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

[jkl]

oh dear, it appears that I've got 2 food critics.

 

They're really not keen on the 'Grub' so I a while ago I bought them a different feeder which hangs from the roof in their run. Anyway, they started to eat more but only when I wasn't looking (its true - if they see me they stop eating!)

 

Recently, my 2 have decided to eat very little of the pellets I put out for them. it may be the different brand of pellets but I've been mixing it with the last of the old pellets to minimise the change.

 

However it might be the fact that they are now in a WIR that I've just built for them.

 

So my questions are -

 

Does any one have experience of fussy hens? They LOVE LOVE LOVE grapes, breadcrumbs, tomotoes and plums and gobble them up so their appetite is still there. In fact Dora ate a frog the other day (doesn't jump any higher though) and it was a comic five minutes watching Mo chase Dora, frog in beak, round the garden for a share in the spoils! They are also still laying (in fact loads more eggs since the move into the WIR)

 

Would it be worth moving them onto mash?

 

I would like to get it sorted before I expand the Squadron to four in 2 weeks time.

 

cheers

[Egluntyne]

You have answered your own question. The problem is that they will hod out for treats and will not eat the pellets if they see you coming as they associate you with goodies.

 

I would hold back on all 'junk food' and give them pellets only for a few days, with limited free ranging. They will soon learn to like their pellets.

 

After a few days, you could allow them a small treat in the late afternoon, to lure them back into the run.

[Redwing]

Hens will always prefer to eat treats I personally don't think a hen will starve itself and would say they are playing you, they can be just like children

 

Try to get them in to a routine of no treats till late in the day, they will have no alternative to eat then

 

You cold try the mash, it won't do any harm

[Old Speckled Hen]

I made a rod for my own back with all this I AM the treat lady

My girls now get mash mixed with warm water with bits added.

They free range all day, first being banged up for a couple of hours after reveille to make them eat their boring mash

I have to take their mash bowl out of the run and put it under the table on the patio otherwise they will not eat it and the wild birds stagger belly full into the bushes.

It does disappear in the end though

When we are away they are imprisoned all day in the run, the mash gets eaten along with exbat crumb I leave in the hopper.

Little minxes aren't they and can't they just wind us all round their clipped wings?

[Sarahsausage]

Mine are also fussy! They just won't eat pellets so I give them co"Ooops, word censored!" layers mash. I even mix pellets in with the mash and they still leave them! Little tinkers!

 

I used the peckablock recipe from the forum the other day and it kept them quiet for hours! Their crops were huge at the end of the day!

[jkl]

Hi all and thanks for your replies.

 

I tend to give them their treats (small amounts generally) in the evening after I get home from work but it looks like they've got good memories!

 

I guess I need to be firm with myself and reduce the amount of the treats until they start behaving. Should I stop the silver service though? Hmm..... decisions decisions.....

 

On a brighter note, 'she whom rules' has given approval to the 2 extra hens . I'm thinking of 2 x ISA warrens (http://www.acornplants.co.uk/chickens.htm) - what can I say? I like ginger hens!

 

cheers

[Couperwife]

we dont give ours any treats

 

or rather, we give them corn in with the layers pellets, and sometimes shove in a handful of lettuce or dandylion leaves, but they dont have a typical treat a day.

 

maybe im a cruel chicken mummy

 

however, we have 4 girls, and have had them since May 2007, and we still get 3 eggs a day , so it cant bother them that much

 

well done on persuading OH on some more chickens, (im sure she likes them too )

 

cathy

x

[katieD]

i would definately recomend changing to mash- my girls were getting sof eggs etc as i dont think they were eating enough of the pellets- i switched them to mash and they love it

 

good luck- definately hold off the treats for a while- they will have to go cold turkey (or chicken! ) for a while!

 

xxx

[jkl]

The answer was quite simple as it turned out.

 

I read about blitzing pellets into a mash.....

 

so while 'she whom rules' was out shopping with the sis-in-law, I ... ahem... borrowed the hand food blender and blitzed the pellets briefly.

 

After five minutes of sweeping, wiping and brushing, I resolved not to use the turbo switch again but ended up with little pellets which the girls wolfed down - in fact two bowls worth!!

 

J is now a happy and much relieved chap now and the girls are back to normal

 

cotswold chickens tomorrow...... just to look..... honest .......

 

jkl

[Hen Watch]

so while 'she whom rules' was out shopping with the sis-in-law, I ... ahem... borrowed the hand food blender and blitzed the pellets briefly.

After five minutes of sweeping, wiping and brushing, I resolved not to use the turbo switch again but ended up with little pellets which the girls wolfed down - in fact two bowls worth!!

 

Good luck with your blender....... Chooks can be fussy little things.

 

About a year ago my lot simply refused to eat the pellets they had always loved, unless I added water and made it into 'pellet porridge'. I soon got fed up of pandering to this whim and at the end of the pellet bag I bought a bag of layers mash. Essentially same stuff but ground down. .... Well, they absolutely loved the mash and wolfed it down. But I personally found it awfully messy. They would flick and tip mash everywhere and I got annoyed with it.

 

So, at the end of that bag, I bought pellets again and they went 'cold turkey' until they ate them.

 

They've been eating pellets again for a year now. But I know how fussy they can be and pellet porridge is now a rare treat when I have old pellets to use up so that they don't get into bad habits again.