Sick chook and bullying chook - advise please

[hedgie]

Hi there, I am new to this and not very experianced with chix! I will try and keep this complicated mess as brief as poss. I have rescued 3 3 yr old chickens. They all lived happily together for aprox 8 wks - Speckle turned thug and beat the daylights out of poor Dodo! I now have Sp in a seperate extension off of the original run housing Dodo and Pheonix. I now have rats tunneling into both runs and to top the lot Ph is clearly very poorly. She is slouching, head down as if she has no neck and looks ver bloated around the chest area - fluid retention?!

[kirsty b]

No idea about the sick chook, personally I would get her to a vet soon as to be on the safe side.

Bully - you've done the right thing by removing her from the other two for a while.

Rats - from the feed store that I get my girls mash I have purchased some sachets of poison. It sounds drastic, but killing them is the only way to get rid. These sachets you put down the holes as far as you can, don't need to open them or touch the granules inside, then fill in the holes with your heel or a spadeful of earth. It probably wouldn't hurt to get a couple of traps, bait them with chocolate/peanut butter and place them strategically outside the run where the chooks won't be at risk of getting caught in them
If the house is low to the floor, are you able to raise it off the ground so rats are less tempted to nest underneath?
Do you store the food nearby or are the rats geeting in to get the food that is left over/flicked about by the girls while they eat?

I'll go down the store tomorrow and find out the name of the poison sachets and post it here for you.

Out of curiosity, whereabouts are you?

[hedgie]

Thanx so much. Think I will take Ph to vets in am - if I can find a vet interested in chickens! Thanx for advice about rat poison, I have got some but was too scared to put inside runs incase chix got it and too scared to put outside runs incase dog or cats get it! Never thought of putting it into tunnel. Their food is stored away from the run in a shed. Rats came for the 'lovely vegetable decorations' I was advised to hang in the run to distract the bully!!!! It seems so wrong to have the bully on her own but I cant let her terrorise poor Dodo! I have never known a chicken with such attitude - she even attacked my dog today - a labradorx!! Couldnt believe it there I was with dog treats in hand and warning the dog to 'be gentle' and Speckle launched herself at her! Thanx again for advise - I never dreamt I would have so many problems with 3 elderly chix! I rescued one before and she lived happily alone, as she had been bullied in previous home, she lived to 11 yrs and I never had any probs with her or rats.

[hedgie]

thanx for your advice Kirsty b. Quick update - poorly chook is bright as a button today! Couldn't believe my eyes, she looked awful yesterday! She is eating, drinking and scratching around happily. I have extended their plastic sheeting to provide a larger rain proof area as I think they are fed up with all this rain! Arent we all?!!
As for rats - have stuffed some poison into the tunnel and filled it in, so hopefully no other animals will come into contact with it. Forgot to tell you I am in Kent by the way. Thanx again, hope your girls are all ok. Hedgie

[kirsty b]

Hedgie
so glad to hear your chook is looking better today.