2nd hen dying

[One Silly Chicken]

Quote:
My mom raised chickens on a farm and said that you are to never give chickens any kind of meat.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
My mom raised chickens on a farm and said that you are to never give chickens any kind of meat.

Tell that to my chickens who just had a few leftover chicken drummies for a treat last night..... Way back when (and probably still today) farmers tossed out all their kitchen scraps to the birds/ pigs ect. Why would it be bad for them? In moderation of course...

 

[schellie69]

Not sure what is wrong but just wanted to say that this is not your fault. Hang in there and lets see if we can figure this out. You might need to take a poop sample in to the vet to be tested for worms. what kind of mash are you feeding chickens need at least 16% protein

 

[One Silly Chicken]

Quote:
My mom raised chickens on a farm and said that you are to never give chickens any kind of meat.

Tell that to my chickens who just had a few leftover chicken drummies for a treat last night..... Way back when (and probably still today) farmers tossed out all their kitchen scraps to the birds/ pigs ect. Why would it be bad for them? In moderation of course...

Rule of thumb is that you never give meat to animals that you eat or get product from. You want to keep them on a healthly diet. Fruit, veggies, grain, yogurt.

 

[brwneggs]

What good foods are full of protein,besides meats are good for the girls?
Quote:

 

[Raelyn]

Quote:
Tell that to my chickens who just had a few leftover chicken drummies for a treat last night..... Way back when (and probably still today) farmers tossed out all their kitchen scraps to the birds/ pigs ect. Why would it be bad for them? In moderation of course...

Rule of thumb is that you never give meat to animals that you eat or get product from. You want to keep them on a healthly diet. Fruit, veggies, grain, yogurt.

But chickens are omnivores, not herbivores. A healthy diet for them does include some meat.

The problem arises when you give meat and meat products to animals that are not omnivorous, such as cows (mad cow disease) who are herbaceous.

 

[teach1rusl]

Meat is fine for chickens. Now I'd minimize any with heavy salt/sodium. But fish, spinach, BOSS, etc. has good protein too. Especially in winter, when bugs (aka protein) are gone, meat scraps are good.
You can't just take whether a chicken is scratching a lot or not as a sign of some kind of infestation. You need to catch each bird and thoroughly inspect it's sking around the vent feathers, under the wings, and if any are bearded or muffed, around those areas. Make sure you see no bugs, nit masses, or lots of debris looking stuff around the feather shafts (mites). If you see nothing, then lice/mites is most likely not your problem. Then I'd look into worming them. If you've seen no worms in their droppings, you can take a sample in to a vet to have them test for the types of parasites that aren't seen. I hope you can get to the root of the problem.

 

[brwneggs]

What is BOSS?????? Yesterday i fed them a container of yogurt with blue berries and put corn meal on it, and it was all gone this morning. The eggs were bigger and the color deeper brown. I also am giving them garlic water for antibotics.
PROTEIN What can I give the girls????? I think thats why theur feathers are all going away. They eat them. Right now our money is very very low, what can I feed them that I can afford????? with protein?????
Please help!!!!
Thank yyou everyone for all your help.

 

[ralleia]

Quote:
Rule of thumb is that you never give meat to animals that you eat or get product from. You want to keep them on a healthly diet. Fruit, veggies, grain, yogurt.

But chickens are omnivores, not herbivores. A healthy diet for them does include some meat.

The problem arises when you give meat and meat products to animals that are not omnivorous, such as cows (mad cow disease) who are herbaceous.

YES! Chickens are just miniature velicoraptors! Bugs, frogs, snakes, fish heads--the only meat I avoid feeding them is any poultry.

Once I was in the coop when one of them flushed out a mouse. It was quite a spectacle with three hens fighting over the thing. I'm very happy that I am 20 times the size of my chickens and therefore safe.

Chickens are NOT vegetarians. Problems arise when humans try to impose their own diet regimens on animals.

 

[purpletree23]

BOSS is black oil sunflower seed. A lot of posters give it to their chickens with the shell on but I prefer to give them the shell less kind.

I'll get ribbing for that one!

It's pricey this year but I like it for the oil and protein in the winter. I stop giving it to them in April because in warm weather the seed has to be refrigerated or it will go rancid.