4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Ms Marple]

Please can someone point me to a useful thread if there is one. I have four new girls as of yesterday evening from Hen Rehomers Uk. They look fine although they are very timid. What is concerning me is that the lady said that they would be really hungry - but they don't seem to know how to eat?? I have given them the Allen and Page organic layers pellets that my other girls have. I have also offered corn and porridge. My girls keep eyeing them up as if to say eat up or we'll have it!! Obviously they can't as they are outside and the new girls are in the eglu and run. What is bothering me is that I am not sure that they are drinking either. Any advice from any ex bat experts out there?? Will post some pics soon. They have more feathers than I was expecting which is good.

[Tweety]

Hi, Ex bats are used to eating layers mash rather than pellets - can you get a bag of mash to start them off with, and perhaps gradually mix in the pellets until they have got the idea? Good luck with your girls!

[Egluntyne]

That is right, they have no idea how to eat pellets, and a change of food as well as a change of circumstances is a bit overwhelming.

 

I would get some mash today.....you can always wean them off it and onto pellets when they are settled.

 

You could try grinding some pellets up in the food processor as a stop gap and see if they will eat that.......with or without water.

 

Good luck.

[Lydia]

Hello there

 

Yes definitely get some layers mash in as they will not necessarily recognise pellets. You might also find that they do not recognise that the grub is filled with food if it is attached to the side of the bars. I up-end it and put it on the ground to start of with and they seem to be OK with that.

 

Re drinking, they are used to nipple drinkers so if you are using a glug or bowl they may not recognise that that is water because they have never seen it. Usually one of them will step in it or get wet and then make the connection - it only takes one usually then the others will see her drinking and the penny will drop. However, I have known some ex-batts not get it at all and you may have to splash the water around a bit or physically (and very gently) put their beaks into the bowl.

 

I too had some Hen Rehomer hens from this weekend's rescue and one (Farkle) is only just getting that she has to tilt her head back to drink. Another lady (Hermit) marched straight into the eglu as soon as we got her home and stayed there all afternoon and much of yesterday. We just moved food and drink in there for her and took it out at bedtime, she'll come out when she's ready.

 

Good luck with your new girls and enjoy them. They'll work everything out eventually.

[*mummy_hen*]

As others have said they won't know what pellets are, infact my girls would never eat pellets. I put lots of bowls of water around the run as well as putting both the glug and grub on the floor. It doesn't take long for one of them to figure it out and then they will all figure it out.

 

Congratulations on your new girls.

[julia55]

I picked up 6 ex batts on Saturday from Rehomers UK (thanks to ChrisB) and two of them still wont come out of the house but the others seem well keen to eat the mash and drink out of the bowls I've put in for them. They are really timid but in time I'm sure they will be absolutely fine (one of them is already trying to fight my existing pepperpot through the wire!!) I've had 5 eggs already (albeit two softies) I did post a query about the layers mash and it appears they have it dry - which I suppose makes sense in hindsight.

[sparkysmum]

Hi we've had our ex batt ladies almost a year now & they're still on layers mash with everything else mixed in - bokashi & numerous supplements. They have really thrived on it & I don't see the point in changing now. Enjoy Ax

[Ms Marple]

Thanks folks. I had a feeling that you might say that, so I am off to buy mash as soon as possible today. Should I just sprinkle it on the floor for now? I don't even know what it looks like. So far one has come out of the eglu and stands looking around, the other three stay inside huddled up unless I open the egg port and then they try to get away from me . They have an odd smell too compared to my other girls. Anyone else notice this too?

[julia55]

I just put my mash in a seed tray - they seem to take it out of that.

Yes, they do smell different - not unpleasantly so - just different. One of mine has a really pooy bum but I daren't bath her as she's so timid. Hopefully I will be able to towards the end of this week. Really glad I took them on though - spent most of yesterday sat up with them watching whether they'd come out or not...

[mrsallen08]

Glad some others on here have rehomed with HenRehomers UK this weekend!

 

I have 2 girls who are also very timid but are watching and copying my other hens to learn new things. They have started scratching outside a little more today , now its drier here!

 

Hope all your girls enjoy some TLC and being spoilt. They have definately deserved it!

[The Dogmother]

They may well have diegstive problems Terri, hence the funny smell.

 

Pop the mash into a bowl until they get used to it, then you can move it to a proper feeder and gradually get them on to pellets if that's what you want to do. bokashi Bran with some live yoghurt willl settle the tummy issue - mix some up, grab a chook or two and wipe it around their beaks until they get used to the idea.

 

I'd recommend giving them a good poultry tonic in their water and some Avipro wouldn't go amiss either - it will help with settling their tums.

 

Good luck with them - they'll get the hang of it eventually.

[Ms Marple]

Thanks again for more info. Can't wait to get home and put it all into action. They must be SOOOOO hungry I was hoping that hunger might encourage them to see what is on offer in the run. I have positioned the feeding stations for my other hens around the outside of the eglu in the hope that they would learn by watching and doing (typical teacher approach!)

[poachedegg]

Ours didn't seem to eat and drink (or move) for a couple of days when we first got them. The size of their combs prevented them from getting their heads into the grub, so we used galley pots bought on ebay and dotted them around the eglu.

 

 

After a couple of weeks, we put some pellets on top of the mash and then had a couple with mash in and a couple with pellets in, upped the ratio with pellets in until after about 3 weeks they were happily eating pellets.

 

We then put a couple of grubs of pellets into the run and eventually, as they learnt to use the grubs, we reduced the amounts of galley pots in there until there were none!

 

Good luck with them.

[dancing cloud]

My little ex-batt Sun didn't eat for her first three days with me and I was getting rather anxious . I finally gave her a little tinned sweetcorn, which she eventually ate, and then mixed up some porridge and put sweetcorn on top, so she got the porridge when she got the corn and suddenly she caught on .

 

Ten weeks on and the little naked one is almost fully-feathered and very cheeky with it (and makes the loudest egg announcements ever )!

[alih]

Ours didn't seem to eat and drink (or move) for a couple of days when we first got them. The size of their combs prevented them from getting their heads into the grub, so we used galley pots bought on ebay and dotted them around the eglu.

 

 

After a couple of weeks, we put some pellets on top of the mash and then had a couple with mash in and a couple with pellets in, upped the ratio with pellets in until after about 3 weeks they were happily eating pellets.

 

We then put a couple of grubs of pellets into the run and eventually, as they learnt to use the grubs, we reduced the amounts of galley pots in there until there were none!

 

Good luck with them.

 

Mine were just the same. I used the glug as a grub so they could get their combs in and they didn't eat for days..once they started they did not stop! I mixed pellets in from 3 days in in increasing quantities... they will be fine!