isn't what I'd call a good performance, but to each his own.

OK, I clearly missed some of those points. And the previous photos hadn't shown the clipped beak as clearly as the one you just posted.

 

[Tinyraptortamer]

so what’s your plan for if/when you go to college? Will your parents be taking care of the chickens?

 

[black_cat]

so what’s your plan for if/when you go to college? Will your parents be taking care of the chickens?

When I go to college, parents can do what they want with chickens. I still have *quite a few* years before that happens. I figured that they might want to keep them around for eggs, but they can do what they want.

 

[black_cat]

OK, I clearly missed some of those points. And the previous photos hadn't shown the clipped beak as the one you just posted.

It's fine! Yeah, only two of them have those beaks, and the other two are much better, clipped a long time ago, as you previously said.

 

[black_cat]

Yesterday I managed to get a suet feeder up in their run. It had lettuce in it. I got it in by slinking most of my body through their coop so i could reach the side of the run. They liked the lettuce when I poked a bit through the HC with my fingers, but had no interest in the suet feeder. They weren't scared of it, as when I rattled it around with my hands a bit they didn't run away, but they just didn't seem to know that the suet feeder had the lettuce in it

 

[Tinyraptortamer]

When I go to college, parents can do what they want with chickens. I still have *quite a few* years before that happens. I figured that they might want to keep them around for eggs, but they can do what they want.

ok so this might be a big reason for why they aren’t so excited. You just said that you’ll be leaving it all for them to deal with. I really think the best thing to do is hold off on chickens until you are on your own

 

[black_cat]

ok so this might be a big reason for why they aren’t so excited. You just said that you’ll be leaving it all for them to deal with. I really think the best thing to do is hold off on chickens until you are on your own

I still have about 7-8 years before I have to worry about that. That's a good long time for me to still be taking care of them. I only plan on 2 sets of hens: these ones, which are already quite old, and 3 more chicks in a year or two. Some of them probably will have passed away by then. I won't buy any new chicks after those two sets. There are several farms in my area that are not the rental one that I can rehome them to. I think that it will be ok.

 

[black_cat]

*sigh* The chickens might have worms....I could be freaking out over nothing though. Recently when I was cleaning out an refilling their water (they get poop in it) I noticed what looked like a worm. It wasn't a small worm, it looked regular earthworm size. Is it just an earthworm that somehow got in? I didn't take a picture before dumping it out, because I'm an idiot.

 

[NatJ]

It wasn't a small worm, it looked regular earthworm size. Is it just an earthworm that somehow got in?

Did you notice whether it looked like an earthworm?

If you see another one, take a good look and maybe a picture as well.

If you do not ever see another one, then you can probably assume it was an earthworm, and not worry. (Because no matter what kind of worm, just one isn't a big deal.)

It's also possible to take a fecal sample to a vet to be checked for worm eggs and other parasites, although I wouldn't bother unless you have other evidence first (like if the chickens are not healthy, or you see more worms and they are not earthworms.)