Here Come the Girls!! (Ex Bat of Course)

[paula.berriman]

Hi all

Been a while since i posted last but its been a bit busy lately. We finally got a date for collecting our girls from the BHWT so it was a mad rush to get the enclosure all set out and ready for us collecting.......

They are now here (we collected them yesterday) and so far so good although i do have some questions so here goes:

1. They have spent the majority of the day huddled in one corner of the run only getting up to eat and drink and then sometimes feeling brave enough to come over and say hello. Is this normal? Some of the girls are not very pleasant at all and attempt to peck or kick when you put your hand near. We do have one very placid hen who is already following us about and coming to say hello often.

2. One of the girls has a couple of dark scales on her legs at he base (right at the anlkle joint on the front). Is this something to worry about? They all have long nails but i suspect they will be worn down when they get the hang of scratching.

3. All of them have nicks and scratches on their combs but none seem to be new, i.e. made last night, but i did hear that putting vaseline on their combs would help. Is this advised or should i not worry unless there is bleeding.

Any advice would help and i promise to post some pics soon. They all have many more feathers than expected and are definately not sporting the 'oven ready' look we were expecting!

[Flummery]

I haven't had ex-batts myself but they will not have had any experiences like this before. They have been used to fighting for food and they aren't used to sunshine, wind (even rain if you're lucky enough to have any!) I'm sure they will settle down and become very firiendly.

Vaseline is usually put on combs to prevent frostbite. I'm not sure it will do much good here.

Keep an eye on the legs, Could be scaley leg and this will improve with a smear of vaseline which suffocates the mites.

I love hand feeding mine but it can encourage them to be pecky. If you want to minimise this but still help them to get used to you, put a small bowl on the ground and stroke them as they eat. They'll soon get to associate food and petting and will happily let you stroke them.

Good luck with them - you've done those ladies a huge favour!

[paula.berriman]

Thanks Flummery.

Most of the girls are friendly and i have been making every effort to pet them when they are eating and they are responding very well.

Ill keep and eye on the combs and legs and shout if i think anything is getting worse.

They have already mastered the ramp and seem happy to go up and down. Two girls took themselves to bed last night too so there were only 4 to put away.

Ill get some pictures up here soon.

[RichmondHens]

I'm sure they will soon settle down and start behaving like normal chickens, it's still very early days.

[Suechooks]

The marks on their combs are possibly due to redmite or other parasites in the dungeons they've come from. The BHWT advise to treat for it. I treated mine for parasites (Frontline spray) and the coop and bedding for redmite using Diatom. Its either that or pecking in the cages.
They've probably got a feeling of agoraphobia plus the weather- they've never been outside before and its quite windy here as I expect it is with you. They'll come out in their own time.
Well done for taking them on.

[Glutton4...]

Congratulations on you 'Laydees' I've had two lots of 'Batties' and one of 'Free-Rangers' it's very rewarding to watch them grow and thrive. Can't wait for piccies!

[evvy2]

Ive had 2 ex bats for about 3 months now, one arrived almost completely bald but there doing great now, they seem to adapt so well. Good luck with yours.