We give each chicken a full health check every six weeks to make sure we catch anything serious before it gets too bad. (When certain bad things are found, we switch to "quick checks" every week until the problem is resolved.) Below is the checklist we use for chickens, plus other related fields in our electronic checklist. You can copy and paste it, or you can see a jpeg of our actual chicken health check form here. Afterward, we give notes with further explanation. This is our modified version from a checklist used by Farm Sanctuary.
1. Date, name, ID#, Band#
2. Weight this time, weight last time, special instructions for this check
3. Head and neck checks:
Eyes — Is there swelling or discharge?
Nostrils — Are they clogged?
Mouth — Are there sores?
Head — Are there sores?
Neck — Are there fight wounds or lice?
4. Back check — Are there back-mounting wounds?
5. Keel check — Are there any keel sores?
6. Wing check — Are there any cuts on the wings or lice?
7. Feet check:
Nails — Do they need trimming?
Feet — Do they have any swelling or sores?
Legs/ankles — Any joint swelling or heat?
Mites — Do they have scaly leg mites?
Leg band — Is the area around it red?
Limping?
8. Vent check — Is the area soiled, are there any lice, is the vent inelastic?
9. Highlights — What are the headlines for this bird from this health check?
10. What should be followed up on next time?
FURTHER EXPLANATION
The numbers below relate to the numbered items above. Only the items that seemed like they needed more explanation are included. If you have any questions that we failed to cover, feel free to email us or comment below.
1. The difference between ID# and Band# — The ID# is the number given the animal when he or she first arrives at the sanctuary. The first animal to arrive is #1, the 10th is #10, regardless of species. With some animals such as sheep and chickens, leg bands are necessary to tell them apart. Because we're such a small sanctuary, we don't use the ID# field except in our intake records. They serve no purpose for us during health checks. If we had hundreds of animals, it would be important. The band number is the number on the little plastic band around the chicken's leg.
2. Our vet recommended comparing weights regularly (we actually weigh once a week) to be alerted to problems before they become bad. At a big sanctuary with dozens of birds, weekly weighing would be impossible. But it's not a hassle for us so we do it. Comparing weights at least every six weeks is done at Farm Sanctuary. As for "special things to do this week", we just copy the "what to do next time" field from the previous health check and paste it in here.