Chicken bald back

[rawearth]

I was sent an eglu, rcently big surprise! Now have 3 warrens, Toast, Marmalade & Omlette.

I would like advice. The three point of lay chickens are on layers pellets but don't eat much. They don't seem to like them. I have added mixed corn & s"Ooops, word censored!"s. Am i doing the right thing? Are they ok just being in the small run?

 

Charly

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Hi Charly, welcome to the forum !

 

Your POL girls won't eat as much now as they will once they start to lay, the most important foodstuff as far as their health etc is concerned is the pellets they are being fussy over, if you offer them corn and s"Ooops, word censored!"s they will hold out for them and gorge themselves...rather like a child who won't eat his dinner as the pudding is much nicer Keep them on just pellets for a few days & then start to introduce just a small amount of corn or s"Ooops, word censored!"s late in the afternoon after they've filled up on pellets during the day.

 

When I had my first 3 I added the equivalent of a converter and extension to our eglu run using our own piece of weldmesh as I couldn't wait for the extra pieces to be delivered by Omlet due to the pecking order being quite...shall I say not nice Ever since then I have erred on the side of "give more space then they reasonably need in order for harmony to prevail". If they are allowed to freerange for most of the time a standard run would be ok, if the are penned in most/all of the time I would suggest extending the run as much as you can.

 

How do you get sent an eglu as a surprise can I ask, I'd like to meet your pressie giver

 

Sha x

[Chicken Shirl]

Hi Charly, welcome to the forum. Lucky you being sent an eglu. Everyone is great on here. Good advise as usual from Sha. Happy chicken keeping.

[Egluntyne]

Hello and welcome.

 

I would leave them just on the pellets, and cut out the other stuff which they will probably prefer.

 

Until they start laying, they don't have huge appetites. Once things are underway, they eat significantly larger amounts. You might be confusing this behaviour to date with dislike.

[Slim]

I try to avoid bread treats. I found egg production drops with too many treats! But I know we can't help it!

[rawearth]

Thankyou you everybody for your excellent advice.

 

It will like having toddlers all over again. 'If you don't eat your food you can't watch Dr Who etc......!

 

As to my surprise eglu. It was my 81 year old Mum ( who is like a 60 yr old ) She has scores of chickens, geese etc. She knows I have always wanted chickens, but realises my garden is a bit of a challenge, in North Wales north facing, cold , damp and on the side of a very steep hill in Betws y Coed. Her neighbour had an eglu and she was always egging me on to get one. Eventually she gave up egging me on and sent me one, what a wonderful Mum! . ps i have never you a chat site before is this how i reply?

 

Charly

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Absolutely this is how you reply This is the only place I come & "chat" online, there are loads of people much more knowledgeable than me with regards chooks...actually regards anything ........ and are very willing to help should you have any queries or problems

 

What a lucky girl you are too have such a wonderful mum, mine just goes whenever I tell her I'm getting more or what the latest little antic has been.....my dad loves them so that's alright

 

Sha x

[Chicken Shirl]

What a super mum you have and what a lovely place to live. Hens like to be cool so they will be fine on your hillside. I give my mum a report on the hens every day, she loves to know about their antics. This is my only "Chat site" also. I love it. x

[docsquid]

What a lovely Mum you have, buying you an Eglu!

 

My lot weren't over keen on pellets - they eat some but not a lot and I was a bit worried as you are.

 

However what I now do is mix a little bit of corn in with the pellets, and some poultry spice, and then make that into a mash by adding some warm water and mixing it up until it is soft. They absolutely love that, and by adding a bit of corn, it tricks them into eating all the pellets too. I don't overdo the corn - no more than one third corn, and I'm gradually reducing it until it is more or less all pellets/mash.

 

When I've finished this bag of pellets I'll get a few more to keep their feeders topped up, but will just buy mash for their main feed as they seem to prefer it.

[tannerhill]

Hi, Welcome to the forum, I myself are new to it and even though have had second time around eglu for a few weeks have been making a larger run for it to go into, we went for our 3 Northumberland Blue chickens yesterday, called MARTHA, MATILDA AND MYRTLE they are POL, so as we have never had chickens before this forum is a great help. We fed them pellets and then I put a fresh corn on the cob out for them they thought it was delicious ...then in late afternoon some mixed corn. It was a bit difficult trying to get them into the eglu in fact we had to get them in through the egg collection part. We were delighted today when we checked and we had an egg our first ever and the eggs are blue. So best of luck with your chickens. What is MASH ,,, is it layers mash like powder please anyone let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a lovely Mum you have, buying you an Eglu!

 

My lot weren't over keen on pellets - they eat some but not a lot and I was a bit worried as you are.

 

However what I now do is mix a little bit of corn in with the pellets, and some poultry spice, and then make that into a mash by adding some warm water and mixing it up until it is soft. They absolutely love that, and by adding a bit of corn, it tricks them into eating all the pellets too. I don't overdo the corn - no more than one third corn, and I'm gradually reducing it until it is more or less all pellets/mash.

 

When I've finished this bag of pellets I'll get a few more to keep their feeders topped up, but will just buy mash for their main feed as they seem to prefer it.

[Egluntyne]

I think docsquid means that she makes a porridgy mush for the hens by adding all the ingredients, including layers pellets.

 

They tend to love it.

[helen1962]

Hi All

 

Layers mash is basically a powder that, as I understand, is what the commercial egg producers feed their battery hens. Mine still prefer mash but I am weening them onto pellets as it is easier to clear up when they have gone to bed. What I do find is that they eat it much better when I add a little water with it to soften it.

[tannerhill]

Hi All

 

 

 

Thanks for the messages, will try adding somewater to pellets and also adding some mixed corn, can I also ask do they nned to have their wings clipped, as the 3 we have havent and they were trying to fly and hitting the inside of the eglu run., which I felt very sad for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Layers mash is basically a powder that, as I understand, is what the commercial egg producers feed their battery hens. Mine still prefer mash but I am weening them onto pellets as it is easier to clear up when they have gone to bed. What I do find is that they eat it much better when I add a little water with it to soften it.

[Plum]

Hello, even with wings clipped they can jump. Mine about 3-4 feet so it wouldn't make any difference in the run. I've clipped both lots when they first arrived but I won't anymore because they tend to be grounded after a bit and don't try and fly away but will be able to leap to safety.

 

Grackle can jump out of the omlet netting anyway by leaping blindly at it near the top, the poles bend taking it to the ground and then she is away. The reason for this leap of faith is my old man and whatever treat he walks towards them with. She goes straight back.