When/how to check for disease or injury.

[Lulu-vt]

My chickens aren’t laying yet and I’m still unable to pick them up without terrorizing them. Should I be be giving them a frequent “once over” to make sure everything is ok?
I guess I’m referring to foot infections or anything else similar.

If I should be doing that, what is the best way? With my past flocks, when I approached, they hunkered down and I could scoop them up. I guess it’s because they were already laying.

I don’t want cause them stress and I also have 15 hens and a big rooster. He hadn’t been picked up in months. So there could be a lot of Chaos!

 

[nuthatched]

Picking them off the roost is the easiest, they'll also calm down as they start laying.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My chickens aren’t laying yet and I’m still unable to pick them up without terrorizing them. Should I be be giving them a frequent “once over” to make sure everything is ok?
I guess I’m referring to foot infections or anything else similar.

If I should be doing that, what is the best way? With my past flocks, when I approached, they hunkered down and I could scoop them up. I guess it’s because they were already laying.

I don’t want cause them stress and I also have 15 hens and a big rooster. He hadn’t been picked up in months. So there could be a lot of Chaos!

I just usually observe each bird every day or a few times a day depending on what I'm doing. Often that is enough to notice a subtle change in behavior that I may want to either investigate further or just monitor.

If I need to get a hold of bird for checking, I grab them early while on the roost or go out late and get them. Not much drama that way.

It wouldn't hurt to get a couple of them off the roost occasionally to check for lice/mites, etc.

 

[Lulu-vt]

I just usually observe each bird every day or a few times a day depending on what I'm doing. Often that is enough to notice a subtle change in behavior that I may want to either investigate further or just monitor.

If I need to get a hold of bird for checking, I grab them early while on the roost or go out late and get them. Not much drama that way.

It wouldn't hurt to get a couple of them off the roost occasionally to check for lice/mites, etc.

I’m not even sure what to look for. I guess I’ll go educate myself. Eww.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Agree with the others, snag them while they're roosting. They don't see well in the dark and it cuts down on the drama. You can get a cheap headlamp in the sports section at Walmart and with any luck it will have a red light option. This will allow you to see pretty well without disturbing your birds very much, and leave both your hands free. If they're very cheap, buy two or three.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

With my past flocks, when I approached, they hunkered down and I could scoop them up.

I’m not even sure what to look for. I guess I’ll go educate myself. Eww.

You've had flocks in the past and just scooped up the hens right?
Did you not examine, look them over in the past or were they just petting birds?

Not sure what is Ewww? You look through the feathers for lice and mites, crawling bugs, if you find any, treat with Permethrin.

For Bumblefoot that you mentioned, you look at the feet, bottom of the feet, toes, etc. Look for any swelling, signs of infection, etc.

I guess I’m referring to foot infections or anything else similar.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can also check at night to be sure they have a nice full crop and first thing in the morning to see if it's empty, before they have a chance to eat or drink. You don't need to do this daily, just if you notice a hen looking poorly or notice anything "off" about her. Observe if a hen's walking around with her tail down, or all poofed up and sitting in a corner. Just anything odd or different.

 

[Lulu-vt]

You've had flocks in the past and just scooped up the hens right?
Did you not examine, look them over in the past or were they just petting birds?

Not sure what is Ewww? You look through the feathers for lice and mites, crawling bugs, if you find any, treat with Permethrin.

For Bumblefoot that you mentioned, you look at the feet, bottom of the feet, toes, etc. Look for any swelling, signs of infection, etc.

Thanks. Eww because I hate bugs on pets, humans…sorry. It’s just me. My last flock, I just don’t think I ever checked them. I was lucky and never had any issues. I had them for 6 years until a family of raccoons moved in. Slowly they dwindled either from predators. Hawk, Fox, weasel, raccoon. Now I have a much better coop

 

[Lulu-vt]

You can also check at night to be sure they have a nice full crop and first thing in the morning to see if it's empty, before they have a chance to eat or drink. You don't need to do this daily, just if you notice a hen looking poorly or notice anything "off" about her. Observe if a hen's walking around with her tail down, or all poofed up and sitting in a corner. Just anything odd or different.

How quickly does a crop fill. I have their food in the coop with them so it’s likely they would eat before I get out there. I’ve tried to keep it outside but chipmunks got in and had a festival.

 

[Bawkbok]

As others have mentioned, remove them after they have roosted. I do it at dusk so I have natural light to see and they are still awake but sleepy and more cooperative.
I look at their feet for bumblefoot issues, check their legs, look closely at their eyes, check their ears, nares and look in their mouth. If I notice icky poops then I include vent checks. In my world, the one with icky poop usually also has dirty butt feathers so it's obvious who's doing that. If they need cleaning I use Dawn dish soap and paper towels with tepid water. This process takes an average of 3 minutes per bird, unless someone requires extra attention.
Ours are still young pullets so I check them once a month. Once they are adult, I won't be as concerned with checks unless something is visually off.
While this process will probably not make them friendlier toward you, it should make them more comfortable with you handling them in the event you need to for some reason.