Hi, I just ordered Avia Charge 2000 from MM after reading some posts on feather picking. I have to say in the last couple of weeks 1/2 of the girls are looking pretty raggedy. I had very few issues with the picking till now. They picked on one of the buff minorcas in the brooder, I had to treat her twice but her feathers came back and no problems till now. They are now 22wks and I'm now getting 3-6 eggs daily since they started laying 3 weeks ago. The cuprits are the white leghorns & occasionally the 1 brown leghorn gets a little nasty. I have a total of 7 girls (out of 14) with bald spots on their backs They have 24/7 access to layer crumbles, oyster shell, grit & clean water. I throw goodies in the run like weeds, grass, fruit....watermelons & lopes, vegetables, yogurt & they get BOSS daily. They also have free access to their run. With the exception of the BOSS & yogurt, they will stop eating treats to go pick feathers. Some of the girls that haven't started laying but are squatting will stand there & take it for a minute or two before trying to get away. Seems to me like they're squatting for the dominate girls but just get picked at for their trouble. They do have sufficient room/ space per chicken, I do want to expand their run next spring in an attempt to give them pasture that I can restrict their access to to manage the grass. So my question is has anyone had success with the Avia Charge? Do you use it daily? Year round? Or is their something else I can do? Thanks
I would say this is one great product and highly recommended by folks in the know. Think your birds will greatly benifit from it. ML
I just found this thread. I have been using Avia Charge 2000 since early this spring. A few of my girls were having trouble with a hard molt and figured this might help & it did. One of my older girls was looking pretty tired and worn after our long cold winter and I thought for sure we would lose her this summer. After about a week of Avia Charge she perked right up and she is still with us today. I use it regularly, free choice, in two bowls. I make up 1/2 gallon a day. It would last a bit longer but I have two ducks who just suck the stuff up & get quite a bit of mud in it. Doesn't seem to bother the chickens as much as it does me. Most of the girls go over to the bowl a few times a day for a sip or two. The young ones like it and it's good to know that they are getting something "good for them" esp. if you are giving them a lot of treats. Hopefully it does stop your feather pickers. I have found that feather picking may not always be a deficiency but a bad habit that one or two chickens may have. If that is the case you may have to cull or find another solution.