Pre-Emptive Care for Neglected Birds

[Creteloc]

I've been searching for pre-emptive care and got overwhelmed, so I wanted to ask separately. I adopted 3 chickens, approximately 6-8 weeks old that are malnourished and rather scraggly looking. They have scabs all over them, were dehydrated, and just don't look healthy to me. I got them in the dark, so I didn't know what shape they were in or I wouldn't have adopted them. I'm too new to take on sick birds.

So that leaves me with my question. What pre-emptive care can I give them if I don't know what's wrong with them?

What I've done so far :

• Obviously unlimited food and water
• Water has one of those electrolyte packets in it
• Food is mixed with mealworms to up the protein
• I've covered scabs with neosporin and a little foundation to cover the red so they won't pick at it

What else is a good idea?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good start.
Look them over for lice and mites. Look under the wings, around the vent and spread the feathers on the back and belly searching for them.

Some probiotics will help them. Plain full fat yogurt or kefir with active cultures will be a good start. There is a great product called Gro2Max that is formulated specifically for chickens.
Try to give them a place to dust bathe.

 

[Creteloc]

I was re-treating my most injured chicken with neosporin and when I was done, I hand-fed her some worms and held her a bit to cuddle. She purred like a cat. I've never heard that. Very funny.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Also, since you're unsure of their conditions and treatment before they came to you, it would be a good idea to have a collective fresh fecal sample read by a vet. Preferably an avian vet with poultry experience but any vet should be able to do it. After all, worms and coccidia, are worms and coccidia regardless of host. They could also have some nasty gut bacteria too. A poultry vet is rare as hen's teeth but would be more familiar with species of parasites endemic to poultry.

 

[Creteloc]

I'll call my local vet then. Thank you.

 

[Creteloc]

I woke up this morning and all three of these precious babies were dead. I thought things were looking up. They were drinking well and eating a ton. I weighed them when I got them and they'd each put on at least two ounce since then. There was no coughing or labored breathing. The night before they were cuddling my daughter and two of them would purr in her arms.

I have called animal services on the man we got them from. IFA confirmed they were emaciated and dehydrated. I also found they were covered in mites/lice and scabs. No animal should be treated like this.

I'm thankful for these boards and the knowledge to quarantine them far from my two chickens. We are sticking with the two we have right now because we're all very upset.

 

[Stayc]

I woke up this morning and all three of these precious babies were dead. I thought things were looking up. They were drinking well and eating a ton. I weighed them when I got them and they'd each put on at least two ounce since then. There was no coughing or labored breathing. The night before they were cuddling my daughter and two of them would purr in her arms.

I have called animal services on the man we got them from. IFA confirmed they were emaciated and dehydrated. I also found they were covered in mites/lice and scabs. No animal should be treated like this.

I'm thankful for these boards and the knowledge to quarantine them far from my two chickens. We are sticking with the two we have right now because we're all very upset.

Awww. Clearly not your fault. They were to tiny to handle all the mistreatment from the previous owner. You did all you could