Feather regrowth help

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casadezorola

casadezorola

In the Brooder
Feb 3, 2015
30
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Hey everyone!

After a brief bout with parasites and then pecking each other, my girls are having a hard time with feather regrowth.

I'm looking for something that I can add to their food and/or water that will help their feathers come back in.

I've tried Manna poultry conditioner and Manna game/showbird conditioner as well.

Any suggestions?

Thanks everyone!
 
Adding more protein to their diet can help. Layer pellets are high in protein, so is dry cat food (preferably not chicken based).
 
Thank you for your response!

So I could add maybe 10# of high protein dry cat food to a 50# bag of my layer crumble?

Do I need to crunch it up first? Or will they do fine with the size of the cat food?

Thanks again!
 
10# of cat food will increase the protein from 16% to 18.5%. Adding that much will throw the vitamin and mineral balance off and not significantly increase the protein. How long were you feeding the game starter? I would be feeding that by itself (24%) or cut 50/50 (20%) with the layer. I do give catfood to my molters but just tossed as a scratch treat.
 
They were on medicated chick start until 18 weeks, then gradually added layer crumble until 21 weeks, then by 22weeks they were on full layer crumble.

I actually pulled their scratch because we had a sudden fatal bout of aspergillosis and lost 6 hens.

What do you recommend I give them daily or weekly? They only usually get some lettuce here and there...
 
Any vegetables and scratch will drop the overall protein. If you are feeding those you should be feeding something higher than a 16% layer as that's the bare minimum. Do you have a 20% layer option? Getting a higher protein feed every day is always a better option than offering a treat here and there as some don't always get their fair share of the treats. Meal worms make an excellent high protein snack too.
 
Is there something (protein supplements wise) that I can add to the 16% crumble I have now?
 
The easy fix is to mix a bag of game bird or non medicated chick starter with a bag of layer. That will put you 19-22%. If your birds have trouble or don't like to eat mash, ferment it.
 
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Game bird feed is a good option (especially in winter or for birds that can't forage in their pen). Be aware that some types are 80% whole grains which can create problems with some flocks.

When I bought a bag that turned out to be mostly whole grains for my flock they picked out the grains they liked and left the rest including the tiny pellets, I had to put the feed through a coffee grinder to get them to eat it all.
 
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