PurpleHen Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 My chooks egg production has been remarkably down in the past few weeks So they have been given less treats (not that they ahd many ) and stopped free ranging as much - just to encourage them to eat their pellets.... I think it started when they went through the moult , they slowed down a bit and forgot to get back up to speed again Anyhow - we went to buy another bag of pellets and a bale of Hemcore last weekend, and I spotted a new feed in stock. It is layers mash - so I decided to buy a bag to give a try. I was a bit reluctant having read posts about changing their diets and hens being fussy..... however... They love it And I'm now back to an egg every day from one and an egg every other day from the other Brilliant - but I'm glad I took advice from here and put a seed tray under the grub to catch the mess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Yep my girls also adore layers mash even though when I got them they had been brought up on pellets. If you add some warm water to a handful and mix it up it also becomes a new food group they think is even better than layers mash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 TIt is funny that they do that, Trinny started pecking Katy so she could hog the "new" food over her subordinate Even with the tray they scatter it all over the run, but they do really like it, and they can spend time scratching through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Mine love the mash too, but I weaned them off it, and onto pellets, because of the mess with mash. It's much harder to introduce pellets to mash fed hens, from pellets to mash is easy! However, having successfully changed them completely to pellets, last time I couldn't resist buying some more mash as a treat, despite the mess. I must be mad, I really want them to stay on the pellets (which they won't touch if they get too hooked on the mash. But I knew they'd love pecking through it! I'm planning to mix some with warm water tomorrow 1st thing, as they've all been moulting & I want them to eat plenty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 I changed to mash a couple of weeks ago - egg production was down from 5 a day to 1 or 2. I assumed it was a combination of them barely touching their pellets, the weather and 3 of them ending up on antibiotics. Now I fill the feeder twice a day! - I've never seen them eat so much (unfortunately egg production is back to 4 or 5 a day and I have to throw 3 of them out bacause of the Baytril. Another week of egg withdrawal to go - I hate waste so find it really hard to bin those lovely looking eggs!) I'll certainly be sticking to mash - until the girls change their minds again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 My girls were exactly the same - hardly touched their pellets and egg production dropped to 1 a day so I bought a bag of Mash to try - they loved it - egg production rose to 3 most days again and I have to fill it every other day. Yes they do make a mess but at the moment they are are in their extended run all day whilst I am at work so have time to scratch through the remnants! Glad I made the change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannie Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Ours were the same too. Maisy had virtually stopped eating. I changed as a desperate measure. Felt quite guilty for holding out so long when I saw how much she ate though. Must try the seed tray - the area under the peanuts is currently a frightful sodden solid paste of mash, poo, and goodness knows what!! I fear it will smell or go mouldy or something terribly once the weather gets warmer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Must try the seed tray - the area under the peanuts is currently a frightful sodden solid paste of mash, poo, and goodness knows what!! I fear it will smell or go mouldy or something terribly once the weather gets warmer... It will, far worse than chicken poo! But that's made me think about whether to stick to pellets or revert to mash. They really do enjoy the mash, I was using pellets to be less messy, and also make sure each one eats the whole product, not just pick out the best bits. That is one thing to watch on mash; the top hens may pick out the tasty bits, so diufferent birds in a flock will be getting different parts of the food, if you see what I mean. But, I'm tempted to go back to mash, but will prob. regret in in the height of summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
church chooks Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Mine love mash they were eating pellets and eggs had gone down -they never seemed to empty the grub. Now i can't fill it fast enough But, yes, underneath is horrid - i haven't used a seed tray as they just thought that was a new way of collecting the mess so they could then re-spread it wider in one big go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabbagepatch Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 going to be controversial (sp) now...... An eglu and chooks is very expensive but we make the decision that "We want hens, this is the way to do it, andt's worth it)! " So why is it that so many of us find that our girls ignore the pellets completely and end up chucking them out and buying layers' mash? Am I missing something here? Shouldn't omlet be aware of this and provide mash instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 They used to because my girls arrived with a sack of co"Ooops, word censored!" mash. I don't know why they changed to pellets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannie Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 They really do enjoy the mash, I was using pellets to be less messy, and also make sure each one eats the whole product, not just pick out the best bits. That is one thing to watch on mash; the top hens may pick out the tasty bits, so diufferent birds in a flock will be getting different parts of the food, if you see what I mean. We're using an organic mash which is quite fine - I don't think they could pick out different bits very easily. (I need a fingers crossed emoticon!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Mine dont seem to pick bits out they just do a: eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Mine dont seem to pick bits out they just do a: eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, eat some, chuck some, What a wonderful & accurate description Laura!!! Mine are just the same but maybe with a bit more chucking!! I am getting a bag of mash and one of pellets this weekend as im hoping a mix of both will cut down some of the mess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Mine have pellets and corn fed to them, so they don't get mash. But they oove the corn and will always eat that first and then s"Ooops, word censored!"e the pellets out the grub!!! Mind they don come back during the day and eat them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
