5 month old pullets very thin.

[hoosiersphynx]

I have 4 5 month old girls and I picked one up yesterday and they are very thin. I have 7 chickens total and I feed them about 4-5 cups of food a day. 1/2 chick feed and 1/2 layer feed. They also have about 2 hours in the yard. Am I doing something wrong? Also my 3 older chickens have not layed in over 3 weeks? Do you think that they have worms or something else is wrong with them?
Thanks for the help
Rebecca

 

[JennsPeeps]

Give them free access to as much food as they want. Chickens need access to fodo for the full duration of their waking hours. Once htey start laying, you can move to 100% layer feed, or just use up the rest of the chick feed. If it's medicated for cocci you won't want them to be eating it while laying eggs. In that case, take away the chick feed entirely.

 

[threehorses]

Agreed - they need a lot more feed.

At their age, you're transitioning them to layer. They need to have all they can eat. They also need oyster shell in a side container (and granite grit if they have any access to anything other than crumbles - I give it even to caged birds in case something falls in their area.)

As soon as their combs start to redden (the pullets), then take a week and move them to straight layer.