Questions about ex-battery hens!

[Fiasco]

Hi!

I just brought home a bunch of "rescue chickens" from a factory....80 to be exact! Basically, the factory keeps them around to lay for about a year, but when their production starts to drop slightly, they are called "spent hens" and gotten rid of (killed and usually used for oil or pet food). At this point, some farms can sell them really cheap to people who are willing to take them in, but it seems to be a little bit hush-hush around here....I'm guessing they're not really supposed to do that! The chickens usually lay eggs pretty steadily, despite being in terrible health and some look almost pre-plucked.

It's definitely crowded in my coop right now, but I'm planning to re-home 50 of the hens and just keep 30. Until I can do that, they are going to be a pretty tight in there! But there's one thing preventing me from doing this....I want to sell them as laying hens, but to be honest I don't know what's going on with them right now. We got home with them a few hours ago, and I have found at least 6 shell-less eggs around the coop! Some have a teensy bit of crackly shell on them. I have never run into this problem with factory chickens before, but for some reason they all seem to be doing this! I am taking a guess that this could be a calcium deficiency, but I don't know. What do you think?

Here is a picture of the girls. They are crowded here, and I know that's not good, but it was very temporary and I can tell they are already happier in their new home!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Fiasco]

I forgot to ask another question. I just got back from checking on the girls, and they were all piled on top of one another in a small extension of the coop - about 3' by 6'. For 80 chickens!! So we shooed them all into the main coop area, and added a temporary board to keep them there, but lo and behold - they all remained piled on top of one another against the wall of that area. Are they going to be okay? They are so squished in there, that you can't see some on the bottom. They're literally on top of one another and I am at a loss what to do! They don't seem to know how to roost yet too. Silly chickens!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It sounds very much to me that your former cage layer hens went from the frying pan to the fire.

Pilling up is a chickens' response to being cold while needing to roost or sleep. Perhaps you should train your hens how to roost properly.

 

[Cyprus]

Three things that need to be done
1) Free choice calcium supplent
2) Electrolytes in their water
3) Teach them how to roost

 

[ChickenyChickeny]

pick some up and put them on the roost over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. After all that, they should know how to roost.

 

[The Moonshiner]

It sounds very much to me that your former cage layer hens went from the frying pan to the fire.

Couldn't agree more.
Sounds like you're not equipped or prepared to care for this amount of birds.
Your "rescues" are going to very quickly actually need rescuing.
I'd be trying to rehome the 50 ASAP.

 

[VeggieGoneEggie]

On the piling issue - these poor girls have never even known the concept of roosting! They’ve only ever slept on top of each other (by necessity) in a tiny cage. They’re also probably freaked out by all the change in scenery. I’d actually give them a few days of letting them pile. Maybe up to a week. Then start placing them (some of them?) up on the roosts every night just as the last light is leaving.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They're not roosting because they've never done so before. Are they all in one single area, or is your coop divided in any way? Is there a way you could divide them into smaller groups? The danger I see is that you might end up with a few crushed hens because of all the piling up - too many chickens trying to stuff themselves into a tiny area, because they're scared.

As far as the shell-less eggs that might be a stress reaction - this is very new and different for them.

 

[VeggieGoneEggie]

And shell-less eggs - my best first guess is that their little bodies are malfunctioning because of the stress. Chickens in general don’t seem to love change. On type of that, these girls - if they’ve come from battery cages on a factory farm - have likely never really felt direct sunlight or touched grass or seen a horizon. Poor things are probably a wreck. Give them time to settle in. Then see how those eggs start looking.

 

[The Moonshiner]

On the piling issue - these poor girls have never even known the concept of roosting! They’ve only ever slept on top of each other (by necessity) in a tiny cage. They’re also probably freaked out by all the change in scenery. I’d actually give them a few days of letting them pile. Maybe up to a week. Then start placing them (some of them?) up on the roosts every night just as the last light is leaving.

I agree they have no concept of roosting but disagree about the piling before.
If they don't know how to roost they were battery layers caged individually.
They do need to be divided up and spread out.
I'd forget about worrying about the eggs etc. And do something about housing. If you let them pile you'll be removing a pile of dead birds every morning guaranteed.
When they pile like that not only are they squashed they suffocate and the heat is unbelievable on the bottom ones.
I'd turn them loose and scatter them before putting them through a night of that situation.
Teaching them to roost sounds great but half will be dead before any of them figure it out.
This is just a bad deal all the way around.
Place a free hens ad on craigslist and get to rehoming them.