Rescue hens have pecked feathers off

[Jim G-C]

This spring I rebuilt the old chicken coop on our property and we got four very healthy red star hens from a local small farmer and we continued to feed them the same food they were getting from another local farmer and these four have been happy, healthy, and making great eggs. They have also just started molting.

A few days ago a neighbor of ours said his friend from a neighboring town had given up on his hens and kicked them out of their coop to let them free and they were getting eaten slowly by a fox. We offered to take them in. Before we picked them up we asked our farmer friends how to tell if the hens were healthy and she said if they are not heathy they will be lethargic, perhaps even fetal, etc. So we picked them up last night from this friend of a friends house and he had four hens that look like red stars (but are half the size of ours) about 2 years old and one rooster. They seemed happy and healthy when I picked them up and brought them home save for the hens having varying degrees of pecked feathers around their tails and necks.

I woke up this morning and let the older hens out of the coop and kept the newer ones and the rooster inside and got a closer look at them in the daylight. They are happy and energetic - just red irritated skin from their pecked feathers. We did get one egg from the new ones - however it tasted "musky." Also, the birds themselves seem to smell - although I think it may just be the rooster. Is it normal for a rooster or hens to smell like "meat" ?

Thanks.

 

[Jim G-C]

Another note - I'm sure these birds haven't been fed quality food - especially after being kicked out of their coop.

 

[NovaAman]

Oh please tell me they are in a completely separate coop from your original flock...

Feather picking can be nutritionally related. The birds were not being taken care of properly and basically left to go feral.. Glad you got them. I think with a clean coop, run, feed higher in protein for a while, and good water, they'll clean right up. I would not however let your other birds near them until a goodly bit of time has passed. You may also want to blue kote the birds that have skin showing from where feather pecking occurred. AND yes, they can smell like meat when skin is raw. After I had a predator attack, the surviving birds who were stripped of feathers but no other apparent injury actually smelled like meat...

If you have already merged the groups, you might want to get some antibiotics and have it on hand. Watch all the birds, your especially for illness. They may have looked healthy enough, but stress of a move can bring out symptoms of illness.

Also, go over the new birds with a fine toothed comb... eye really. Look for mite, lice... dust with poultry dust or drops of your choice, ivermectin (sp) and dump the eggs for the 2 weeks. I'd do the ivermectin anyway, so you can worm them also, just to be on the safe side, since they seem half the size of yours... They've probably been foraging on things that aren't so good... thus the yucky eggs...

Good luck, hope it all works out.

 

[Jim G-C]

Thanks!

Yes I had put them all the same coop last night but they did not mingle at all.

I just let the four hens and rooster out of the coop and closed the door so none of them can get in for now. All 8 hens and the rooster are roaming a 10,000 square foot area. They all have food and water outside. I just got in touch with our farmer friend and she recommended putting them down because we are not able to keep them separate from our healthy hens.

We have a *huge* coop for the number of hens he have: 20 feet long and 10 feet wide with a good six inches of wood chips and straw on the floor and in the roosting boxes. The new birds were only in the coop for 12 hours. Do I need to clean out the coop and replace all the wood chips and straw? I am in a cold climate and was going to make an enclosure inside the coop small enough to keep them warm and was hoping to keep the bedding till spring because it seems to be warm and composting.

 

[Jim G-C]

We are on our way to the local farm vet to ask about meds and alternatives to having to put them down. This makes me sad but I tried. Next time I know to segregate when we get new birds like this.

 

[ailurophile23]

Since you have already exposed the two groups to each other, you could make arguments both for and against leaving them together. It might help minimize stress to at least separate them at night if possible - less pecking order for best roost conflict. I completely agree with NovaAman - treat all the birds (old and new) with ivermectin to deal with any possible mites/lice - toss the eggs for two weeks. You should also treat the bedding with DE or poultry dust and provide the birds with a good dust bathing area that includes DE or poultry dust in the mix. Definitely give all birds higher protein food - the old ones who are moulting could use it for new feather growth and the new ones who were tossed out could use it to get healthy. Be sure to add polyvisol or electrolytes/vitamins to the water - maybe alternate with apple cider vinegar too. Be sure to wash the waterers daily. And definitely keep an eye on all chickens for signs of illness - have antibiotics on hand just in case.

 

[Jim G-C]

Thank you! We have sandy mountain soil and it is great for sand baths.

 

[Jim G-C]

Update and new question:

I am bringing one of our new hens to the vet sunday morning to get them medication, if needed. In the meantime I can roost them in cat carriers to keep them away from our other hens.

They seem to be working our yard like normal, healthy, happy hens. I stood over them for about 15 mins and noticed no pecking at all. If they had some sort of mice or lice would their pecking be more obvious? Or could this be a sign that perhaps they were pecking at each other earlier because they were being confined?

 

[NovaAman]

It isn't so much lice and mites that could be a problem, but a hidden respiratory issue. Have any of your original flock ever been ill? That's the concern. To be honest, since they've already slept in the same coop, then leave it. Get antibiotics... Tylan 50 from the farm store and a syringe. 1/2 cc for large birds, 1/4 cc for smaller. You and the wife, or hubby are going to have to tag team them when they are on the roost at night, pull them off one at a time and dose them. One to hold the other to open the beak and down the hatch. OR inject in breast tissue if you think you can, if not, remove the needle and down the hatch. This is a 3-5 day treatment. ONLY IF ILLNESS SHOWS UP. Don't do it now if there is nothing going on. Just be prepared in case it does. Watch them every day, look them over every day. Look for eye swelling, snotty noses. If you get bubbles in the eyes, that could be very bad. If they get snotty with stinky breath, then that's something to be treated with Corid.

Just watch them. No need to put them down. BUT WATCH THEM. Separation only works when you have them completely separate. Separate but in the same coop, is not separate in the chicken world. If you get through the first week with them with no illness cropping up, by that I mean respiratory, then I think you'll be just fine. I would think the stress of being homeless would have caused something to have shown up already...

But treat for mites and lice and worms on the new birds with the ivermectrin, and I think you'll be OK if you just poultry dust your original birds. At the end of the week, clean the coop of all shavings, dust the coop with either the DE or poultry dust, put the new shavings/bedding in.

OH, and take pictures, and post them what they look like now, and then what they look like in a month. You'll be shocked at how much of a difference you'll see.

 

[NovaAman]

Update and new question:

I am bringing one of our new hens to the vet sunday morning to get them medication, if needed. In the meantime I can roost them in cat carriers to keep them away from our other hens.

They seem to be working our yard like normal, healthy, happy hens. I stood over them for about 15 mins and noticed no pecking at all. If they had some sort of mice or lice would their pecking be more obvious? Or could this be a sign that perhaps they were pecking at each other earlier because they were being confined?

Examine the feather shafts near the base, you'll see eggs for lice if thats it. With mites, look under the wings, near the vent, in the neck feathers for little black/red mites...