Chicken bald back

[coco]

I have my two ex batts on layers mash, I was wondering if switching them to ex batt crumbs would help with their feather regrowth or shall I just leave them as they are. They are getting extra protein and vitamins as well as ACV and garlic powder.

[chelsea]

I don't have ex-batts but I just wanted to add that my girls LOVE the ex-batt crumbs and I noticed a big difference in consumption when I switched over from pellets to crumb.

 

I think my lot prefer the texture of the crumb so I would have thought going from mash to crumbs would be better for your girls rather than going from mash to pellets.

[Lavenders_Blue]

My girls are on ex bats crumbs and they love it. They go absolutely mad for it when I top up their feeders.

 

Thankfully they were fairly well feathered when I got them a month ago, but one now seems to be having a little moult They are all refeathering well where they had bald patches and also laying well so I think the feed must be giving them everything they need.

 

I think the decision to buy ex bats food is as broad as it is long. I feed them just the ex bats mash with no supplements because they are healthy and laying well. If I fed regular mash I would no doubt supplement with ACV, limestone flour, poultry spice and goodness knows what else! So it's what suits you best really.

[alet_chicken]

Hi, the ex-batt food contains a lot more protein, which would definitely help with feather growth.

 

When we got our first lot of ex-batts, we used normal layers mash. They made a great mess of it, chucking it all over their run, so we were well pleased when they finally moved over to pellets. With my most recent lot, we gave them ex-batt crumbs right from the start, and there was a lot less mess. It was also easier for us to use the crumbs as it is possible to buy it in 5kg bags (our local shop sells mash only in 20kg sacks, which is a lot for only a handful birds).

 

We now feed all our birds (ex-batts and non-ex-batts) on ex-batt pellets, because (a) they love it, and (b) it's simpler, because calcium and other supplements are already mixed in. My ex-batts are still crazy about the crumbs, so whenever one of them need perking up, or I feel like treating them (cheaply) , I buy them a bag of ex-batt crumbs too.