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

[Pedro1962]

I had an interesting chat with the guy at Thornes this afternoon.

 

He said that all of his customers who had had prolapse problems with their hens had used organic feed.

 

He had come to the conclusion that the organic feed was too rich for younger girls, leading to the production of eggs that were too large for comfortable laying - leading to prolapse.

 

He said that he believed that organic feed manufacturers were using marine products to achieve their certification and this rich mixture was responsible for the problem.

 

Valid point or codswallop?

[Henhathnofury]

I have to ask - was he selling the non-organic variety? I am not sure of the information but I meet a lot of organic sellers talking badly about the non-organic food. Difficult to know if either are being objective....

[Pedro1962]

I have to ask - was he selling the non-organic variety? I am not sure of the information but I meet a lot of organic sellers talking badly about the non-organic food. Difficult to know if either are being objective....

 

I had already sourced organic feed, so he wasn't trying to sell me anything. As I recall, Thornes sell both. He only advised against organic feed for young hens.

 

Certainly made me think.

 

I will probably let the girls munch their way through the 20kg sack that I've already got and then use non-organic feed for a while.

[Egluntyne]

That is interesting.

[Henhathnofury]

Worth some more research then, as is the fact that my vet has told me not to feed my girls bokashi bran, as it depletes calcium from their bodies. I thought that it was phytic acid in bran that does this and I am not sure if bokashi bran has this as an ingredient. Will research...

[Redwing]

Thornes are great apparently and the guy there is very knowledgable I hear however I have also heard that he has a few un-usual views too.

 

[Kalu]

Hi

The chap you were speaking to is quite well known for his strong views, on all things Omlet it would seem! He is a very nice chap and has a wealth of knowledge and is always happy to answer any questions.

Must admit i have stopped using organic feed for the time being......

[FiggyPudding]

I use an organic feed for my girls - 2 'normals' + 2 ex batts. Their eggs are fine. Although obviously the exbatts are over a year & I think my other 2 girls are about 18-2 years (also rescue ones)

[The Dogmother]

I've never noticed that problem with my girls. The only time they didn't get on with any feed was when I tried out the BHWT formula.

 

Mine have Bokashi Bran mixed in with the feed and I can't say it's ever affected them adversely

[Henhathnofury]

I think there is a difference between oat bran and wheat bran..oat bran being the calcium depleter but wheat bran being in the bokashi mixture...

[jomaxsmith]

Frank (and the other guys at Thornes) have said that before to me - when I bought a sack of organic mash they checked with me the age of my girls and how long they had been laying. As it was, I found the organic to be really wasteful as my hens chucked it everywhere so I went back to standard. I thought it showed that they are giving responsible advice rather than just wanting to sell the more expensive feed.

 

Frank is old school but does often back up his statements with recent Practical Poultry references. He does, however, say about the white mould on bark chips being botulism which someone of this forum who is a microbiologist or similar (i.e. an expert in the field) said was not correct.

 

He can put people off hen keeping sometimes - I booked him to talk to my village's gardening club and we had a record breaking audience _but_ quite a few people were put off because of his rather thorough section on parasites and the things that can go wrong

 

Jo

[teri]

my leghorn is currently having problems with a prolapse. she is about 8 months old and did lay a huge double yolker whick caused her problem. the vet saw her and gave her a jab. she is fed on layers pellets and corn. the girs do have dinner s"Ooops, word censored!"s, usually salad or veg occaisionally pasta and rice. i have caught my children giving them nutella on toast on occaisions. i have now had to cut all of zoe's feathers and keep applying preperation h ......not a nice job. i have never fed my girls on organic feeds but the protien in the nutella may have had the same the same affect?

[Henhathnofury]

I'm still not sure of the organic food claim..but chocolate can be a problem for hens to metabolise - according to my vet. Dry toast and bread in general - if given in too many quantities, may cause a compacted crop, unless wet through first. Is she overweight? Overweight hens can have a problem with prolapse but to be honest, it may not be anything that you've done. It may simply be 'one of those things.' We are currently nursing a girl who suffered a prolapse....it went back in of its own accord, after anti-inflammatories and antibiotics - plus some special cream to apply twice a day. It's a horrible thing to have to deal with and I hope that your girl gets better. Someone else could advise on corn...as I believe it should also given in moderation, as it can also cause birds to be overweight.

 

Good luck. Our girl is still poorly and not much into food at present....but we are hoping..

[Chickaboo]

There are so many different views. I don't feed my girls layers at all, on the suggestion of a vet as Phoebe has a softy egg problem He said that the layers pelletts/mash are made for intensive farming to produce maximum egg production, which is unnatural for them and consequently causes soft eggs, prolapses etc. Which makes sense to me - it would be a bit like us women giving birth every nine months or so, our bits would be in a state So I give my girls a mix of oats, corn, barley, millett, bokashi bran, linseeds, alongside bits of fruit, veg etc occasional tuna, and cod liver oil (not a cheap option, but I do love my girls!). This did slow down Phoebe's egg production, and then she went back to laying proper eggs, but now back to softies but to be honest she is 3 now so may be reaching the hen-o-pause. Daphne who has always been a great layer and on this diet she produces lovely eggs, but equally it hasn't slowed down her laying, so I don't know what to think really. I also had a chat with teh man at Thornes, who was a little shocked by this approach