Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[peisiong]

Hi all,

 

Someone probably already answered this type of questions within the forum but I am finding it difficult to narrow the search criteria to find suitable advice. So apologies first.

 

Our 2 miss pepperpots are simply not interested in the organic layer pellets that we got from Omlet. We have on occassions attempt to tempt them to the glug by putting some dried meal worms in with the pellets but all they did was to flick out the pellets when they searched for the meal worms. So all the pellets are on the chicken run which then starts to go mouldy.

 

We did try to use a big heavy deep dish and put pellets + mixed corns + worms but they just pick the corn and the worms and leave the pellets.

 

I tried today to soften the pellets in some warm water to make a mash. I then added some dry meal worms to the mash. They of course enjoyed the worms and some of the mash but leave th dryish "mash" alone. At least they have "drank" a bit of the "mash" liquid.

 

Martina (the laying hen) has been observed to occassionally eat from the glug but glug hardly needs refilling for weeks.

 

They however seem to be extremely hungry (or excited) when worms or mixed corns or bits of spinach or grapes are thrown into the chicken run. They will globble up a few big handfuls of grapes or worms in minutes!!

 

Martina is laying a good egg almost everyday. Aretha has not lay any eggs (it is possible that she might have laid one in late Oct and not laid any since). Neverthless, they both looked healthy and lively (if not a little stressed because treats are not available all the time).

 

Anything else I should do or can do?

 

Any advice greatly appreciated!!

 

 

Ta!

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Pei

11Sep2008

Martina - 29OCt2008

Aretha - still waiting

[Egluntyne]

Mine were never keen on Omlet's pellets.

 

Why not try a different brand?

[bellekatz]

Mine went off the pellets for a while so I tried them on Mash. That was very messy though and eventually they went back onto pellets and they love them now. Also, have you tried just giving them pellets and nothing else? Coaxing them with mealworms and corn, they may just hang on to get the good stuff when they need to have only pellets, at least until the afternoon. If thats all thats on offer they will eat eventually

[tom123]

When I have had a Hen who isn't eating or younger hens I have added a little bit of sunflower oil to there layers pellets and mix this around. They go mad for this and it is also a good way of administering poultry spice or wormer.

 

Hope this helps

 

Tom

[Steve.]

I don't mix 'treats' with food otherwise the food ends up on the floor and the treats get scoffed!

 

I think that it partially what is happening here. Chickens aren't stupid when it comes to treats!

[jlo]

mine didn't like the pellets either and I wasn't patient enough to leave them just with them. I got Bokashi Bran mash from wiggly wigglers and they like this much more but it is VERY messy and they chuck it all over the place. Because of that, it does work out to be quite expensive. Part of me wishes that I had persevered with the pellets because, as has been said on here already, I am sure that they will eat them if there is nothing else.

[eggypeggy]

I'd be surprised if your chickens weren't eating. While you're out in the garden you'll rarely see them eat because they'll be watching you 'food lady' if you know what I mean.

 

I've got 4 chooks at the moment and I probably fill two grubs about every 3 - 4 days. So if you have 2 chooks then 1 grub every 3 - 4 days. The days are short at the moment so they may not need so much food. ONe of your chooks if she hasn't started laying yet won't be eating that much. So that may account for it. I have a silvernik bought in september, she's about 26 weeks now.. and not laying, so doesn't look like she'll start until spring. Maybe that's the same for your non-layer.

 

I'd be tempted to stop all treats for now.. keep going with the pellets at least until you've finished the bag you've got and maybe pop a bit of poultry spice in the feed when you top it up.. That may encourage them to eat a bit more. If that doesn't work try a new brand like eglutine says.

 

Good luck.. hope they soon start enjoying those pellets.

[cordelia]

have to agree..Im on my second bag of omlet organic pellets...but im going to get a different brand soon....they preferred the cheap growers pellets I got first (as they were too young for layers)....and I'm sourcing some suitable layers this time...

 

I'm making them suffer the organic ones though....arent I mean....but they do tend to throw these out a lot..

[Carol U]

I'm inclined to agree with some of the earlier posters. If you just give them pellets and no treats, they'll soon get used to them. I do find the Omlet pellets rather expensive though, so once mine had eaten the bag which came with them, I put them onto the ordinary ones from my local grain merchant. They were a fraction of the price and the girls didn't notice the difference. Try giving them treats separately - when you want to get them in for instance.

[3happyhens]

I had exactly the same problem when I got my hens in July - they just wouldn't touch the pellets. Friends of ours who've had hens for about 10 years said not to worry - leave out the pellets & just let them eat corn! This is what I've done & they've never looked back. However, someone told me a couple of months later I shouldn't be doing that, so I tried re-introducing pellets but they wouldn't touch them & they all stopped laying. As soon as I put them back on corn they ate normally and we had plenty of eggs again. All 3 seem very happy & healthy & we're still getting several eggs a week. Not sure if this helps & if it's all very bad advice ....

 

Kate

[stoice]

I had exactly the same problem when I got my hens in July - they just wouldn't touch the pellets. Friends of ours who've had hens for about 10 years said not to worry - leave out the pellets & just let them eat corn! This is what I've done & they've never looked back. However, someone told me a couple of months later I shouldn't be doing that, so I tried re-introducing pellets but they wouldn't touch them & they all stopped laying. As soon as I put them back on corn they ate normally and we had plenty of eggs again. All 3 seem very happy & healthy & we're still getting several eggs a week. Not sure if this helps & if it's all very bad advice ....

 

Hmmm, the pellet food is a complete nutritionally balanced meal for chooks. Not sure just feeding corn is a good idea as they'll just get fat and I've thought egg production would be less. I'd be ruthless ie: no treats of corn for a week. Then they'll fill up on pellets and have their water, getting the right nutrition they need. If they are youngsters and not laying yet, they don't eat much to start with anyway, once laying their appatite increases and with no treats around they'll soon turn to pellets. As my mum always insisted you must eat your greens before getting your dessert.