- Jun 15, 2011
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Seemed like the best place to post this, not sure......We are new to this and have had our 4 chickens since end of September when they were 4 days old and everything was going well until last week when we realized that we had 3 roosters in the flock. We cannot have roosters where we live, nor did we want them, so the breeder kindly agreed to take the roosters back. I kept one for the time being so the single pullet would not be alone. The breeder gave me a pullet in exchange for the roosters, as that was all that he had at the moment. I knew that we would need to keep this one separate for about a month until we could introduce it to the other hen and the last rooster would just have to stay until we could get her some company. It turns out that when i got home I noticed that the pullet was wheezing slightly and seemed lethargic. I also noticed a slight bit of clear nasal discharge, so I went to the feed store and told them the symptoms and they gave me some tetracycline and after 24 hours on it she seems to be doing a bit better. She is still not eating, but I am letting time tell me what to do with this bird for now. That all being said, the real issue is that the rooster started crowing this morning for the first time and he's going to have to go. I really don't want to leave the other bird alone because she is doing so well.
We were planning on going to the poultry show in Newnan tomorrow and were thinking that maybe we should try to get 2-3 older pullets that are about the same age as the one that remains and just put them together and see what happens. I know that it is best to quarantine new birds but I don't have anywhere to really do that with larger birds closer to laying age. The rooster will soon be gone and I guess my thinking was that adding new hens to the one would be easier on them, unless the new ones happen to bring something home. If we got chicks we have a room in the basement where they could be in a brooder away from the sick bird.
I know this is a lot to digest, but I am just looking for any advice or a point of view that I might not have considered at this point. This will be the first show that I've been to and I assume that they have chickens for sale there.
Thanks i really appreciate any feedback!
We were planning on going to the poultry show in Newnan tomorrow and were thinking that maybe we should try to get 2-3 older pullets that are about the same age as the one that remains and just put them together and see what happens. I know that it is best to quarantine new birds but I don't have anywhere to really do that with larger birds closer to laying age. The rooster will soon be gone and I guess my thinking was that adding new hens to the one would be easier on them, unless the new ones happen to bring something home. If we got chicks we have a room in the basement where they could be in a brooder away from the sick bird.
I know this is a lot to digest, but I am just looking for any advice or a point of view that I might not have considered at this point. This will be the first show that I've been to and I assume that they have chickens for sale there.
Thanks i really appreciate any feedback!