Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[TopCat]

Hi,

 

We've had our girls for about 3 weeks now, and it seems to me that they are not eating a lot of pellets. How long should a grubfull between 2 last? They delivery guy said it should last them 3 or 4 days, but they don't seem to be eating anywhere near that amount.

 

One of the girls has started laying, but we've only had 2 good eggs out of her - the first one was laid on 2nd August. She's had at least 2 soft shelled eggs between the 2 good ones. I have added a little limestone flour to the pellets, could this have put them off?

 

They both seem quite happy, but only do a little scratching around in the run, and go to sleep a lot in the Eglu! When they're let out of the run they are very happy scratching around the garden.

 

Am I being paranoid??

 

Thanks

Tracey

[Bootscooter Nell]

Hi Topcat,

My girls didn't like eating out of the grub so I bought a heavy duty stainless steel dog bowl which they much prefer. They say that a hen should eat about 150 gms of food a day, mainly layers pellets with handful of corn and other goodies for a treat. I don't let mine out of their pen until the afternoon otherwise they would fill up on grass.

 

I know roughly how much they will eat in a day so I give them that plus a little extra in the bowl. Then it gets taken away when they have gone to bed and if there is only a small amount left it gets binned and they get fresh the next day. Try them on a different bowl, it might be that simple.

 

Good Luck

[Egluntyne]

Hello.

 

If there are only two of them and they are just at point of lay, they won't eat huge amounts so don't worry.

 

I can remember having exactly this concern when my first lot came.

 

When they actually come into lay their appetites will increase massively.

[Hen Watch]

Don't worry. As long as there are pellets in the grub all day then they will eat what they need. As Egluntine says, once they really get going with bigtime egg production you'll be shovelling loads of pellets in the grub.

 

Also I find if my lot are inside the run all day they eat more pellets than if then when they are out. Yesterday my lot were out in the garden from 9am till 8.15pm and with over 11 hours free ranging they hardly touched their pellets naughty little things. So today I didn't let them out as early.

 

Limestone flour is good for soft shelled eggs. But also hens new to laying will take a while to get going and may start on/off with a few softies anyway.

[TopCat]

Thank you everyone. I don't usually let them out til I get home from work, so they are in the run most of the day.

 

I checked Lola's (Miss P) vent this morning as i'm not sure if we've had a shell-less egg. It looks nice and clean, and she's ok in herself so I guess even if she did it hasn't upset her at all. Daisy, our , is still a couple of weeks off laying I think.

 

They are such characters! They've spent the last hour pecking at the patio doors trying to get in!

 

Tracey

[redhotchick]

Hi TopCat, if they are free ranging they may be getting some grit from the garden but if you aren't already doing this, it is a good idea to supply them with a bowl of mixed grit. It looks like a mixture of broken up shells, flint and powder (maybe limestone?).

As they don't have teeth they need grit to help break up the food they eat.

[Purplemaniacs]

Hi Topcat

 

When we had our first two girls, I worried because the grub didn't empty very quickly and lots of the treats that people on the forum said were popular were not gobbled up.

 

TopCat don't worry as soon as they start laying they find their appetite and gobble up their pellets and treats which I restrict to the afternoon to ensure that they eat their pellets.

 

Chrissie

[Cate in NZ]

You don't say whether you are giving them treats or not? I agree that before a chicken comes into lay their appetite isn't generally that great, but they start eating more when they're in full egg production. But they are a bit like children, and given the choice will gobble up all the treats rather than "proper" food, so if that's a possibilty save treats until the evening so that they have to eat the layers pellets during the day.

[TopCat]

They aren't getting a lot of treats at the moment and when they do it's in the evening when they get let out to free range. I figured it was better for them to get 'proper' food at the moment rather than them expecting treats every time I walk out the door!

 

I'm a bit of a hard (not cruel I assure you) animal-mum as I believe we spoil our pets a lot and can do them damage in the long term. My cats and dogs have always been kept healthy, and I even told someone off for throwing chocolate buttons into a monkey enclosure at Bristol Zoo once!

 

We had another soft-shelled egg from Lola this morning. How long does it take them to settle down into laying? Asking cos I worry about her and get paranoid that I'm doing something wrong!

 

Thanks

Tracey