Rescuing neglected chickens...help!

[77horses]

Looks like perfect makings for a coop to me!! You will need to add ventilation up higher. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, especially when it's cold, but you want air flow in the coop for sure. I'm not a coop builder, so...you could also ask the fine folks on the coop/run forums for some ideas. There's plenty of people that do "shed conversions". I would also think for the time being you crack a window for air flow too, position your roosting bars where the hens are not in a draft. Cover the windows with hardware cloth to prevent entry from predators. This way you are ready for the warm months too
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/c...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

If the Hawks have migrated that may buy you some time for aerial predators, but you will need to make some provisions for fox, coyote, DOGS, etc.. As you know, everything seems to like chicken.

You can't see it in the photos I added, but there's openings covered by mesh up where the ceiling meets with top of the wall (near the gussets, I think they're called? Or roof trusses? Rafters? Lol I'm not too familiar with these architectural terms, hopefully you know what I mean!) It's dark out so I can't get a photo of what I'm referring to right now, so here's this:

These mesh-covered openings are on either side, running back. Do you think they're enough for ventilation?
I will definitely be adding mesh wire over the windows as well, especially for warmer weather!
There's a hole in the bottom of the door frame (where a 'kick plate' might be) where the wood rotted out. This shed actually used to be a tree house before we got it! It's in great shape other than that portion of the door frame. Temps are suppose to get up to 36 degrees tomorrow, maybe 40 if we're lucky, so I'll probably be repairing that to prevent any weasels or other predators from getting in! We've had a weasel get in through the smallest hole of rotted wood in an old chicken coop when I was a kid, took out the whole flock (as weasels are unfortunately known to do...), definitely won't let that happen here!
Our neighborhood does also have a couple dogs that occasionally wander onto our property- they're friendly with people, but I definitely wouldn't trust them with chickens free ranging in the yard. I know we have plenty of wildlife around- there's 20 acres of shared land behind our house, I know there's lots of coyotes, coons, and who knows what else out there. Like you said, everything seems to like chickens!

 

[77horses]

Maybe a hoop run?

Nice shed/coop!
WINDOWS!!!

A hoop run is a great idea! I will definitely look into making something temporary like this for them. Thank you!

 

[77horses]

Thank you for taking on these poor hens! Remember not to think too harshly of the previous owner, it sounds like they were doing ok until things started to degrade all around. We are all going to just get older and face the challenges that bring with it too. So glad your coworker reached out to you for help... it sounds like these girls will be in very competent, loving hands going forward!

Absolutely, I do mostly feel for the chickens that have suffered and died as a result but I know certain unpredictable circumstances do happen, especially around health and wellness, and people do try to do the best they can with the cards they've been dealt...I feel bad for the whole situation, that the owner has lost most of their birds and now has to give up the only ones left, among their health issues...I'm hoping taking these birds in and giving them a better life will make the owner feel better- not only because they won't have to worry about the physical challenges of caring for them but also because they can be at peace with them being in better hands. I'm glad my coworker reached out to me as well, and that I happened to have this open shed! Like I said, we were planning on converting it into a coop and hatching out chicks this spring, so everything is just happening a little sooner than expected. Which is fine by me, I've been wanting to get back into raising chickens since I stopped several years ago, so I'm excited.

 

[77horses]

I like feel good stories. There's to much negativity about. Here's to good chicken health!

Let's hope for continual positivity and ideal circumstances when the chooks get here on Thursday! Thank you for the good wishes of chicken health, I have a feeling we'll need plenty of it!

 

[77horses]

If you have hawks, you need a run with a roof on it. A simple netting will do the trick, though you want to pick something relatively visible so hawks won't dive and get tangled. I've never tried to untangle a hawk from netting, but I imagine it's not pleasant for anyone, least of all the hawk.

Visible netting for the roof is a great thing to mention! I certainly wouldn't want any hawks getting caught in netting or injured, I'm a bit of an ornithology enthusiast myself, so I love seeing them out and about- they'll often swoop down and perch on branches 10 or so feet from the ground, right out at the edge of the yard, probably 25 feet from the house- they're such beautiful creatures, but as magnificent as they are, still deadly to chickens! Our original plan was to build a good size run in the spring- with a wooden frame (probably with 2x4's secured in cement block bases) and metal wire mesh (with either 1/2 x 1/2" or 1 x 1" openings...1" should be small enough to keep out weasels, right?) with a ramp and pop door leading directly into the coop. We're still planning on doing this once the temps warm up and the snow melts.
In the meantime, I think we'll just make a small run with PVC pipes and wiring, and only have them outside when someone can supervise them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can't see it in the photos, but up near the ceiling (near the soffits)

You can't see it in the photos I added, but there's openings covered by mesh up where the ceiling meets with top of the wall (near the gussets, I think they're called? Or roof trusses? Rafters? Lol I'm not too familiar with these architectural terms, hopefully you know what I mean!) It's dark out so I can't get a photo of what I'm referring to right now, so here's this:
View attachment 1643156
These mesh-covered openings are on either side, running back. Do you think they're enough for ventilation?
I will definitely be adding mesh wire over the windows as well, especially for warmer weather!
There's a hole in the bottom of the door frame (where a 'kick plate' might be) where the wood rotted out. This shed actually used to be a tree house before we got it! It's in great shape other than that portion of the door frame. Temps are suppose to get up to 36 degrees tomorrow, maybe 40 if we're lucky, so I'll probably be repairing that to prevent any weasels or other predators from getting in! We've had a weasel get in through the smallest hole of rotted wood in an old chicken coop when I was a kid, took out the whole flock (as weasels are unfortunately known to do...), definitely won't let that happen here!
Our neighborhood does also have a couple dogs that occasionally wander onto our property- they're friendly with people, but I definitely wouldn't trust them with chickens free ranging in the yard. I know we have plenty of wildlife around- there's 20 acres of shared land behind our house, I know there's lots of coyotes, coons, and who knows what else out there. Like you said, everything seems to like chickens!

I honestly don't know if that's enough ventilation or not?!
Sounds like you will be busy for a few days! I'm sure you will get the door fixed.

 

[21hens-incharge]

You can't see it in the photos I added, but there's openings covered by mesh up where the ceiling meets with top of the wall (near the gussets, I think they're called? Or roof trusses? Rafters? Lol I'm not too familiar with these architectural terms, hopefully you know what I mean!) It's dark out so I can't get a photo of what I'm referring to right now, so here's this:
View attachment 1643156
These mesh-covered openings are on either side, running back. Do you think they're enough for ventilation?
I will definitely be adding mesh wire over the windows as well, especially for warmer weather!
There's a hole in the bottom of the door frame (where a 'kick plate' might be) where the wood rotted out. This shed actually used to be a tree house before we got it! It's in great shape other than that portion of the door frame. Temps are suppose to get up to 36 degrees tomorrow, maybe 40 if we're lucky, so I'll probably be repairing that to prevent any weasels or other predators from getting in! We've had a weasel get in through the smallest hole of rotted wood in an old chicken coop when I was a kid, took out the whole flock (as weasels are unfortunately known to do...), definitely won't let that happen here!
Our neighborhood does also have a couple dogs that occasionally wander onto our property- they're friendly with people, but I definitely wouldn't trust them with chickens free ranging in the yard. I know we have plenty of wildlife around- there's 20 acres of shared land behind our house, I know there's lots of coyotes, coons, and who knows what else out there. Like you said, everything seems to like chickens!

I admit I haven't had a chance to fully catch up.

My coops are vented that way and it works well.

Now then my big coop 8x14 with 20 birds in there does need poop scooped often in winter (every other day) or humidity starts to rise.

With just 4 birds you should be fine.

 

[77horses]

Wow, what a mess - sounds like anything you give them will be a great improvement over their current situation. As long as you can give them basic needs and go from there, I would give it a go - at least their last days will be comfortable, and we all know chickens can be surprisingly tough so you may be surprised how well they recover. Many ailments can be handled with good animal husbandry and some common sense.
I would get them some Valbazen for worms, once they begin to eat. At least you don't already have chickens to worry about bio-security, so maybe this was meant to be!
Best wishes on the rescue effort!

In regards to the Valbazen- I'm not sure if they have worms, but if I had to guess based on past experience, I'd say they most definitely do. With that being said, should I just go ahead and treat for worms under the assumption that they have them? Would it hurt to treat them if they didn't have any after all? Or should I hold off and look for signs of worms before treating?

 

[77horses]

Just catching up on the thread and doing research now, writing down things for tomorrow to get from the local tractor supply store- thank goodness I have another week of winter break until classes start up again, otherwise I wouldn't have any time to do any of this!
I started looking into Valbazen as a dewormer and came upon this response by @joebryant in a different thread:

CityChicker, before you use Valbazen, you'll first want to get some Wazine from TSC and kill all the round worms in your chickens. Valbazen will kill ALL worms, but killing roundworms and others at the same time more than likely will overload your chickens' ability to dispose of them from their overloaded system. That could kill your chickens.
For more information on this, read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=385238

WORMING YOUR CHICKENS - FROM THE GOSPEL of JAMES (Chapter dawg53 1-2-3)
*****
1. Wazine17 - two ounces in two gallons of water for one day - dump eggs for two weeks
*****
...Ten days later:
2. Valbazen -one half cc/ml for standard size chickens, one quarter cc/ml for smaller chickens including silkies. You can use an oral syringe to squirt it down their throats individually or you can inject it into a small piece of bread and give each chicken a piece of bread....they gobble it up. - dump the eggs for two weeks
*****
3. ...after a couple of days of using each of both wormers....give your chickens plain yogurt or buttermilk(probiotics), canned beef cat food (extra protein) with scrambled eggs all mixed in their feed and give it to them to build up their immune systems, do this about 3 days in a row. Then you'll have healthy, happy chickens lol.
The next time you worm,say in about 6 months or whenever you see fit...you can use the Valbazen first, no need to use the Wazine 17 unless you want to. Please PM anytime and I'll be happy to help you with worming. Jim.

Can anyone confirm that I should also get Wazine as a pre-treatment to the Valbazen? Or any other insight on this? I've only treated chickens for worms once and I think I just used Wazine for roundworms, but that was several years ago. Thanks!

 

[lcwmt]

In regards to the Valbazen- I'm not sure if they have worms, but if I had to guess based on past experience, I'd say they most definitely do. With that being said, should I just go ahead and treat for worms under the assumption that they have them? Would it hurt to treat them if they didn't have any after all? Or should I hold off and look for signs of worms before treating?

Personally, I'd wait and worm if needed. My understanding (might be flawed) is that worming can be physically stressful.

Given that the birds are not in the best condition right now, and that it is Winter and that they are being moved, and there are no other birds yet, **Maybe** waiting until you can verify the need for worming, or at least get them fed and hydrated and comfortable first.
I really don't know if this is sane thinking or overly cautious.