Chicken bald back

[emmalou]

I am going to purchase our first two exbatts on Friday afternoon. I am a little nervous (well very actually) as I am so sensitive to these things and hoping and praying I don't need to go in and seem them all as it will be so overwhelming for me. I am adopting two to go with 4 exisiting. One was killed yesterday by a buzzard. If I get them home by 4pm am I better off shutting them straight in the hen house for the night as it will nearly be night time. I am worried they will not have eaten etc that afternoon and shutting them in until the morning may be too long for them, especially it being cold here atm. What do you think please? I know the problems we had getting our first batch on hens in each night for the first 2 weeks.

[BridieLou]

Hi Emmalou. Sorry to hear about your chicken being taken, very sad. I'm not sure I can offer much advice on the food issue, do they not have a small run attached to their coop? Or are you going to lock them into the coop as soon as you get them?

 

In any case, might be worth calling ahead to the rehoming place as the ones here have put a stop on rehoming due to the avian flu outbreak risk.Might be worth double checking before you go all the way there. Good luck!

[emmalou]

We are in France so as far as I am concerned there are no restrictions atm. Soon will be though I am sure!

I was getting them home just before dusk so thought just putting them in the hen house for the night straight away may get them used to roosting in there. If we picke them up early PM then they may not have had much food and water?

[Chickabee]

Don't worry about seeing them. The only thing that will probably happen is you'll come home with more than you thought. They may look tatty and featherless, but they're well fed and still have attitude. Good luck. I keep meaning to leave space for exbatts, but keep filling it. Might have to accidentally buy a second hand coop next year. Keeping ex bats is so rewarding.

[emmalou]

Lovely thankyou. If they are featherless will they be OK with the cold weather? That really concerns me. Would love more but just no roosting space.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Guest

[Chickabee]

Yes they will be fine.

[emmalou]

We have had hens for just 6 months and am getting on fine, apart from Poppy yesterday. However will getting exbatts be a problem with our existing hens? Hard to say i suppose but would be impossible to split the newbies from the existing flock as we only have a small ish hen house which they would all roost in together. We do have a small shed and broody dog cage but would be reliant on them all getting on. Do exbatts struggle to get on with others or vice versa?

[Chickabee]

You might want to separate them for a bit. My ex bats got on together but didn't mix very well

[emmalou]

Ah, that could be a problem! I have also just read that maybe bringing two into a flock of four may be hard going as far as bullying is concerned. Bringing more in to a smaller flock is better....hmmm! I cannot really isolate them very well as I only have one hen house which has a roosting section and a nesting section. I maybe could make one side into a nest and roosting section and do the same the other side but would not be ideal having birds nesting and roosting in the same area??

[emmalou]

I have done more research and the exbatts I am getting do not have many feathers. I will probably need to vaseline them as it's quite parky atm. What parts do I vaseline? There also appears to be a layer crumble or mash which has been recommended to add with warm water. What is this exactly and where is it normally available?

[Cat tails]

If it's freezing at night and during the day, you could put vaseline on the comb and wattle. But that's with temperatures well below zero.

 

I have no ex batts, but from the stories on here I gather that not all hens know how to roost on a bar and will rather spend time on a flat surface.

 

I really don't see a problem in roosting and laying in the same area. That's what mine do. And all eglu's are built in that manner.

[emmalou]

Ok thank you. I understand a good technique is to buy them at the end of the day so they go to roost straight away, Then I was going to put them in the nest area of the hen house with the door open between the two sections so the old hens can hear and maybe see the new ones. Hopefully the next day they will all come out together? Are their bodies warm enough with barely no feathers?

[Cat tails]

Yes they will be fine.

[emmalou]

I picked up our new exbatts today and all seems fine. They have plenty of feathers and whislt there has been a little bossiness all is good. Tonight I was going to put them in the hen house bit in the opposite section to the old girls just in case. I was not sure whether a divide is necessary of if they are too docile at night to worry about s"Ooops, word censored!"ping?

One of the birds seems to have a watery white poop which is a little foamy atm. Can I do anything or just wait for diet changes to kick in? I presume battery hens are wormed regularly?

[Cat tails]

Congratulations on your new girls!

How many did you end up taking home?

[emmalou]

Just two and thanks...bit nerve wracking atm. Have no room for more. Just not sure on the above?

[Cat tails]

Might just be the stress of moving. Since they are already sharing a coop/run nothing much you can do apart from keeping an eye on her.

[gavclojak]

Yea I would say the loose poop is stress, it's tough for them to be Rehomer. Yes it is freedom but it is still stressfull.

If they have been used to mash then have a few feeders available one with mash and the other with what your current girls have. Well done for giving them a chance x

[emmalou]

Yes thanks. I am just not sure what this mash is? We live in France and not sure what it is.Never heard of it in the UK let alone France.

[Cat tails]

See your other thread. It's the same stuff as pellets but than powdery.

[emmalou]

All is OK so far. Matilda is bullyig the new girls a little but is to be expected after one day. I am putting them in the nest area at night, separate to the others and will so so for a few days yet. I am having to catch them to put them in which I don't like doing as it stresses them. Am I doing OK? They will need to start using the other door when it comes to sleeping with the others but atm I think we are away off from them all sharing a roosting section!

[Chickabee]

Emmalou you are doing brilliantly. Those girls must be so a happy. A little stress before going off to sleep won't harm them.i chased an escaped chicken for ages yesterday. Eventually she went in just using a few mealworms, she looked quite pleased with herself

[emmalou]

Aww bless them .

[emmalou]

I am currently (night 2) using the nest door and area for our two newbies. That way they are separate from any pecking or bickering and have teir own space. We have a roosting pole in there but I have to remove one or two of the nest boxes just in case they want to use them. Obviously they are not used to roosting poles. How do I overcome this? Do I put them on it or leave them to sit on the floor or in a nest box? One of them has diarrhea atm so is not pretty if they are using nest boxes!!! Also is it a god idea to keep them in there for a week or two?