new hens

dukebankchicks · « **on:** August 04, 2008, 20:13 »

Hiya,not been on for a while.last year we had 4 ex-layers and have lost 2,and 1 is not long for this world,so we thought we would take up an offer of 2 more hens.picked them up and they are really scrawny and threadbare,I think they were in with a cockerel so bald sore patches are abundant.I tried to introduce them with our existing 2 and there was a big noise and pecking of the new ones so I seperated them,put the new ones in a run next to the old 2 so they were close but could not do damage.At night I have been putting them all together when it is dark & there are no probs until the morning when I have to seperate them again.Today I left them together & came home to find the one that is particularly bald had been attacked to the point of bleeding & looked very sore.So,cleaned her up & put wound powder on and let them run in the garden where she could get away from her attacker,this is ok but they can't be out all the time.the run they have is large enough for 4 but it is enclosed.I have been babysitting them 4 5 days now,any suggestions anyone?

Roughlee Handled · « **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2008, 09:35 »

Putting them together at night is what I have been told to do. You may want to get some "purple spray" on the chicken with that got pecked and is bald. Purple spray is antiseptic and purple. You can get it from most feed merchants or horsey places. It is called Purple spray so you wont sound like a T*T asking for it. The Colour Purple (good film) masks the colour of blood (red). Red attracts the chickens attention, so I have been lead to believe and this in turn can lead to more pecking. Now some one on here put a 3-5 year old children's T shirt on there chicken as this covered up the wound and helped protect the chicken I will try and find who. Are you able to get hold of any poultry netting and extend your run for a week just so they have space to get out of the way of each other?

dukebankchicks · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2008, 15:48 »

cheers,have extended the run with a rabbit run so hens are next to each other,they are all out in the garden now and are not too bad ,seem to be cooling down a bit.New hens are not quite sure what to do at night so I have to put them in with the others when it is dusk.I think slowly is the way ,thanx for the advice on the purple spray,new girls not looking too bad now.Thanx again,I'll let you know how it goes.Vicky.

blulagoo · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2008, 19:46 »

Roughlee - pretty sure it was Babe that adapted the baby t-shirt

too many girls · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2008, 20:33 »

it was Babe with the t shirt, she made one for Lonely, baby's vest, embroidered with her name no less............

babe · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2008, 20:47 »

Quote from: "too many girls"

it was Babe with the t shirt, she made one for Lonely, baby's vest, embroidered with her name no less............

has it helped tmg?

too many girls · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2008, 20:52 »

it did help for a while, but Lonely free ranges 40 acres, and learnt to wriggle out of it, we kept having to search and retrieve it from fields and under bushes, it would work much better if she was penned up or supervised all the time.

babe · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2008, 20:52 »

it was worth a try

how's she doing now?

too many girls · « **Reply #8 on:** August 07, 2008, 20:55 »

read stockholm tar, ive just posted there

too many girls · « **Reply #9 on:** August 07, 2008, 20:56 »

didn't realize that was you Babe, so wished i'd penned her up with the vest sooner and not bothered with the tar, i've made her so much worse, feel awful.

babe · « **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2008, 21:00 »

aww tmg, that tar stuff is awful. cant say its anything i would use.

is here anyway you could seperate her for a while. maybe a rabbit hutch. lots of tlc can make a world of difference.

she's been through the mill poor wee lass

too many girls · « **Reply #11 on:** August 07, 2008, 21:02 »

i've made her a pen from sheep hurdles and a house out of caspers kennel, soon as the tar wears off, vest back on.

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new hens

dukebankchicks

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dukebankchicks

new hens

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too many girls

new hens

babe

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new hens

babe

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babe

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