It’s always exciting adding a new chicken to your flock! You may be in a hurry to get them home and might forget to look at the chickens overall health.
Here is a list of what to look for before introducing a new chicken to the flock
- Look at their eyes. Is there any discharge, foaming, crusties, swelling? Is there is nasal discharge as well? If yes, they most likely have an upper respitory infection.
- Look at their legs. Are the scales lifted? Is there any crusty white formations on the scales? They could be suffering from scaley leg mites.
- Inspect the feet. If you see any curled or crooked toes, it could be from an inbreeding issue. It could also be a lack of the vitamin riboflavin that results in an inward curling of the toes and is called curled toe paralysis. Improper incubation temperatures will increase the incidence of crooked toes as well.
- Check under the wings, they could be infested with mites and/or lice.
- Are they wheezing or sneezing? That could also be a upper respitory infection.
- Does their comb have black tips? This is most likely frostbite.
The good news is, there is solutions to most of these problems if you encounter them. But knowing what to look for is a good step before bringing home a new chicken so you know what you could potentially be dealing with. Also remember to quaratine new chickens away from the others for at least 2 weeks before adding them to the flock.
