Chickens hardly eating/drinking in winter?

[BansheeBenji]

I've got kind of a confusing situation going on. My five girls seem like they're hardly eating/drinking. I put out layer pellets in their bowl every morning (they only eat from bowls) and they always have fresh water. It doesn't get that cold here, I'm in the California Bay area, so the water isn't freezing.

They're in an enclosed run on sand, and I'm sure that bugs come up while it's raining because they'll scratch around, but I can't imagine that's enough to sustain them. Last year, when I only had four, they'd eat up to 8 cups in a day. After finishing their moults, they were finishing a solid four until now. Right now, they only seem to eat about 2 cups, if even. Every few days they'll get some corn and meal worms, grubs, occasionally some live dubia roaches, or a piece of a seed block. The quarter seed block that's in there now has barely been touched in the last two days. Only my 10 month old Orpington is laying, and she's definitely the most hungry, so I was thinking that maybe the rest aren't eating as much because they aren't laying? It's always been my experience that they eat much more in the winter though...

None of them love being touched, so I only got to really check on one of my girls today, and she was feeling a little thin. I just got through a lice battle in October, from which they fully recovered, so I'm highly doubtful that that's the issue. But I've been extra paranoid since. I'm going to get a fecal test done as soon as possible, but in the mean time I put Wazine 17 in their waterer this morning to start my yearly worming regimen. (I'm going to follow this with probiotics in between, and Safeguard in 14 days.) The problem is that they're hardly drinking anything, so I'm not sure if they all actually got wormed.

They all have bright combs, bright eyes, clear noses and no-one's acting any more lethargic than just winter blues. There's plenty of manure under their roost in the morning, and only one of mine (a little suspected serama/salmon favorelle mix with an easily upset stomach) is having diarrhea. There's some looser yellowy stool but I think it's just their cecal poop. It looks like they're eating based on what they're passing overnight but...again, not much feed is getting eaten. And there's also hardly any urates.

They got soaked feed with dried crickets mixed in today and that got a little more attention. I don't know if I should really be worried, or if this might just be them not wanting as much while they're off laying. Could it be as simple as needing to find something to entice them to the water with?


(Also for the record, they're in an insulated, above ground 2x4 coop with good of ventilation. I use pine shavings as their bedding with herbs, coop n compost, and a little lice dust mixed in. The run is 8x16, half of it tarped, course sand and fallen leaf litter throughout. I feed them layer pellets, the Purina brand, because my vet recommended it and it saved my chicken. They also have free choice of two options of grit and oyster shells each. My oldest two will be 3 in February/March, second oldest are 2, and the youngest is 10 months.)

 

[azygous]

All but the youngest are just completing molt? None are laying?

Unless the layer feed is 20% protein, it really doesn't have enough to replenish their stores of protein. Feeding an all-flock feed with oyster shell free choice would be one thing you could do that would probably improve their appetites and energy levels.

Canned mackerel twice a week can help. Tofu and cottage cheese are also good high protein treats to build them back up after the stress of molt has hammered their appetites and nutritional levels.

Molt can leave hens nutritionally drained and their appetites limp. Some even develop secondary health issues from starving themselves during molt. Extra protein and vitamins in some cases will jump start them and get them ready for laying again.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If they seem bright eyed and healthy I wouldn't worry too much, but keep an eye on them. Mine always eat less in winter likely due to very short days, plus most of them aren't laying so don't need to eat extra for egg production.

 

[BroodyCluck]

I stopped trying to feed my chickens laying pellets long ago because they just didn't seem to eat them much and ate the laying mash crumbles so much better. I would wait a while and try pellets again and get the same results of them barely eating the pellets. So, I then just mixed the last pellets I bought a small amounts at a time into the crumbles till I finished the bag off rather than waste and didnt buy them anymore. Then about a year ago, I switched to chick starter food for new hatchlings rather than the laying mash pellets. Comparing the bags I noted that it was comparable in nutritional content yet higher in protein and they eat it well. I've always given them extra things in their feed bowl as well. It drives a friend of mine crazy because I add the chicken scratch to the feed bowl. She's determined that the scratch should be tossed into the field for them to scratch for insects not in the bowl. But I do take a fist full of scratch and throw it for them to scratch when they get out to forage. My chickens only get to free range into my yard about every 3 days sometimes more but on the average every 3 days. I also add the type of gravel sold for biddies to the feed bowl. I just feel like they can take it better than the one sold for adult chickens. Sometimes I run a few whole soft boiled eggs through the blender and add to the feed bowl. I also give them sunflower seeds especially in these cold times. I sprout them in the warm seasons too. Sprouting offers a different nutritional content than the seed alone but the seed unsprouted offers high fat content they need for the cold. I also give them leftover table scraps when I have them. I know this can be frowned upon because of the salt. But I just put a small portion at a time along with the other things i have mentioned and never ever served cold. I never acknowledge their molting, it just happens gradually I'm sure. I've never seen it. I wish you the best.

 

[TwoCrows]

I think I asked this exact same question many years ago, you would think because it's cold and metabolisms are high that the birds would be consuming more food. But it was never the case in my flock. And I swore they ate more during the hottest days of summer!

As long as they are happy and healthy its probably just a normal pattern for your birds. Great that you have noticed this in your flock!

 

[aart]

Last year, when I only had four, they'd eat up to 8 cups in a day.