The Poultry Keeper

dani · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 13 Location: Surrey

Hello all

We collected our two new hennys last Sunday ( 2o week old) and there doing well ,and we had our first egg on Friday !

There was another one on the floor under there purch this morning but had a very soft shell and is squishie ? and why arnt they laying in there nest box is this normal ?and i thought they should be laying in the day time ?

Anyway ive been leaving layers pellets down all day for them but ive never once seen them eat it and it dosnt really seem to be going down ?
There getting a handfull of corn at bedtime that they pounce on and have given them a little pasta that they loved and cooked potato that they werent really that fond of ,oh and cooked green beans ....yuk !!.

Were going to start letting them out in the garden today for a couple of hours before bed time and have got to get some grit it the morning but im not sure that there eating enough ?

Should i try some other food ? i got a fresh bag with them from there breeder so its the food there used to so i cant see the problem .

Should i re fill there hopper everyday with fresh food ,the stuff in there atm has been in there for a few days ,could this be it ?

Also there eating slugs and snails they find in there run is that ok ?

Now i might just of been over reading but ive been looking at there poos and one of them seems to have a bit of runny poo , im thinking its because of the recent move of house but i was reading something that said it might be E Coli or something ! so now im thinking ive done something awfully wrong and have damaged my hennys lol

They have a run area coverd in straw that about 3x4 ft and straw in there house but i poo pick everyday and fully clean out everyother day so there lovely and clean

I know my hennys are fully vaccd allthough im not sure against what ,so hopefully there is nothing wrong and that im just over reacting .

Also should i be giving them meat left overs?
To be honest as i dont really like the idea of it as i dont think beef ect comes naturally into there diet ,but do they need to have it ?

Sorry in advance all for all the questions and distant ramblings !!!!

dani · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 13 Location: Surrey

Oh sorry forgot to ask where you get the apple cider vin from ?

CP · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:11 am Post subject:

ACV you can buy from various suppliers online or if you have a local horse feed place they will probably stock it although maybe in larger bottles.

You don't need to change the layers pellets daily as long as they don't get wet they will last a fair while. Just put less in the feeder if you think they're not eating very much. They're probably getting enough scratching around the run at the moment - they won't go hungry! Slugs & snails are fine & it's natural they will eat them.

Soft eggs sometimes happen when the hens start laying for the first time. It's just a blip until they get in the swing of things & she probably got caught unawares! Keep an eye out for any more & remove ASAP as it can encourage egg eating.

Runny poo could just be stress from their house move & should settle but they also do a runny one every so often anyway. Think it's every 10-12 times - can't remember exactly. Only worry if it's constantly runny.

No to any meat left overs. Any veg is fine, cooked or raw except potatoes which must be cooked. Pasta or rice & bread if it's moistened with something - either water or natural yogurt.

They will soon let you know what they like & don't like! All treats in moderation as their main nutrition should come from their pellets & whatever they can find naturally.

Congratulations on your first egg! And don't forget we'd love to see pictures of your new girls. Very Happy

tuzo2k · Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 216 Location: charente sw france

Layers pellets contain most of the minerals etc hens need but they do relish a bit of corn and crushed maize. Don't mix the feed though because they will pick out the tit-bits and leave the rest. Greens are good but meat a no-go area. You say they are eating slugs and snail and that's ok - they probably also catch the odd fly etc. Don't feed them scraps from the table. Mixed grit is fine if they are contained in a run but otherwise they get enough grit and small stones if free-ranging and this is sufficient for them to utilise it to grind their feed down before it is digested. Hope this helps.

mojo · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:40 am Post subject:

if in doubt dont feed treats as tuzo says above pellets are a complete food anything else is a treat and should be just that.............lots of clean water with 2% acv in it one week in four is a nice tonic.............and just like us hens take time to settle in a new home.......good luck

dani · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 13 Location: Surrey

Thankyou all for you wonderfull advice

Were very new to this so its all a bit scary really !.

As for the egg eating, Avangalene was pecking at her squishie egg this morning as i was trying to collect it ,i really hope she dosnt start doing it to the hard ones aswell ,allthough i do keep checking at least four times a day .

I will get the digi cam out asap and try to post piccs of the girls .

Also while im here , someone said to me to feed them corn out of my hands ,so they get to know me, but now they keep pecking my hands really hard ! is there anything i can do to try to discourage it ,or do they all do this ?

Woodburner · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:51 pm Post subject:

Maybe it's the container they're not used to rather than the food itself.

Chickens are scavengers, their wild ancestors would have eaten carrion amongst other things, so beef is not completely alien to their digestive system.
However, since feeding sheep offal to cattle caused BSE and probably raw infected pig meat to pigs caused a major outbreak of swine fever, DEFRA has banned the feeding of catering waste and meat by-products to all farm type animals, including those kept as pets. Silenced

This includes domestic and vegetarian kitchen waste. Silenced

Personally, I wouldn't feed meat scraps (with possible exception of organic if I could afford it) to my birds. Who knows what effect those hormones, chemicals and antibiotics might have on their tiny systems and the bugs inside them too.
My birds get enough animal protein from the 'wildlife' in the garden, but I do wonder where commercial birds will get theirs from.

tuzo2k · Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 216 Location: charente sw france

I suspect commercial birds have a complete food which includes antibiotics,etc etc. Fish meal is a good source of protein and when in the uk we did mix our own food and this included soya, fish meal and various grains etc but we have no where near the quantity of birds to do this now.

dani · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 13 Location: Surrey

Thanks for all the ideas so far

I brought a feeder at the same time so its the same as the one they had there only smaller .

I picked them up today but they seem a bit skinny and im sure there not eating this food ,is there something elce i can give them ,as im really worried about them not having enough to eat ? .

mojo · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:57 pm Post subject:

dont panic healthy birds will never starve to death.........go without for a couple of days still they settle oh yes but starve no way......a nice white golf ball in the coop will shake a hen rigid if she trys to peck it..........so as i said at the start .dont panic and good luck

dani · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 13 Location: Surrey

Thankyou mojo

I am going to get a golf ball of my friends O/H today, i have also put a piece of my old sweatshirt over there door so it makes it really dark as someone said to try this so they cant see the egg so well .

I have spoken to my local pet shop owner and as it seems he had an idea ,he said to go and crush the pellets and gradually leave bigger bits in it over a few weeks ,anyway to cut a long story short ive done that and they havnt stopped eating for about 20 mins ! poor things must of been starving, they only seem to be eating the little bits , not sure why but im a happy mummy again now there eating .

Thankyou everybody

mojo · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject:

ask and someone will help dont ask and wonder...............ask .............no question is silly but i cant promise that of all the answers

Woodburner · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:37 pm Post subject:

ashley.crowther · Joined: 10 Sep 2006 Posts: 367 Location: Shropshire, UK

Mine are free-range so are fed on corn and whatever else they find, they also get all the scraps but never meat or eggs. They particularly like bread, peas and sweetcorn... hope this helps! Very Happy