EllieFRG

Right, fish is off the menu then! Scrambled eggs and pumpkin seeds it is. I don't mind spending a bit of money on them - it cant be more than buying my eggs from the shops while I keep the girls in room and board for no return 🙄 Thanks again for the advice.

Thanks @Beantree. I will bin the vinegar then since at the best it clearly isn't helping and at worst might be causing harm. I'll give some sunflower hearts a try with the corn they have in the evening, for just 3 chickens its worth paying out if that solves things. Here's hoping that is elixir that will sort them out! Having a little look on line about other sources of protein I have read about people feeding them everything from cooked eggs to fish to meal worms - is that advisable?!

Thanks very much for replies @Beantree and @Cat tails. I've given them too much vinegar in the past I know, in an attempt to purge them of whatever ails them. Now they haven't been having more than you said - having got demoralised about its healing powers! - unless overdosing can have long term effects? I've been feeding them 'smallholder range feed natural free range layers pellets' which have a 16% protein, and 3.8% calcium to 0.7% phosphorus. That's not quite the ratio you advised, although not far off. Is there a brand you recommend over this? With the bird flu they've been shut in for a few months so living off majority layer pellets. Good suggestion about not letting them out too early though - I'll do that. The only other thing was in the autumn I found grain mites in their pellets. I threw the lot away and sterilised everything and haven't seen them since. I read that they shouldnt cause long term damage but still wondering if that could be the cause? Thanks again!

I’m hoping for some suggestions on what might be wrong with my chickens. I'm a first time chicken keepers and have 3 hybrid chickens, 2years old, who are free range. For the first 9 months they were prolific layers but a year ago their eggs stopped except very occasional soft shelled. Other observations are they haven’t properly moulted although are quite bare on their underside, often have runny poos which cake their feathers and have very sharp bony sternums. But they seem quite happy! They are on a pellet feed, have grit, free range, lots of sunshine, have a cider vinegar in their water. I’ve sent poo samples to establish if they have worms which came back negative. I’m loath to pay for 3 otherwise healthy chickens to go to the vets. Does any one have any ideas what’s up with them?!