# New Chickens(pullets) advice



## Crocboy25 (Feb 27, 2017)

Hello,

I recently got 7 pullets of varying breeds and put them into my pen with the lone chicken(a rooster). He loves them and babies them. It is pretty cute. I want to start them off good. I have had them a few weeks. What advice do you have for me in terms of feeding? Worming? anything at all...

Also, on a side note, I have two peacocks that are young adults... don't think they are two years old yet. Anyways the peahen always trying to rough up the young chickens. Pecks at their heads and stuff. I keep having to separate them into different pens. Any advice on acclimating them?

Thanks


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Hi. As long as your rooster is nice to them that's great. Hens need Layer feed when they start laying and some oyster shell available, and fresh water is important. Dawg is good about worming information. And I sprinkle mine with Sevin or Poultry dust about every other month. Make sure to get some under their tail. I think the most important thing is to get to know your chickens' normal behavior so if they are "off" you'll know it right away. Also run your hands over their bodies like once a week and get to know what they feel like normally, like lumps and bumps they should have. And chat with us!


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I dont know anything about peacocks. But it would be in your best interest to keep them separated from the chickens to prevent further injury to your pullets.
Practice good management with your chickens and you'll have minimal problems. Provide proper feed, clean water, and practice biosecurity. Randomly pick one of your birds up and inspect her for external parasites especially around the vent area. If they are on soil, at 6 weeks I recommend that you worm them with valbazen as a first time wormer. Then depending on your soil conditions, worm as needed. Wet warm moist soil requires more frequent worming vs cold or cool soil, rocky or dry desert like soil. Keeping everything as dry as possible prevents all kinds of problems ie; parasites, mold, fungus, bacteria build up etc...I worm my birds monthly.
Make sure chickens have enough sleeping space inside the hen house as well as the chicken pen. Too little can cause picking, pecking and fights.
Keep in mind that chickens are on everyone's menu, so you'll have to provide a coop built like Ft Knox. You dont want predators going after your birds. Night time is meal time for most predators.
The only predator that I havnt been able to stop are snakes. I've lost quite a few chicks, pullets and cockerals to chicken snakes. 
Of course free range chickens are open to all types of predators, including hawks. I've lost a few to hawks. This is where a good rooster comes into play, preferably an older rooster. A good rooster will sacrifice himself in order to protect his hens.
Hope this helps and good luck.


----------



## Crocboy25 (Feb 27, 2017)

Thanks for the information. I have a pretty good setup already in place from a previous batch of birds which pretty much died out after 4-5 years of age. The worming stuff I used on my other birds came in a few different methods. A white liquid(may have been the one you mentioned) and a pellet version that mixed in with the feed. I tried the liquid kind with varying results in terms of them actually drinking it. Most times they would not take it. Some did though... Wasn't really sure what to do.

I posted here about a month ago with concerns over mice as well. My chicks have/had access to this nice utility shed but soon after that they started getting sick. Never could figure out what caused it. I found that mice were in the shed and booted the chicks out while I tried to rid the place of mice. I put out these small green blocks of mouse poison inside the shed. I see where the mice have been eating it but I still see a lot of mouse activity in the shed. Frustrated. Not sure what to do try next. I tried to limit the food source for them and put the food into plastic garbage cans but they can still get access to it on the ground where the birds are. Just seems to be a never ending battle. anyone with ideas on how to end the mouse problem?

thank you.



dawg53 said:


> I dont know anything about peacocks. But it would be in your best interest to keep them separated from the chickens to prevent further injury to your pullets.
> Practice good management with your chickens and you'll have minimal problems. Provide proper feed, clean water, and practice biosecurity. Randomly pick one of your birds up and inspect her for external parasites especially around the vent area. If they are on soil, at 6 weeks I recommend that you worm them with valbazen as a first time wormer. Then depending on your soil conditions, worm as needed. Wet warm moist soil requires more frequent worming vs cold or cool soil, rocky or dry desert like soil. Keeping everything as dry as possible prevents all kinds of problems ie; parasites, mold, fungus, bacteria build up etc...I worm my birds monthly.
> Make sure chickens have enough sleeping space inside the hen house as well as the chicken pen. Too little can cause picking, pecking and fights.
> Keep in mind that chickens are on everyone's menu, so you'll have to provide a coop built like Ft Knox. You dont want predators going after your birds. Night time is meal time for most predators.
> ...


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Sounds like you're using Havoc mouse food. Give it time, it's not an instant kill and will rid the shed of them in a couple of weeks.


----------



## Crocboy25 (Feb 27, 2017)

Ok... It has been like 3 weeks already. I can see where they move bedding around that they bring in from outside. I'm about ready to try mouse traps and so forth.



robin416 said:


> Sounds like you're using Havoc mouse food. Give it time, it's not an instant kill and will rid the shed of them in a couple of weeks.


----------



## Crocboy25 (Feb 27, 2017)

By the way, I am using D-Con bait station from Ace Hardware.



robin416 said:


> Sounds like you're using Havoc mouse food. Give it time, it's not an instant kill and will rid the shed of them in a couple of weeks.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm unfamiliar with that one. The one I use is an agriculture type bait. It's safer for the animals on the property.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Mouse traps work well, a little cheese and mice cant resist taking the bait...whamo! Ace Hardware has mouse traps.

The white liquid wormer you mentioned is either valbazen or safeguard liquid goat wormer which is another good wormer. To be effective, you must give it orally to each chicken individually using a syringe without a needle. Dosage for valbazen is 1/2cc given orally to each chicken, then repeat again in 10 days.
Dosage for the safeguard is 1cc given orally standard size birds for 5 days in a row. 
Cradle a bird in your arm, use your finger and thumb to pull down on her wattles and her mouth will open. If she struggles, hang onto the wattles, she will tire. Then squirt the preloaded syringe, 1/2cc (at a time) liquid wormer into her open mouth and immediately let go her wattles so she can swallow the liquid on her own. If you dont immediately let go of the wattles, the liquid could end up going down her windpipe and then you'd have a big problem.
It's best to worm birds first thing in the mornings prior to them feeding. The wormer will be more effective due to empty crop, empty gizzard and empty stomach. Capillary worms are located in the crop, esophagus and intestinal tract. Gizzard worms are located in the gizzard. Large roundworms are in the intestines. The worms will be hungry for nutrients via sucking blood or through absorption. All they'll get is wormer and it'll get rid of them lol.
Wormers mixed in water are mostly ineffective. You dont know if all your birds drank enough treated water to be effective and sick birds dont eat nor drink hardly at all. 
The pellet version is Rooster Booster Triple action wormer or Durvet Strike 3 wormer. Hygromycin B is the wormer in the pellets. Both products are no longer available because the pellets contained a small amount of antibiotic. It's hit and miss using treated pellets and I consider them ineffective because I've used it before.


----------



## Crocboy25 (Feb 27, 2017)

Great info! Thanks. The white liquid wormer I have is from the vet here in tallahassee Florida. I don't think it was a mix with water. I don't know the exact age of these birds so I will wait a few more weeks before giving it to them. 
There is a chicken show here in town tomorrow. I may see if I can get some more info there as well. Pisses me off about the mice though. I have a great setup with the shed attached to the pen they are in and they loved being in there. Makes me sick I can't let them in there while the mice are around. Where is the pied piper when ya need him? 
I am hoping to get some hens tomorrow. Seems every time I buy pullets and baby chicks they end up being roosters. The roosters fight so bad I end up having to give them all away. Makes me wonder if they are being sexed before putting them out for sale. The breeders say they aren't but I am suspicious.



dawg53 said:


> Mouse traps work well, a little cheese and mice cant resist taking the bait...whamo! Ace Hardware has mouse traps.
> 
> The white liquid wormer you mentioned is either valbazen or safeguard liquid goat wormer which is another good wormer. To be effective, you must give it orally to each chicken individually using a syringe without a needle. Dosage for valbazen is 1/2cc given orally to each chicken, then repeat again in 10 days.
> Dosage for the safeguard is 1cc given orally standard size birds for 5 days in a row.
> ...


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Good luck with your rodent problem..It is an ongoing battle when you have food and water out for your animals.One thing you should do is put your feed in a metal garbage can,the rodents can and will chew through plastic ones and non-food grade plastic (including trash bags)deteriorates into toxic chemicals that leech into the feed.Also,rodents carry diseases and parasites that will make your chickens sick and if there are rats present they may attack your chickens.Placing poison will help but bear in mind rodents build up resistance to poisons and you must switch it up with the different kinds for it to be fully effective.I only have food/water available in the coop in the colder months and the rest of the year it is away from the coop,which helped alot.I'm always moving the feeding stations so rodents don't set up shop where the food is.Right now,the coop is out back but the food is out front.Having cats around helps,too.I finally broke down and began feeding some feral cats and not only have I not seen rodents this year,they also ran off most of the wild birds,too.Plus,I started a whole lot of peppermint plants(hundreds,actually) to plant around the house and coop to deter rodents.I don't know if it will work,but I'm going to give it a try cuz you never know.I have some spearmint growing in front and in the summer the chickens roll in it and smell so good afterwards.I think it helps with bugs,too.Rodent control is an ongoing battle but with a little determination and patience,you can gain the upper hand.It took some time for the infestation to take place and it will take a little time to get rid of them.Good luck!!!


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Crocboy. You mentioned going to a poultry show today. I recommend that you take caution while at the show. It's entirely possible that there might be diseased birds at the show. The problem is that diseased birds dont always show symptoms until they are at death's door. Poultry respiratory diseases can be easily spread onto your person including clothing and shoes without even handling birds, infectious bronchitis (IB) and Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG) comes to mind as examples. Some shows require testing of birds prior to bringing birds to show. I guarantee that testing is not all inclusive for all bird diseases including NPIP. The main reason is that it would be cost prohibitive.
Then when you get home from the show, I recommend that you shed your clothes and wash them, wash your hands thoroughly whether you handled birds at the show or not. It might be best to take a shower. Wear different "chicken shoes" when you go out to your pen/coop. Dont wear the shoes you wore to the show anywhere near your coop. Leave them in the house. Wear a different pair of "chicken shoes" when going out to your coop and leave them on your back porch or patio before going in the house.
Personally I avoid swap meets and shows. I've read too many horror stories about reputable breeders selling diseased birds; knowingly or unknowingly, it's not worth the risk. 
I've always bought chicks from reputable hatcheries without any problems. 
Everything I mentioned above is called "Biosecurity." Good luck.


----------



## Crocboy25 (Feb 27, 2017)

Well I set my mouse traps out.... I thought they were MICE. Oh no... I caught a giant RAT! Thing was huge....


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I know what you mean. If you have to guess what it is, it's usually a young rat. I have 3 bait stations that work super well.


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Yeah,the rats round here are as big as a cat.Luckily,my dog is a rat killer.


----------

