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I adopted 5 battery hens in January. They spent about 2 weeks at a friend's place, because I was in Germany and didn't want to lumber my house sitter with brand new chickens.When the vet came for the horses, the chickens had been with me for about a week, and she was like "Your chickens don't look so good" and I explained they were ex battery. "Ah that explains the state of them."
Yes, they looked that bad. Hardly any feathers and it was sooo cold.
I actually wrapped a duvet and a tarp around the chicken coop for a few weeks so it's a little warmer. (Making sure there is still enough ventilation of course.)
This is #5 about a month after she arrived here. So you can probably imagine why the vet was rather concerned when she saw the chickens. #5 had NO feathers on her neck at the time.
This is #5 two weeks ago.
She always came running when I came outside. Would follow me around in the hope that there might be a treat.
She was a bit lethargic this morning, but went out with the others, so I didn't think much of it.
When I called her this afternoon, she came... but was VERY weak and just flopped down in front of me.
I checked her croup. I checked if she was eggbound. I checked for mites. I checked for injuries. I checked for anything off and found nothing. Shiny feathers, color in her wattle.
She drank a few beaks of water, but wasn't interested in the shelled sunflower seeds -- and she's a total menace for them. So I knew for a fact that something was wrong.
Since she wasn't well, I made her a nice bed in a roomy box, put her inside and covered the box with enough room for her to get out if she wanted/needed to. It also made it easier to check on her, and kept Basil at bay.
But when I came out to check on her, she'd gone.
I don't know how old she was, but generally the battery chickens are no more than a year old when they are "retired".
Sad, but I'm glad she had the best life a chicken can have, for the few months she was here. She was always out and about, often by herself, wandering down the hiking trail (!!) looking for worms and bugs. Or digging out my strawberries lol. Total character that one... and the only one I named (sort of) because I was always out there going "NUMBER FIVE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???" and seconds later she'd turn up...looking for the coveted sunflower seeds, or maybe a bit of salad? Pasta?!? RICE???
RIP, little one.
Yes, they looked that bad. Hardly any feathers and it was sooo cold.
I actually wrapped a duvet and a tarp around the chicken coop for a few weeks so it's a little warmer. (Making sure there is still enough ventilation of course.)
This is #5 about a month after she arrived here. So you can probably imagine why the vet was rather concerned when she saw the chickens. #5 had NO feathers on her neck at the time.
This is #5 two weeks ago.
She always came running when I came outside. Would follow me around in the hope that there might be a treat.
She was a bit lethargic this morning, but went out with the others, so I didn't think much of it.
When I called her this afternoon, she came... but was VERY weak and just flopped down in front of me.
I checked her croup. I checked if she was eggbound. I checked for mites. I checked for injuries. I checked for anything off and found nothing. Shiny feathers, color in her wattle.
She drank a few beaks of water, but wasn't interested in the shelled sunflower seeds -- and she's a total menace for them. So I knew for a fact that something was wrong.
Since she wasn't well, I made her a nice bed in a roomy box, put her inside and covered the box with enough room for her to get out if she wanted/needed to. It also made it easier to check on her, and kept Basil at bay.
But when I came out to check on her, she'd gone.
I don't know how old she was, but generally the battery chickens are no more than a year old when they are "retired".
Sad, but I'm glad she had the best life a chicken can have, for the few months she was here. She was always out and about, often by herself, wandering down the hiking trail (!!) looking for worms and bugs. Or digging out my strawberries lol. Total character that one... and the only one I named (sort of) because I was always out there going "NUMBER FIVE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???" and seconds later she'd turn up...looking for the coveted sunflower seeds, or maybe a bit of salad? Pasta?!? RICE???
RIP, little one.
