Can chickens eat too much?

[Rowsdower]

I picked up 7 six month old comets yesterday. The birds look good, very clean and in good body shape. They do, however, look smaller and less developed than my similarly aged hen. Are comets usually on the small side? But anyway, on to my question I guess. They have been eating like they had never seen food before. Should I worry? Can gorging themselves lead to other health issues? Their crops are so HUGE and hard.

 

[Fred's Hens]

They'll settle down in a few days. They may not have been fed properly before you got them. They are a red sex link and prolific layers. They normally are not huge birds, but just slightly larger than the Leghorn, a breed often used in their heritage.

 

[Rowsdower]

Thank you so much for the reply. No eggs this morning, though I guess I am not surprised. I only got home with them at like 9 pm. I asked their previous owner if they were laying yet and her answer was a less than encouraging "sort of". When should I expect these gals to settle enough to lay, if in fact they really are the age that I was told? Maybe I can get a pic in the morning and someone could tell me if they look like they are at POL?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Do post some pics. We'll give it a shot at guessing the age of them.

 

[Rowsdower]

Not the greatest of pictures, but you should be able to get some idea.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Nice. They look just fine. I wouldn't peg them at more than 17-18 weeks, however. The combs and wattles are smaller on all but the one.

I don't peg them at 6 months. People do lose track of the passage of time. Or, they were grown very slowly, with limited protein. Actually? This is be a good thing, a long-term benefit. Rushing birds into early POL is not a good thing with these top of the line layers.

Feed them well now and they'll be just great. I'd be sure they are getting a high protein 18-20% layer formula now. This will give them what they need to improve their feathering, build muscle mass and have the protein required for egg laying, which should be any day.

 

[Rowsdower]

Awesome, thanks. I'm currently finishing off my bag of finisher/grower which is 15% protein, if I recall correctly. Should I go ahead and switch to layer crumbles then? I do supplement their diet with lots of high protein treats.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yes, a layer formula would be fine. It is merely a Grower with the calcium added into it. Nothing magical about it, but easy to feed and know they are getting the calcium required for hard shells and bone health. 16% is pretty average for layer feed. I personally like to use a 17% layer feed, with animal protein and fat, but even upwards of 20% Layer formulas are available and good feathering and good egg production is the result of using it.

You could also feed a 20% non-medicated Starter/Grower. Nice feed, but usually a bit pricey. Also, since it doesn't have added calcium, you'd have to offer a calcium source, such a re-cycled egg shells or oyster shells on the side. Lots of folks go that direction too.

 

[Rowsdower]

Thank you, will do the layer feed. Pricey, indeed. I was feeding my birds the 20% grower until they were roughly 12 weeks of age. I do give my birds recycled egg shells as an option but they don't seem to go for them too much.

 

[Rowsdower]

On a slightly unrelated note, do these birds fly better than most standards? They have been scaling fences that my older birds are far too hefty to fly over. I wondered if it was a trait of these birds or if it is simply because they are lighter.