- Thread starter
- #411
Some stress is just a given in their lives, unfortunately. Molting is a stress, moving to a new coop is a stress, new birds in the flock shaking up the pecking order is a stress, too many roosters competing for mating rights, predators, etc., and it goes on and on.
All I can tell you is that if mine had a scare such as yours had, I'd keep them penned for awhile, even if they were used to free ranging. Keep them close to home. Clean out their coop and put down fresh shavings-mine seem to really like it after we clean it out. You don't say how big this coop is--is it too crowded? How many birds are in what size coop?
Chickens really flock (pun not intended) to clean, fresh water-don't let it get murky and gross. Mine love it when the waterers have just been filled with cold, fresh water. I'd feed them extra protein in the form of canned salmon/ mackerel or scrambled eggs and vitamins for awhile (Avia Charge 2000 is a wonderful concentrate powder for birds you can order online-seems very expensive, but goes far). Just keep everything as low-key as possible. If the young roosters are all over the girls, competing with each other, could be you'll need to remove two or three of those.
There is no definite formula that I can give you, but that's what I would do in your position. Clean environment, good nutrition and an uncrowded, well-ventilated space go far in keeping overall stress down in a flock.
All I can tell you is that if mine had a scare such as yours had, I'd keep them penned for awhile, even if they were used to free ranging. Keep them close to home. Clean out their coop and put down fresh shavings-mine seem to really like it after we clean it out. You don't say how big this coop is--is it too crowded? How many birds are in what size coop?
Chickens really flock (pun not intended) to clean, fresh water-don't let it get murky and gross. Mine love it when the waterers have just been filled with cold, fresh water. I'd feed them extra protein in the form of canned salmon/ mackerel or scrambled eggs and vitamins for awhile (Avia Charge 2000 is a wonderful concentrate powder for birds you can order online-seems very expensive, but goes far). Just keep everything as low-key as possible. If the young roosters are all over the girls, competing with each other, could be you'll need to remove two or three of those.
There is no definite formula that I can give you, but that's what I would do in your position. Clean environment, good nutrition and an uncrowded, well-ventilated space go far in keeping overall stress down in a flock.