Rehabilitation for abused chickens

[Sonoran Silkies]

The shafts of leg feathers tend to be very thick, so pulling is very difficult, and cutting is also difficult. They also seem to stay connected to the blood supply more/longer than typical body feathers, so I would be worrried about bleeding.

It's not that difficult to treat the legs with the feathers intact, so why risk bleeding, and making the more time-consuming effort of removing the feathers?

 

[nature nut]

That really makes me want to cry. I wish I was there to help you. All the advice sounds great. You may want to give them some extra protein, like scrambled eggs and poly-vi-sol without iron drops (3 drops per bird per day) for a week or so if their diet hasn't been to great. I have heard you can put a heat lamp over a bathed bird to help dry it faster and keep it warm while it's drying.

 

[Stef in Davis CA]

Good luck with the birds...It breaks my heart to see animals treated that way...kudos to you for rescuing them. It takes a lot of time and patience to heal that many chickens, I wish you all the best! I'll be thinking of those poor chickens and will be hoping for a speedy recovery. Is there any chance a vet might be able to donate advice or help if you explained the situation? With all the multiple health problems, it might help to have local expert advice.

 

[Isisranch]

Update on the chickens!

All are doing really well except we lost 2 including the one that was missing toes. He seemed fine one minute and the next he was gone. I believe he was suffering from a respiratory infection. The rest are all in their new coops and thriving. Thank you for all the advice and words of encouragement. I am looking for homes for 5 Bantam roosters if anyone is interested, free of course and now healthy.

 

[lovemypetchicks]

Those poor sweet babies! It's wonderful that you can give them a good home. If you want to give any of them away to good homes, I would love to take a couple. I live in Vegas so I don;t know if that would be possible. Good Luck and God Bless you!

 

[elmo]

Bless you for caring and being willing to take on such an undertaking.