Poorly chicken

[MadAboutChooks]

Hi 3 3 Ex batts arrived 3 weeks ago all with pale faces, 2 of their faces have gone the usual red colour but one is still very pale, she also seems to have nearly a bald head, which seems slightly worse that when we got them! I have sprinkled them with mite and louse powder, and been putting poultry tonic in their water. Dispite this pale face, she still seems to be laying and seems quite well. Should I be worried? Any advice from anyone who is experienced with ex bats would be appreciated. Also how long does it take for their feathers to grow back? Thank you.

[staceychristie]

All ours had pale faces and combs. It does take quite a while for things to get back to 'normal' colours. As long as she's eating drinking and pooping ok, then I'd not worry - the time to concern yourself is when they go off on their own and don't eat. Bald head could be one chuck having a pop at her - to let her know where she is in the pecking order.

The feathers will take ages to get back to normal - depending on how well she feeds/rests. It could be in the moult when they start to grow new feathers. Ours that we picked up last weekend are already starting to grow fluffy down out the ends of the shafts.

I'd also recommend you try to handle them really regularly - that way you can get them to trust you, and also see if there are any crop/abdomen problems developing.

Have they been wormed yet? If not you'll need to use Flubenvet mixed into their feed for 7 days.

 

Good luck, and well done on a rescue

 

Stacey

[Egluntyne]

It will take time. If she is still laying, that is a positive sign.

[Ewsee]

Hi, battery hens will take a while to turn into ordinary looking chickens, however as long as she is laying, I am sure she is very happy. Keep checking on her though. Their feathers should take around 4 weeks to 8 weeks to grow back, depends how bad the chickens feathers are.