A lost chicken turned up on the parking lot at my S.O.'s office today... very odd location for a stray chicken, since it's in an industrial park bounded by woods and highways. At any rate, J. asked me to come and see if I could catch it, which I did with little difficulty; the chicken came right up to me when I shook a container of pigeon feed (closest thing to chicken feed I had on hand), and within a couple of minutes I was able to catch it by the legs and put it in a carrier. It protested slightly, but was obviously used to being handled and settled right down.
It appears to be quite young, no comb or wattles yet, and is very thin & scruffy. It's fully feathered, but in some stage of moulting- many of the feathers still have sheathing on the bottom - and has a round bald patch above the tail; looks like maybe it was getting picked on by others. Aside from being scruffy, thin, and dirty, it seems to be in OK shape; no injuries, eyes and nostrils are clear, and it's "BAR" (bright, alert, responsive). We stopped by a local bird rescue and they checked it out, and they also saw no signs of significant injury or illness.
At any rate - I know a bit about chickens (have friends who keep them, and have done a bit of reading up since I'd been thinking of getting few one of these days), but thought I'd ask in here for suggestions:
1) I'm not sure if I should try to do anything about the bald patch or just wait to see if the feathers grow back with a bit of rest and care. Thoughts?
2) Any suggestions on feed and/or or feed additives to help get it back to a better weight, and to help with regrowing feathers? I'm thinking maybe feeding something with high protein content?
3) I"m thinking it might be a good idea to treat with antibiotics even though it seems fairly healthy other than being run-down, and also to worm it - any suggestions for OTC products?
It appears to be quite young, no comb or wattles yet, and is very thin & scruffy. It's fully feathered, but in some stage of moulting- many of the feathers still have sheathing on the bottom - and has a round bald patch above the tail; looks like maybe it was getting picked on by others. Aside from being scruffy, thin, and dirty, it seems to be in OK shape; no injuries, eyes and nostrils are clear, and it's "BAR" (bright, alert, responsive). We stopped by a local bird rescue and they checked it out, and they also saw no signs of significant injury or illness.
At any rate - I know a bit about chickens (have friends who keep them, and have done a bit of reading up since I'd been thinking of getting few one of these days), but thought I'd ask in here for suggestions:
1) I'm not sure if I should try to do anything about the bald patch or just wait to see if the feathers grow back with a bit of rest and care. Thoughts?
2) Any suggestions on feed and/or or feed additives to help get it back to a better weight, and to help with regrowing feathers? I'm thinking maybe feeding something with high protein content?
3) I"m thinking it might be a good idea to treat with antibiotics even though it seems fairly healthy other than being run-down, and also to worm it - any suggestions for OTC products?
