A friend got evicted from his country home, and had to move to town. Town would not let him keep his flock of 17 Red-sex link layers. He gave them to me to add to my flock of mixed breeds. (130 free ranging layers)
When we picked them up yesterday, they STINK...stank...STUNK!!! They have a lot of feathers missing, white stinky discharge, and bloody patches. They have been in a 18' x 18' opaque plastic-wrapped greenhouse all of their 10 months of life. They have never been given nesting boxes, or roosts; never seen direct sunlight; never felt the breeze. They lived on the straw-covered ground. Their water containers that came with them were a slimy black mess of 1/4 inch of algae growing both inside and out. I have suprisingly found no external parasites.
I put them in a separate coop and run from my girls. Banded them for later identification, then I scrubbed and disinfected their waterer, gave them a couple pumpkins (to deworm) and fresh layer feed. When nightfall came, I had to manually set each up on the roost. The smell of them is nauseating!
What more should I be doing for them? It appears that there are only two birds with the nasty discharge. Should it clear up on its own with fresh water and air? How long should I keep them quarantined before letting them out to range and get acquainted with my girls?
When we picked them up yesterday, they STINK...stank...STUNK!!! They have a lot of feathers missing, white stinky discharge, and bloody patches. They have been in a 18' x 18' opaque plastic-wrapped greenhouse all of their 10 months of life. They have never been given nesting boxes, or roosts; never seen direct sunlight; never felt the breeze. They lived on the straw-covered ground. Their water containers that came with them were a slimy black mess of 1/4 inch of algae growing both inside and out. I have suprisingly found no external parasites.
I put them in a separate coop and run from my girls. Banded them for later identification, then I scrubbed and disinfected their waterer, gave them a couple pumpkins (to deworm) and fresh layer feed. When nightfall came, I had to manually set each up on the roost. The smell of them is nauseating!
What more should I be doing for them? It appears that there are only two birds with the nasty discharge. Should it clear up on its own with fresh water and air? How long should I keep them quarantined before letting them out to range and get acquainted with my girls?
