Unfortunately, some people have done so without doing even basic research into the care and upkeep of their flock.
Subsequently, some birds languish or die simply from lack of appropriate care or attention.
This is certainly something you don’t want and something which can be easily avoided.
We have put together some of the most common ways in which chicks or chickens health and survival can be severely impacted and what you can do to avoid these things.
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And then there's #12 - putting younger pullets in with established grown hens.
As you may recall, one of my hens, #1, died last week so I went down and bought a couple young pullets to replace her with.
I put Li'l Ann and Jane (I can't believe I named chickens) in with #s 2, 3, and 4 and they seemed to get along all right. I had shit to do near the coop, so I was able to keep an eye on them for a couple hours. The older hens kept their distance as long as I was there, but as soon as I got up to the house, they went on the attack doing their pecking order drill. By the time I got back to the coop, Ann had a big patch of skin torn off her head and Jane was bleeding from the neck.
I netted them and put them in a box, thinking to go into town and buy a cage to put them in until I could figure out what to do with them, then remembered I had a perfectly good Jack Jail by the house, so I tossed them in there after smearing anti-bacterial ointment on their wounds.
The kennel already had plywood sides to keep that asshole dog Jack out of the wind, but the top is just heavy tarp material, so I ended up having to go into town anyway to buy some chicken wire to put over that to keep the RACcoons from getting them.
So that's their new home for until they get some size to them. The place I bought them from said they were dual purpose (meat and egg) birds so by the time they grow to adulthood and get moved to the regular coop, they'll be plenty big enough to kick the chickenshit out of the 3 leghorns I have now.