Chicken bald back

[Luvachicken]

Back in October'16 I was really worried about how much weight my girls had lost.

Over the last few months I have given them supper of either corn or sunflower hearts or sometimes both and I'm really pleased to say that they have all gained weight and some are just 100g off their weights that I first recorded in April.

 

I would really like them to be the weight they were, so fingers crossed, a few more weeks of treats and they will be back where they were.

I will weigh them more often as it will be interesting to see if they lose weight again over the summer.

 

Can anyone recommend a better corn though ?

I currently have a bag of Fancy Feed Company corn but there is one particular bit they don't like at all as it is always left in the bottom of the bowl.

[Hippie Chick]

Mine love this one - Versele Laga Gra Mix Ardennes. I have the 20 kg bag and it's lasted for ages, maybe because it has a lot of little seeds in the mix. I've copied the following from the site below...

 

GRA-MIX ARDENNES MIXTURE is a high-quality grain mixture for laying hens, broilers, ducks, geese and other poultry with sunflowers, grains, seeds, maize and peas.

 

The GRA-MIX mixtures are complementary feeds and are administered best in rations. To keep optimal health, we recommend that you supplement grain mixtures with a complete feed from the COUNTRY’S BEST range.

Feed only as a treat, ideally a very small handful daily, later in the day.

 

Composition

Wheat, maize, Sorghum, dari, peas, sunflower seed

 

Analytical constituents

Crude protein 10.0%, Crude fat 3.5%, Crude ash 1.5%, Crude fibre 2.5%, Methionine 0.18%, Lysine 0.32%, Sodium 0.02%, Calcium 0.10%, Phosphorus 0.30%

 

http://www.newlandpoultry.com/index.php/online-shop-t/versele-laga/product/322-versele-laga-gra-mix-ardennes-special-mixed-corn-4kg-20kg

[sjp]

watch how much corn you give them as it can led to a build up of fat which is heavier than flesh and bone but the main thing is the fat is 'stored' around the main organs and fat hens don't make very good egg layers

laying hens will be on the light side as most of the 'energy' from their diet goes into making eggs

[Luvachicken]

Mine love this one - Versele Laga Gra Mix Ardennes.

 

Thanks Hippie Chick

I think I might have got them a small amount of this once before.

Does it come in a box with the packet inside ?

 

Thank you sjp too, they only have a little bit of corn.

Mine don't lay in the winter anyway

 

Would they be best on just the sunflower hearts for supper then ?

They don't seem overly impressed with the corn anyway.

[mullethunter]

Mine started to turn their beaks up at corn when I was regularly giving them sunflower hearts, but when I reduced the sunflower hearts they decided they liked corn again.

 

Mine usually have whatever it is they have at Pets At Home (because I usually forget I need some and that's the closest place) - I think it's D and H - and they eat all of it. But I only give them a small handful most evenings. I have to admit that whilst they've been shut in I have also been giving them a small handful of sunflower hearts in the mornings.

[The Dogmother]

I would be careful not to give them too many sunflower seeds - they are very fatty. Wheat is a good thing to feed in the winter.

 

I sometimes cut some duck and goose seeds (from a local supplier) into the pellets in the colder months.

[Luvachicken]

Oh dear, it seems I have been trying to help them and perhaps I haven't after all

 

Can anyone suggest a weight of treats that is suitable for individual chickens that won't make them put on too much weight ?

 

Going to look into the duck and goose seeds And wheat.

[The Dogmother]

TBH, I don't set much store by treats - mine don't really get any at all.

[Luvachicken]

I don't normally, it was just that they had lost weight and I didn't want them losing more or risk them getting cold over the winter and catching something.

[The Dogmother]

It may be that they had just lost a bit of muscle weight due to the relative lack of exercise. Mealworms are a good treat to use to help with muscle gain and condition.

[Luvachicken]

But then I've read mealworms aren't good for them either because of how they've been bred and the food they've been fed on

[The Dogmother]

Hmmm, it's up to you - I would be happy to feed them occasionally

[Cat tails]

Mine get a corn mix year round and the vet still says they are thin. I get my corn mix from a local store and it has different stuff in it, including brozen maize, wheat and other seeds. They get a small hand of corn each tossed in the garden or the run.

[Blackrocksrock]

I dont feed sunflower hearts or these kind if treats, I get malted barkey from the distillery locally from a friend and they each get a small handful of this once a day and the rest is layers pellets and whatever they gkeaned in the free ranging they did. They have not stopped laying at all and laying birds are thin anyway, Their crops are full every night and they are content.

[Luvachicken]

Perhaps I am worrying too much.

I have decided to carry on giving them the treats until the end of February.

Hopefully they will come to no harm by then and they might even have started laying me some eggs.

 

They do only get a little portion each and anything that is left over in the sack by then, I can give to the local birds.

[Hippie Chick]

Mine love this one - Versele Laga Gra Mix Ardennes.

 

Thanks Hippie Chick

I think I might have got them a small amount of this once before.

Does it come in a box with the packet inside ?

 

Mine didn't, it was just a sack but I did buy the 20kg large size.

[BridieLou]

I've been giving mine those hentastic suet treat blocks. One usually lasts them 4 days (between three girls) and the seem to love pecking away at it. Otherwise i give them a handful of meal works in a ball in the afternoon and any veg s"Ooops, word censored!"s now and again. Mine hated scratch, then came to love it but they're currently in the summer house so there's very little for them to 'scratch' at!

 

I threw a bail of straw in with them this morning and they're heaven. Lots of jumping and pecking!

[chickanne]

Mine are getting a slice if cabbage in a hanging feeder each day as they are not getting on grass at the moment. They make happy noises about that. In the afternoon they get a handful of mixed corn in their football which they love playing with. The sunflower seeds live in my pocket as a reward for obedience.

Otherwise it's layers pellets. If we have porridge for breakfast they get the s"Ooops, word censored!"ings mixed with a little Bokashi.

[Luvachicken]

I love those noises they make when they find something yummy

 

Mine have a cat treat ball filled sometimes.

You can adjust the size of the hole depending on the size of the treat.

 

I used to have the yellow ones made for chickens but often found that my girls managed to get them open so I was really worried they would snap shut again on one of their heads or a foot, so I don't use them any more.

[Valkyrie]

I don't use the treat ball now - it took all of 5 minutes to discover that if you tread on it, the ball splits apart and whaheyyyy gobble gobble gobble and all gone in seconds. Yet they are scared of other things!!! I've also found that they hate wheat in all forms. Peas and legumes they loathe apart from cooked lentils in a porridge with pellets.

[Luvachicken]

I don't use the treat ball now - it took all of 5 minutes to discover that if you tread on it, the ball splits apart.

 

Yeah, and also if you throw it in it falls apart too

The cat one works very well though

[Valkyrie]

Will have a look next time I'm in the pet shop places. Thank you Luv xx I sound like my dad now - he always used to say thanks love!