Unsecure chicken perches

[Mercedes55]

I'm getting stressed with my new girls as I really hadn't realised they would be so young when we got them. They are 14wks old and seem healthy, but I don't think they are eating much, but really have no idea how much they should eat either.

 

When we got them on Saturday we only had ex batts crumbs so gave them that but went out last night and bought some organic growers pellets from Pets For You as that was the only growers food they had. I have seen them go up to the feeders and eat but they don't seem to have anywhere near the appetite of our ex batts who seem to eat quite a lot.

 

When I clean out the dirt tray in the mornings their poos look all normal but they are very small.

 

A lot of the time they are just sitting all next to each other and I don't know if that's normal either as my ex batts for the most part are wandering around the run most of the day and don't sit down much. We have put a perch in their part of the WIR and they do jump up on that too, but not as much as I thought they would.

 

Is all this normal or am I being paranoid again

[..lay a little egg for me]

I expect someone more knowledgeable will be along soon, but I will say that hens don't eat much until they come into lay when their appetites (and poos!) increase vastly. We got some new girls on Saturday too and they are not very active or eating much either (they are older than yours though). They do look keen to go out when they see our old girls going out to free range so I'm expecting more action when they are finally allowed out! If they look healthy, tails up, eyes bright and no sniffles, I wouldn't worry.

[WitchHazel]

Congratulations on your new girls!

 

Their appetitle will increase dramatically when they come into lay. As long as you can see that they are able to get to the

feeders (so no bullying going on) I wouldn't worry. too much.

 

The reason they aren't up and about doing thing may be because they are a bit overwhelmed. They've gone through quite a lot of changes in a short period of time, and they are (I would guess) probably intimidated by the ex batts.

 

We're just going through the process of integrating 4 home hatched girls with 4 very well established girls. We started by keeping them in separate cubes & runs, but in sight of each other, When the babies got to 14 weeks, we started letting them free range together, and the Little Girls were completely overwhelmed by the Big Girls. They have all been together since hatch, so had no experience of bullying or pecking order establishment. Usually the Little Girls run away as soon as a Big Girl gets close, and they spent the first week at the opposite end of the garden as much as possible.

 

Now they are 17 weeks old (and so should be a bit more mentally capable of dealing with the Big Girls) we have started to put them all together at night. Initially, the Little Girls would stay in the Cube and not come out into the walk in Run until the BGs had been up for about an hour. Three days on, and the Little Girls are starting to be a bit less timid, but they still try and keep out of the Big Girls way. This morning was the first time that all 8 of them were standing in a group waiting for me to open the WiR to let them out.

 

So you will get there. But remember your girls are still very young.

[meezers]

Sounds normal. My 5 growers eat about half as much as the 7 big girls. They don't perch either, will jump up onto their table but that's about it. They'll soon be eating you out of house and home and getting up into places they shouldn't

[Mercedes55]

Thanks for that, it's a relief to know they are being normal

 

I have pinned a big towel on the divider in the run as the ex batts were standing and staring at the new girls and I thought it might be better for them if they felt they weren't being watched all the time.

 

I just want to go in and pick them up and cuddle them but they are scared of me

[WitchHazel]

I just want to go in and pick them up and cuddle them but they are scared of me

 

Maybe start by getting them to eat corn out of your hands, without touching them at all.

 

When they are happy to eat from your hand, try touching them briefly. INitially they will run off. Eventually, they will put up with you touching them while they are eating.

 

Gradually you can ncrese it so that instead of just touching them, you maybe stroke them a bit.

 

And then you can work from there t the point where you can pick them up.

 

It's a bit of a challenge when you have other hens around as well though.

[migsy]

They sound just like mine were at 14 weeks. I was worried too but now they are 17 weeks I see them eat more often. For a few days I thought that they weren't eating at all and I was really worried. Must be normal. My next step is to get them all into the WIR together but they are still a lot smaller than my big girls.

[Mercedes55]

It's good to know I'm not the only worrier

[the bradley bunch]

hi merc, i'm so glad you posted because my new little girl who we've been talking about on the other thread, seems to hardly eat at all at 18 weeks old & i was starting to get a bit worried and was going to post! so i'm glad you've asked and now my mind has been put at rest by all your replies

 

i dunno if this helps but mine really seems to enjoy the dried corn treats that i sprinkle on the 'dividing line' for her & the ex-bats to share hubby got us a bag of organic stuff from pets at home fairly cheap

[Donna C]

hi, i used to have ex-batts which ate loads but now havt 11 wk old orphingtons. i thought they wern't eating enough but that sounds normal from u guys. my only worry is that the feeder on my eglu go seems large .i know they can get to food but not sure how much to put in as don't want stale grain . any ideas??