someone dumped sick chickens over the fence :( is my flock doomed?

[spish]

ive always had a problem with people dumping chickens and roo's here. i even put up signs saying any chickens (or other poultry for that matter) would be destroyed if it was left here without my consent.

for a few months it seems to have worked until this week. ive not been at home for a few days due to work commitments and a friend has been watching over my birds.

i come home today to find an extra 7 hens in my flock, 2 barred, 4 brown and a white one.

heres the problem..3 of the hens seem to have a degree of paralysis of some sort, or a leg problem, im not sure which...2 can get up and move around if they want but seem to prefer sitting down, they seem to waddle like a duck when they walk (legs stretched pretty far apart) the white one refuses to move at all unless you move her then she'll take a few steps and sit back down.
all 7 have white poop caked to their rears. 5 are pretty much bald underneath. 1 hen is totally blind, yet she seems the fittest and in best body condition. the 2 barred ones seems pretty good too, its just 3 brown and the white ones that have a major problem i think

these hens could have been in with my flock since sunday.

im now so so so worried they have some sort of dreaded disease and my entire 50+ flock has been exposed to it.


im heartbroken.

ive removed the 7 hens and have them in my shed at the moment. im unsure what to do from here

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I'm super sorry about that. I recommend having like a 6-7 foot fence around wood poles with barbed wire on the top. Or you could also look into more signs. I have a "DOGS IN YARD" sign and I also recommend a sign that has Video Surveillance posted on it.

Sounds like the chickens that have been dropped off may have Marek's disease, mites, splayed legs or slipped tendons. You need to get those limping ones out fast because Marek's is a virus and can spread sort of quick. Mites needs to be treated also. And there's usually nothing you can do for splayed legs or slipped tendons unless you use a method of Band-aids some people on BYC use.

I'm so sorry what has been happening..

 

[LeezyBeezy]

I have no idea- where they in direct contact with your flock? In the same enclosure? I guess all you can do it clean your feeders and waterers and hope for the best. GOod luck.

 

[klmclain1]

That is just rude and vicious. I am horrified to hear this has happened to you and your flock. Sounds like you need to try to figure out what the 7 have, and then treat alllllllllllll your flock. What a shame!

 

[AmyLM]

I had the same thing happen when I was living back home. Someone kept dumping dogs and cats (mostly babies) over our fence in the night. Then it was a trio of goats.. ALL BOYS of course! .. then several ponies/horses were tied to our gate. Ok.. that's fine we found homes for everything. But the real final ending straw.. we went away for the weekend and came back to find the humane society at our door demanding to know about the 'poor condition of the animals.' I told them: we have TWO CATS *inside only* the rest are all being dumped here. But you know what?? They didn't believe us! The jerks told us to 'remedy the situation'. Basically.. since they were being dumped on our property they became our responsibility. Even if we had no con troll what so ever as to the condition they were in when they were dumped.

So we bought not one... but 11 flood lights... and a ton of large very visible security cameras and set them up on trees, fence posts, the light post for our fence. The flood lights made it VERY sure that we got the dumpers in the act as they shoved a bunch of half starved goats and sheep out the back of a pick up truck... yes.. shoved them off the tail of the truck. Most fell hard to the ground. two ended up with broken legs and we had to deal with them! The funniest thing.. when we called back the animal control and handed them the stack of video tapes we had recorded.. a dozen tapes for a dozen different angles of the event... they said it was the best evidence they had gotten

But that being said... they STILL COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE DUMPER! WHHHAAAT THE HEEEEEECK.

So we made blow up pictures of the video... laminated them... and nailed them to the fence. Needless to say nothing was dumped for the rest of the time we lived there.

But... that doesn't help very much when you are having to deal with animals you didn't want, didn't acquire and are now being held responsible for. Luckily a local animal farm that takes in rescues heard about the problem we were having via the guy that owned the feed store. He brought over his trailer and helped us moved all the animals over to the rescue farm... thank goodness. I watched on their website as they were all found good homes. *phew* Gee.. why couldn't the dumper have just done that in the first place???

 

[klmclain1]

That is INSANE! I'd go crazy!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I am so so sorry! I have had no dumping's yet.. I noticed that no cows were dumped! Thank goodness for that. I'm so sorry what happened there! It makes me shudder still. Poor animals..

I had the same thing happen when I was living back home. Someone kept dumping dogs and cats (mostly babies) over our fence in the night. Then it was a trio of goats.. ALL BOYS of course! .. then several ponies/horses were tied to our gate. Ok.. that's fine we found homes for everything. But the real final ending straw.. we went away for the weekend and came back to find the humane society at our door demanding to know about the 'poor condition of the animals.' I told them: we have TWO CATS *inside only* the rest are all being dumped here. But you know what?? They didn't believe us! The jerks told us to 'remedy the situation'. Basically.. since they were being dumped on our property they became our responsibility. Even if we had no con troll what so ever as to the condition they were in when they were dumped.

So we bought not one... but 11 flood lights... and a ton of large very visible security cameras and set them up on trees, fence posts, the light post for our fence. The flood lights made it VERY sure that we got the dumpers in the act as they shoved a bunch of half starved goats and sheep out the back of a pick up truck... yes.. shoved them off the tail of the truck. Most fell hard to the ground. two ended up with broken legs and we had to deal with them! The funniest thing.. when we called back the animal control and handed them the stack of video tapes we had recorded.. a dozen tapes for a dozen different angles of the event... they said it was the best evidence they had gotten

But that being said... they STILL COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE DUMPER! WHHHAAAT THE HEEEEEECK.

So we made blow up pictures of the video... laminated them... and nailed them to the fence. Needless to say nothing was dumped for the rest of the time we lived there.

But... that doesn't help very much when you are having to deal with animals you didn't want, didn't acquire and are now being held responsible for. Luckily a local animal farm that takes in rescues heard about the problem we were having via the guy that owned the feed store. He brought over his trailer and helped us moved all the animals over to the rescue farm... thank goodness. I watched on their website as they were all found good homes. *phew* Gee.. why couldn't the dumper have just done that in the first place???

 

[AmyLM]

LOL yes no cows. *phew* BUT... good strong motion activated lights, cameras and signs did seem to stop it... so if that's a problem its what I suggest to fix it... most people arnt dumb enough to parade around under bright lights in full view of cameras to dump animals.... then again.. there are always a few who are dumb enough to surprise you..

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Actually, I think it would be cool to wake up one day and find a horse tied up to your gate.. I would think my parents finally got me a horse!

But if you didn't have room or money for it, it isn't cool.

LOL yes no cows. *phew* BUT... good strong motion activated lights, cameras and signs did seem to stop it... so if that's a problem its what I suggest to fix it... most people arnt dumb enough to parade around under bright lights in full view of cameras to dump animals.... then again.. there are always a few who are dumb enough to surprise you..