Hi all! I've searched the threads, gleaned what I could, and now I'm stuck.
I began fermenting our feed (organic 20% protein pellets) in the late summer. we have 4 layers, ages unknown, and one in particular was starting to "slow down"... not laying, or laying thin shelled eggs, and moving slower. I was confident we were headed for the end of the road with her. Once I started feeding ff however she improved drastically. She's now our most curious and energetic. In fact, all of them have become moreso, but with Carolina it was the biggest difference.
When I first began they kindof ate it... I fed it alongside the dry pellets to get them interested, and then transitioned over to only ff. They don't get a lot of treats, but we do feed them kitchen scraps of the uncooked, vegetable variety (lettuce, apple cores, pepper seeds, etc.) On occasion they also receive a handful of BOSS or meal worms, but not daily.
Then they quit eating it. Just quit. I kept an eye out to see what they were doing instead after I'd bring out the food and they weren't eating it and they would completely ignore it and just scratch. Then complain and complain (hungry, I'm sure). I also saw (YIKES!) a rat helping him/herself to the FF. We took care of that immediately and have no more evidence of rodents. Did they not like sharing their food? Who knows. I researched what could go wrong, dumped out all the FF and started over with a fresh bag of pellets.
Five days later and I've reintroduced the FF... still no interest. It does look like it was pecked at a little yesterday, but not devoured. They used to clean the bowl and ask for more!
What on earth is going on? I'm tempted to just leave only FF down there today but I'd hate for them to go hungry if they won't eat it.
I began fermenting our feed (organic 20% protein pellets) in the late summer. we have 4 layers, ages unknown, and one in particular was starting to "slow down"... not laying, or laying thin shelled eggs, and moving slower. I was confident we were headed for the end of the road with her. Once I started feeding ff however she improved drastically. She's now our most curious and energetic. In fact, all of them have become moreso, but with Carolina it was the biggest difference.
When I first began they kindof ate it... I fed it alongside the dry pellets to get them interested, and then transitioned over to only ff. They don't get a lot of treats, but we do feed them kitchen scraps of the uncooked, vegetable variety (lettuce, apple cores, pepper seeds, etc.) On occasion they also receive a handful of BOSS or meal worms, but not daily.
Then they quit eating it. Just quit. I kept an eye out to see what they were doing instead after I'd bring out the food and they weren't eating it and they would completely ignore it and just scratch. Then complain and complain (hungry, I'm sure). I also saw (YIKES!) a rat helping him/herself to the FF. We took care of that immediately and have no more evidence of rodents. Did they not like sharing their food? Who knows. I researched what could go wrong, dumped out all the FF and started over with a fresh bag of pellets.
Five days later and I've reintroduced the FF... still no interest. It does look like it was pecked at a little yesterday, but not devoured. They used to clean the bowl and ask for more!
What on earth is going on? I'm tempted to just leave only FF down there today but I'd hate for them to go hungry if they won't eat it.
