Feather eating and medicated feed

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flock mommasan

flock mommasan

Songster
6 Years
Dec 8, 2016
63
41
122
Central coast of California
Just introduced 3 new pullets (~10 weeks old) to the flock of 5 (1.5 year olds) this week. It's going reasonably well except I see a few of the older gals are eating the young ones' medicated feed. Is that okay? Also, I saw my main egg layer, Big Mama, eat one of the smaller chickens' discarded feather. I'm assuming this may mean a lack of protein issue. (I had posted about one of the EE not laying yet this year and consensus seemed to be a need for more protein.)

I generally give my gals some carrots and carrot tops (or something similar) in the mornings and they get to free range for a short time in the afternoons. I given them a little scratch to get them back in the coop and end up with a little meal worm treat. Are they getting too much treat??
 
flock mommasan said:
Just introduced 3 new pullets (~10 weeks old) to the flock of 5 (1.5 year olds) this week. It's going reasonably well except I see a few of the older gals are eating the young ones' medicated feed. Is that okay? Also, I saw my main egg layer, Big Mama, eat one of the smaller chickens' discarded feather. I'm assuming this may mean a lack of protein issue. (I had posted about one of the EE not laying yet this year and consensus seemed to be a need for more protein.)

I generally give my gals some carrots and carrot tops (or something similar) in the mornings and they get to free range for a short time in the afternoons. I given them a little scratch to get them back in the coop and end up with a little meal worm treat. Are they getting too much treat??
Click to expand...
IMO if you feed treats more than ONCE a week its too much.
 
KikisGirls said:
I would consider ANY thing that your feed that is not a complete poultry feed as a treat.
By feeding anything besides the complete feed you are just lowering the values of the complete feed which means they aren't getting a complete diet.
http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing the article. I generally provide a cup or so of greens in the morning and less than a quarter cup of scratch in the afternoon for all the chickens -- nowhere close to "what they can eat in 15-20 minutes" -- more like 3 minutes. LOL! Nonetheless, it's a good point to watch their treat amounts and I'll see if adjusting that will change the outcome.
 
You have 8 birds?
I wouldn't feed more than one cup of treats per week.
 
It's going reasonably well except I see a few of the older gals are eating the young ones' medicated feed. Is that okay?

What medicine is in the medicated feed? I don't have a clue what would be the effects of something called "medicine". Might not be much, could be pretty serious. I don't mean to be picking on you, that question is really common. I don't know what country you are in, I don't know what medicated feed is available wherever you might be. In the States where I am different medicated feeds can contain different medicines.

Most medicated feeds here in the states is medicated with Amprolium and only Amprolium. Most, not all. You can find that information on the label. If it is only Amprolium it will not hurt your hens to eat it. The eggs are fine to eat. You could even butcher them and eat the meat. But if it is not Amprolium and only Amprolium I don't know if it is safe or not.

Also, I saw my main egg layer, Big Mama, eat one of the smaller chickens' discarded feather. I'm assuming this may mean a lack of protein issue.

It is extremely common for my chickens to eat a feather floating around. That is a good source of nutrients and absolutely normal. It does not mean anything bad. If they start pecking feathers off of each other to eat, then you have an issue. From what you describe they are just taking advantage of a good nutrient source. When a grasshopper gets into the run I don't see hens stopping to say, I've already had my grasshopper quota for the day, I think I'll skip this one. They take advantage of the opportunity.

In my opinion if they are cleaning the treats up that fast you are not feeding them too many. They do need a balanced diet, but that does not mean you need to micromanage every bite they eat. They can handle quite a bit of variation in the balance of nutrients. If you look at different brands of "Layer" feed, you will find a difference in the analyses. The analysis is on the label and tells you what percent of various nutrients are in that specific feed. You can find differences in protein, fats, fiber, salt, calcium, and the other nutrients they tell you about. They are all going to be roughly the same so they are relatively balanced, but one may have 16% protein, another 18%. Some of us like to feed a 20% protein feed though we may need to offer oyster shell on the side to get the calcium up where it needs to be for hens laying eggs.

We all have our own opinions on these things, you can see how different they are by reading a few posts. Some of us are extremely rigid in what they want, some are more relaxed. In my opinion if your chickens are healthy and laying good eggs you are doing OK.
 
Thanks for the info Ridgerunner! I'm in California and the medicated feed I use is Nutrena's Country Feeds Chick Start Grow Feed Medicated. I don't have a label from it (we emptied the bag into a sealed bin) and can't seem to find online what medicine is in it. I just think it's interesting that all the layer chickens seem to prefer this food to the pellets.

When we buy food next time, I think I will try a higher protein one as I believe the one I have for the layers is at 16% protein. I will see if this solves the issue of one of my Easter Eggers not laying yet this year (she's not yet 2 years old)....

For the record all the girls are beautifully plump with gorgeous feathers so in general I'd say they are healthy.
 
Keep an eye on the plumpness.
Fat chickens are not healthy.
 

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