Chicken not interested in pellets help!

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

I agree they definitely are. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner. I definitely will use the mush as a treat. It rained the other and all the kicked out food turned to mush and they ran to that first rather than the food they had. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Sara S]

Chickens are like children. They will always choose the potato chips and candy (treats) over their vegetables (balanced feed).

In the future, you can always give them a treat by making mash out of their feed. For some reason they think it's the best thing ever.

Mine too it’s hilarious,

 

[Painted Calls]

I agree they definitely are. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner. I definitely will use the mush as a treat. It rained the other and all the kicked out food turned to mush and they ran to that first rather than the food they had. Thank you for the advice!

Good luck with your flock!

 

[3KillerBs]

what if she doesn’t eat? I check her crop multiple times a day and it’s almost always empty.

I'm glad to see that this is getting sorted out.

No healthy animal will starve itself out of "pickiness".

Personally, I never tolerated my kids being picky and I won't tolerate it from chickens. I expect them to eat anything I put into the feeder.

A little benign neglect is helpful here. Put food in feeder, walk away without watching to see what happens. The feed always vanishes when you're not looking.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I have a hen she almost two not problems with eat before until about a week ago. She wasn’t interested in the food I set out. She would eat the sunflower seeds and corn. Other than that she’d pick. She will eat grass and wet pellets but it’s 7 degrees this morning so they are inside. She has been eating eggs she goes crazy for those. She’s been acting normal running to me when I have food until about today and yesterday. She’ll stand there next to the food like she’s cold and close her eyes. Other times she’ll take a few bites. This morning she just stayed on the roost and went back to sleep. What am I doing wrong? They have 20% protien food and probiotics in the water everyday. Her poops look normal she even has big ones. Her comb is still a nice red. (Even if something is slightly off her comb will change color.) she’ll run outside and scratch she’s herself just bored of the food.

Are the others letting her eat?

 

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

yes but I have noticed a little aggression. She also does not like the crouding.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

yes but I have noticed a little aggression. She also does not like the crouding.

You should try having two food bowls see if that helps

 

[3KillerBs]

You should try having two food bowls see if that helps

Yes, having multiple feeders is always good if there is any suspicion that dominant birds may be guarding the feeder.

 

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

I have 2 big ones. And 3 when they are outside. Along with the water

 

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

Update 2: This is my coop set up. I have 4 bowls the two smallest bowls are mush. In the middle there is pellets around the small dog bowl of mush. And the one on the left is mush as well. Not seeds or treats. I think that started as a trend for a few like tiny but not as bad. The mush is a huge hit it is like the eggs to them. They go crazy. I also have a big heated dog water bowl that’s always plugged in. I change it once a day. My chicken tiny ate a couple tablespoons of mush for me. I also think she could be molting or going through a lighter one. She is not in this picture but she’s starting to get patchy and when she shakes a few feathers fall out. Other than that I’ve been keeping them all warm and on higher protein feed. They do great on that. It’s an all flock feed so it has all the layer feed qualities just more protein. If I give then just layer feed I only get 2-4 eggs a day. Where the high protein I get 5-7 eggs a day out of 9 hens. I love all my little ladies. (They really aren’t that little anymore)