Okay. I have had chickens for about a year and a half. I've hatched most of my flock and all but a couple I've raised from chick. They have all grown and thrived (with a few exceptions, of course but as a general rule they've don excellently)
My bantan hen hatched out 6 babies about a year ago. She and her babies were on chick feed as best as I can remember and they never grew. Granted, they were part bantam, but they still stayed way too small and never fully feathered out.
7-8 months ago my BO hen hatched 8 babies. She was a great mom and took good care of them. They were never cold or hungry. I fed them to same food as the flock at first (16% laying pellets and fermented scratch grains) because I didn't have chick feed. They didn't grow. So I got chick feed for them. They still didn't grow. They are now 7-8 months old, like I said and the size of my bantams. They have no bantam genes whatsoever, I know that for a fact. They are no longer growing and have only recently fully feathered out. Hawk (the only girl out her my BO's clutch) laid her first egg yesterday. It was TINY! It was the size of a wild bird's egg. My silkie's egg dwarfed it.
Well, now I have several meat birds. They are not growing like they should be. They are almost 8 weeks old and still scrawny and small. I've been feeding them a high protein game bird starter, but I've recently swapped them to 20% Dumor chick starter to see if that will be better for them. My layer chicks are growing and feathering normally, thank God. I have 2 hens with chicks right now and they seen to be growing normally.
I've been using Dumor 20% chick starter since I got my first chicks. They get kefir, clean water, warmth. I can't think of anything I've changed. Why are they not growing? I just can't figure it out.
My bantan hen hatched out 6 babies about a year ago. She and her babies were on chick feed as best as I can remember and they never grew. Granted, they were part bantam, but they still stayed way too small and never fully feathered out.
7-8 months ago my BO hen hatched 8 babies. She was a great mom and took good care of them. They were never cold or hungry. I fed them to same food as the flock at first (16% laying pellets and fermented scratch grains) because I didn't have chick feed. They didn't grow. So I got chick feed for them. They still didn't grow. They are now 7-8 months old, like I said and the size of my bantams. They have no bantam genes whatsoever, I know that for a fact. They are no longer growing and have only recently fully feathered out. Hawk (the only girl out her my BO's clutch) laid her first egg yesterday. It was TINY! It was the size of a wild bird's egg. My silkie's egg dwarfed it.
Well, now I have several meat birds. They are not growing like they should be. They are almost 8 weeks old and still scrawny and small. I've been feeding them a high protein game bird starter, but I've recently swapped them to 20% Dumor chick starter to see if that will be better for them. My layer chicks are growing and feathering normally, thank God. I have 2 hens with chicks right now and they seen to be growing normally.
I've been using Dumor 20% chick starter since I got my first chicks. They get kefir, clean water, warmth. I can't think of anything I've changed. Why are they not growing? I just can't figure it out.
