Adding 1 hen...eventually.

[Kaye Pek]

Do you know why/how you lost the hen?

We don’t, which is unnerving and part of why we want to wait at least a month before we start with a new hen. She seemed healthy and her usual self on Thursday when we went out of town, and then Sunday evening I got a call from the chicken sitters saying she had died. Nothing obvious on her body.

 

[Kiki]

We don’t, which is unnerving and part of why we want to wait at least a month before we start with a new hen. She seemed healthy and her usual self on Thursday when we went out of town, and then Sunday evening I got a call from the chicken sitters saying she had died. Nothing obvious on her body.

Do you feed treats?

 

[Kaye Pek]

Do you feed treats?

Veggie scraps that I can find listed as safe, but other than that, no. Now I’m wondering if I missed her eating something she shouldn’t have, or maybe eating too much of what might otherwise be fine.

 

[Kiki]

Veggie scraps that I can find listed as safe, but other than that, no. Now I’m wondering if I missed her eating something she shouldn’t have, or maybe eating too much of what might otherwise be fine.

Fatty liver disease kills with no symptoms. The bird was not getting a balanced diet then it is possible that is what killed her.
The commercially made poultry feed is a balanced.
Anytime you feed anything besides that... It's possible the bird is not getting a balanced diet.

Table scraps are a treat. If you were feeding more than a tablespoon worth of scraps per bird per day you were overfeeding.

 

[McChooky]

We lost a chicken unexpectedly over the weekend and are now debating whether or not to add to the flock at some point in the near-ish future. Being in the 'burbs we're limited by bylaws to four hens only, so we'd be adding one hen. What feedback can you give me on the thoughts I already have? What are some other things we need to be considering?

*we do have the space for more chickens in the run and the coop--no issue with overcrowding
*since we're going to be moving it all anyway, should we move the coop and run at the same time as we introduce a new hen (post-quarantine)?
*our current three hens are all around a year old, so we're thinking 6-12 months old for the new addition.
*is it better to add a hen sooner or later to a flock this small? At this point we're looking to start the process in a month or so.
*what are some good breeds to consider for low broodiness, good temperament, and solid laying? We currently have a hybrid brown layer (Gold Star, iirc), an Australorp, and a Pearl White Leghorn. The GS is bossy and the PWL is very flighty. The kids like to track which hens are laying (and frankly, so do I--one more way to see what's going on out there) so an Easter Egger or Olive Egger would be nice, or something else that would lay a not-white, not-light-brown egg.
*the GS and A are pretty easily handled, so I could pull them out of the permanent run into a separate-but-attached area to give a newbie some space to explore the permanent structures. The PWL would follow her sisters, although she may need a little help.

Welsummers lay a beautiful med-dk brown egg (image from Murray McMurray )

 

[Mrs. K]

@ Kiki - where do you get your information about fattly liver disease and 1 T of scraps? I think that is a bit extreme.

I feed a balanced ration, and scraps, and my birds do fine. I find the eggs taste just like store bought eggs if you just feed layer feed. I let mine out to scrounge - they are hunting green grass right now, and that makes for bright orange yolks and great tasting eggs.

At the OP - if you can fit the cage in the coop, so much the better. The more they are together the better.

Mrs K

 

[McChooky]

@ Kiki - where do you get your information about fattly liver disease and 1 T of scraps? I think that is a bit extreme.

I feed a balanced ration, and scraps, and my birds do fine. I find the eggs taste just like store bought eggs if you just feed layer feed. I let mine out to scrounge - they are hunting green grass right now, and that makes for bright orange yolks and great tasting eggs.

At the OP - if you can fit the cage in the coop, so much the better. The more they are together the better.

Mrs K

Chickens share about 80% of their dna with jungle fowl so free ranging chickens will eat pretty much the same things naturally ( bugs, herbs and grass) however processed food and sweets can cause fatty live in people and animals both.Even chickens.

 

[Kiki]

@ Kiki - where do you get your information about fattly liver disease and 1 T of scraps? I think that is a bit extreme.

I feed a balanced ration, and scraps, and my birds do fine. I find the eggs taste just like store bought eggs if you just feed layer feed. I let mine out to scrounge - they are hunting green grass right now, and that makes for bright orange yolks and great tasting eggs.

At the OP - if you can fit the cage in the coop, so much the better. The more they are together the better.

Mrs K

Have you ever gotten a professional necropsy performed on one of your birds?
Do you butcher any of your birds?

It's pretty much all over the internet including this website that treats should not amount to more than 10% of a bird's diet.
On average an adult chicken should eat about 3/4 of a pound of commercially made pelleted or crumbled poultry feed per day.
10% of that is roughly about a tablespoon.



Good read:

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...c syndrome is,and fat engorgement at necropsy.

 

[Mrs. K]

Yes I do butcher birds, and no I have never done a professional necropsy. But I have never found the liver to be anything but a normal liver. Mine seldom have much fat on them. But they get a lot of exercise.

A lot probably depends on what the table scraps are...I am a home grown cook, and seldom cook or server any preprocessed foods. So perhaps my scraps are more natural? I am not that big on diet control. I throw out the scraps I have, some days more, some days less. They are gone the next day. If they weren't I would probably throw them out of the coop/run.

Mrs K

 

[McChooky]

Yes I do butcher birds, and no I have never done a professional necropsy. But I have never found the liver to be anything but a normal liver. Mine seldom have much fat on them. But they get a lot of exercise.

A lot probably depends on what the table scraps are...I am a home grown cook, and seldom cook or server any preprocessed foods. So perhaps my scraps are more natural? I am not that big on diet control. I throw out the scraps I have, some days more, some days less. They are gone the next day. If they weren't I would probably throw them out of the coop/run.

Mrs K

Who hasn't seen pictures of a chicken sitting on someones lap eating a piece of chocolate cake(or something else they shouldn't be eating)? I know I have. It happens everyday.