The Sickly Hen Project

[Darkwings]

Week 5 for these girls! Last weekend my Leghorn X hen sprouted her new feathers. I just now got a picture and I can't get over the difference. I'm so glad I have before pictures!

 

[Darkwings]

Well... I did it again. I brought home another sick chicken. This one is by far the worst I've ever dealt with. He was in a small pen by himself, huddled in a nesting box. I took a closer look and coaxed him out of the box. This poor boy can't stand and he moves around by sort of hopping/throwing himself. He is completely covered in lice and mites. He is so thin and weighs hardly anything. I don't know if I can rehab this one, but I couldn't leave him where he was. The worst thing is he has very little appetite. I was able to get him to eat some cottage cheese, pellets, and BOSS mixture. We'll see how this goes...

 

[casportpony]

You haven't by chance been to the feed store in my neighborhood? I found one there on Thursday and it died right after I carried it into the store.

 

[Darkwings]

Nope, these have all been from the Paso Robles area.

 

[Darkwings]

Well, it's been a while since I've posted any updates. The 6 malnourished hens are no more. In their place are 6 very healthy birds. So healthy in fact, that they've begun laying eggs! I can't be sure which ones exactly are laying, but I know for sure the California Grey is. She's the only white egg layer I have. So yay! Success! On a sadder note, the rooster that I brought home several weeks after the hens had to be put down. I rehabbed him as far as I could until realizing that he was permanently disabled and it would be unfair of me to prolong his suffering any more. So, there's my update. I need to get some pictures of those funny girls. They're quite the characters from being handled and babied so much. They jump up on the picnic table on the patio so they can look at me through the kitchen window. I wonder if they think the window is there so they can watch me instead of the other way around.

 

[Sylvestor12]

Rehab animals I have found can be really affectionate and sweet but also timid of people, understanable. I just don't understand why people mistreat chickens like that!!! Where's PETA when you need them? Anyways, I've come to talk of another great rehab food for chickens. If you get egg yolks raw you can syringe it to chickens or you can slather it on their pellets. Chickens absolutely LOVE eggs, trust me I have plenty of egg eaters in my batch. XD

 

[Darkwings]

I've heard of doing scrambled egg yolks, but not raw. I would be afraid that I was teaching them to eat their eggs. Luckily I have no egg eaters and I hope to keep it that way.

 

[Darkwings]

The formerly bald chicken is no more! She's had all her feathers back for a while, but I'm just now getting pictures.

 

[Sylvestor12]

Quite the amazing difference! The egg yolk thing I was talking about; the yolk could be cooked or raw. If you cook the yolk you'd have to add water to make it able to be administered through a needleless syringe. However, in that process you lose some of the water that was in the yolk before it was cooked. With the raw you can more water+good food. For the egg eating thing, don't let the chickens see the eggshell when you crack the egg to get the yolk. Since your chickens aren't eat-eaters, they can't know that the yellow yolk comes from what's inside the shells that they lay every day.