Backyard Poultry Forum

You will always feel the breast bone (unless the chook is very overweight) what you really need to check is that there is a good firm pad of flesh either side of the bone - on the front of the chest/breast, and that the bird does not feel 'skeletal'.

When a breastbone is protruding it feels similar to the back of a knife. You can clearly feel a sharp edge. A healthy bird feels well fleshed. Even in a light breed where the breastbone is protruding more than in a heavy breed you will feel some muscle tissue to the right and the left of the tip of the breast bone and not just a sharp edge. I hope this helps.
If the other birds seem to be happy and all feel the same, I would assume that they are healthy.

ETA, yep what Sue55 said.

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i am sorry your start into chooks is going crappy shacbon.p.

my tech knowledge is minimal BUT one thing i have learnt about lost posts on byp while on the computer is: if you hit the back arrow enough times you can get back to where you were and then submit again. it only works if still on the same tab at the top of the screen - i usually have a couple open at once.

i have never tried it the next day though.

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whomever lives longest wins

I have Grabby. It doesn't work!
Shacbon sorry things have given you a rough start. Chooks are really like any other livestock you've had, you will get a feel for what is and isn't right, you are already picking up on that and just like bringing in a number of any new animals, there's going to be some teething trouble, especially if they've come from different sources and are perhaps different ages.
I think that you will find that once you simplify the diet to just a good quality pellet this part will be more efficientl and less time consuming and once they have all been 'de bugged', that box will be ticked. I'm a big fan if the Moxi plus as it covers all bases in a couple of hits - put in their water is the simplest method for a 'large flock' (some wll avocate direct dosing but it's hard to do on your own unless you are confident and the birds are happy to be caught and handled.)
Again, like all animals which are unwell, they are the most likely to be the target of things like lice and then everything spirals downhill. Ive noticed on my own birds that a sick one is often also a 'buggy 'one while all the rest seem to be unaffected yet i'm sure the bugs weren't the initial problem.
Once you are over the teething troubles and you have your basic husbandry in place, you should be able to relax, but don't expect not to 'waste time' just enjoying them. Try that with a cuppa or a glass of wine in hand.

If you can find the time to redo the first check list it would be good. It will be quicker for you the second time around, and might just pinpoint something to save you more 'grief'.

It's so disappointing that you're first experience with chickens has been so negative, because they really are so wonderful. The ones you currently have that seem healthy I'd consider giving them some water soluable avian vitamins just to give them a little boost considering what happened to the other two.

In future I'd highly recommend isolating all new chickens from your existing flock, and if you bought from multiple breeders, I'd isolate each new group from one another too. I always do this for several weeks and haven't yet had a problem with spreading infections, although I've only ever had very mild illnesses to ever contend with. With a bit of research and experience you'll pick up on a few things to check for in chickens before you buy them which can help reduce the risks of getting a diseased bird, although you can't ever be completely sure until something happens.

I hope all the other chickens stay healthy for you and you can put this all behind you and just enjoy your new flock. It'd be great if you could keep us updated so we know how it turns out.