Should I be concerned

[Heather1985]

I'm a newbie here I've raised chickens before and recently bought a large flock of birds off of Craigslist at a wholesale price. I was told they came from a farm in the feather loss was due to Molting however they just don't act like my normal chickens. They don't seem to have much energy or want to come out of the pen to free range. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chickinie]

They've probably never seen the light of day! Their tails look like they have been in a small space, I doubt they've ever free ranged. They look pretty down cast and deficient.

 

[Chickinie]

They are growing in new feathers, though.

 

[mandelyn]

I would worm them, 3cc of Safeguard for goats per gallon of water for 3 days and then repeat in two weeks. Check them over for mites, look around the vent and under the wing. Boost them with some Nutridrench after worming, or Poultry Cell vitamins. Put them on an 18% protein feed and some "ruffage" like grass or spinach. Switch back to plain water after a week of vitamins, then repeat in two weeks.

 

[Heather1985]

They've probably never seen the light of day! Their tails look like they have been in a small space, I doubt they've ever free ranged. They look pretty down cast and deficient.

Is there anything you would recommend

 

[Chickinie]

Is there anything you would recommend

Like mandelyn suggested - worm and vitamins.
Probably keep them away from other chooks till they look a bit perkier. They will most likely get picked on. Keep them warm too, you don't want them to get chilled and sick, it'll be all downhill from there if they are already off colour.

If they are used to being crammed together they will probably like to stay so close to each other until they get curious. I wouldn't go throwing them in the middle of a paddock and seeing if they scatter

 

[nao57]

How many days have you tried working with them to go out? Maybe that might help to know.

 

[The Moonshiner]

They look like and it sounds like they're retired factory layers.
They're sold here quite often. I've never known of the ones here being sold sick but they do look horrible and definitely don't act normal.
That's because they spent their lives as egg machines in crowded spaces. They never got to be normal.
When I had some they eventually came around and in a couple months feathered in nicely.
The only real issue I had was they didn't know how to roost and would pile up badly at night. Do yours do that?