Chickens refusing to eat feed

[Matejka]

Ok- I am about to give up.
6 chicks-3 ss, welsummer and a rir.
All born 3/3/21-so 6 months old.
3 months ago, they stopped eating their feed. I changed from starter to grower. They were free ranging 7 til 7, so I thought they are getting enuff.
About 6 weeks ago,, I went ahead and changed brand of feed, since they were not eating the feed.From dumor grower to m-g grower. Pellets for both bags..
They still refuse to eat feed. I can feel keel bones .
So last week I stopped the free range. Completely.
Now, they are still not eating feed. Yesterday and today I let them free range about 2 hours right before dark.
I threw away about 30 lbs of the first bag. I have about 30 lbs of the m-g now, to dispose of. Today I picked up a 10# bag of chick starter crumble. They were not interested in it tonight. Tomorrow I will try it wet with a little oatmeal.
What can I do? Don't say if they get hungry they'll eat-they are and don't.
Suggestions opinions ideas?

 

[SarahGfa]

what did they eat for the first 3 months? Can you mix something tasty into their feed, like dried mealworms?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post some photos of the chicks and your coop/housing along with the feeder you are using?

 

[springvalley123]

Ok- I am about to give up.
6 chicks-3 ss, welsummer and a rir.
All born 3/3/21-so 6 months old.
3 months ago, they stopped eating their feed. I changed from starter to grower. They were free ranging 7 til 7, so I thought they are getting enuff.
About 6 weeks ago,, I went ahead and changed brand of feed, since they were not eating the feed.From dumor grower to m-g grower. Pellets for both bags..
They still refuse to eat feed. I can feel keel bones .
So last week I stopped the free range. Completely.
Now, they are still not eating feed. Yesterday and today I let them free range about 2 hours right before dark.
I threw away about 30 lbs of the first bag. I have about 30 lbs of the m-g now, to dispose of. Today I picked up a 10# bag of chick starter crumble. They were not interested in it tonight. Tomorrow I will try it wet with a little oatmeal.
What can I do? Don't say if they get hungry they'll eat-they are and don't.
Suggestions opinions ideas?

1) in the meantime, you could feed scrambled cooked eggs for the needed fat/protein, and free range.
2) did both bags come from the same store? maybe the stock is old, or they spray pesticide in the store and it gets into the bags (I knew someone who lost a whole flock of ducklings from this issue)
3) do you have any other chicken friends close by, you could swap a few handfuls of feed, to see if their flock eats your food and vice versa?
4) are your birds' crops empty in morning and full at roost time? I assume you see their crops fill up while they free range during the day?
5) Have they ever refused crumble, or just pellets (was the grower feed they refused, crumble?)

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

Have you tried a grain feed? You can try a bag of grower from scratch and peck feeds and order from Chewy or their website.

 

[Matejka]

1) in the meantime, you could feed scrambled cooked eggs for the needed fat/protein, and free range.
2) did both bags come from the same store? maybe the stock is old, or they spray pesticide in the store and it gets into the bags (I knew someone who lost a whole flock of ducklings from this issue)
3) do you have any other chicken friends close by, you could swap a few handfuls of feed, to see if their flock eats your food and vice versa?
4) are your birds' crops empty in morning and full at roost time? I assume you see their crops fill up while they free range during the day?
5) Have they ever refused crumble, or just pellets (was the grower feed they refused, crumble?)

1) ok I have been feeding scrambled egg in evening the past week
2) no. Different stores different towns, different brand feed.
3)no I don't, but the kitten loves the chicken feed
4)yes
5)chick starter was crumble. Grower feeds were pellets. Now gone back to chick starter.

 

[Matejka]

what did they eat for the first 3 months? Can you mix something tasty into their feed, like dried mealworms?

Chick starter crumble.

 

[Matejka]

Can you post some photos of the chicks and your coop/housing along with the feeder you are using?

I can! Except first bag of grower feed.
We have added 10 ft addition to cooptrun since this pic
Also rir and 1 speckled sussex are laying daily

 

[theoldchick]

If I feed my chickens too much scrap food they will stop eating the layer pellets. And my chickens don't like certain brands of chicken food. They will eat Dumor only after starving for a day or so. If you are feeding your chickens another source of food (scrambled eggs and so forth) they may not eat layer pellets.

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

You can chose to try the grain feed. Chickens that won't touch the crumble or pellets usually love it. You can even mix in some of the crumble with it. I have also found my favorite feeder to be the duncan's poultry 30lb wall feeder. You can place these outside on some bricks or equivalent and build a small lean to over them to keep any rainwater from getting in.

How many chickens total do you have? I like to have multiple feeders out, and this helps keep them all well fed.