help ! How can I get my hens to put on weight

[heatherschics]

Hi i am glad that I am not the only one having this issue, I was so worried i would lose them thru the winter, I bought a supplement to add to their water, 1 packet ger gallon of water, and some of them are gaining weight, but they just seem real light to me ...I hope you find the answer, maybe we both will..Good Luck

 

[Eggcessive]

Hi i am glad that I am not the only one having this issue, I was so worried i would lose them thru the winter, I bought a supplement to add to their water, 1 packet ger gallon of water, and some of them are gaining weight, but they just seem real light to me ...I hope you find the answer, maybe we both will..Good Luck

Welcome to BYC. I recommend putting more than one feeder out on opposite ends so everyone gets a chance to eat. I like 20% flock raiser for the extra protein, and put crushed oyster shell in a container to eat what they need. Limit any scratch or other treats to less than10% of their diet. A good poultry vitamin/probiotic in the water 2-3 days a week helps keep them in good condition. Worming with a good dewormer such as SafeGuard or Valbazen instead of the usually recommended Wazine twice a year will insure that they are not losing weight due to a worm load. Picking them up off the roost in the evening once in awhile and feeling of their keel bone to make sure they are not thin is good too.

 

[realsis]

I got my birds to gain weight by switching over to a ALL certified USDA Organic feed. I buy mine online from countryside organics. Com and have them ship the food to me. This has made a HUGE difference in my birds, and their weight! The ingredients are wonderful with lots of vitamins and Probotics . The food contains things like all organic field peas and organic wheat, and organic corn,and fish meal with alfalfa, flaxseed, and barely and more! Take a look online at the ingredients of countryside organics feed and you will see a big difference! It is fresh and healthy and you will be able to immediately see the difference in the food! It's really helped my girls put on weight that they needed and eggs are better and their feathers are brighter! You might want to give them a try. At least stop by the site and take look at the ingredients. This might help assist you if your making their own feed. I really hope this helps and wish the very best for you and your flock! This feed has been very successful in my flock. You might consider giving it a try. Welcome to BYC.hope this helps.

 

[LR Gamefarm]

Feed them a high protein feed like rabbit meat or high protein dog food cottage cheese might work as well I know it puts weight back on female dogs that have just had puppies but chunks of rabbit meat works best for me within 3 weeks they should start gaining weight if not then its parasites

 

[Mystical mutt]

hello @realsis I have a lil one pound bantam and she used to weigh more than this,she lost her life partner Mr rooster a few weeks ago and I got her a new hen so very stressful times and she has an ongoing respiratory illness which she will have for life sadly and had some crop issues from the antibiotics I had her on for it so I really want to get her to put on weight again! I put ACV/probiotics in her water for the past almost two wks now(thinking I should stop the ACV tomarrow and only do the probiotics from now on,worried it's upsetting her system at this point?) and am feeding her wet mash(her feed mixed with water) primarily but with gard boiled egg added about twice a week,thinking about putting less than half a tbsp of creamy peanut butter in her feed today to help her get more protien/fat then egg mash tomarrow,curious your thoughts on the peanut butter and how often I should mix that in her mash,I was thinking maybe once or twice a week?I also picked up some flock raiser today and am curious if I could mix 1/4 of it into her daily ration of mash to help or do you think this may cause problems like diahrea?she has been on the same feed for 10years now which is x-cel layer pellets so I just don't want to cause any harm whilst trying to help ya know?!..I've been wanting to switch her over to a much better high quality feed though and it sounds like you have had really good success with the feed you give your hens but I'm curious if you have a link to the website for the feed you use so I can easily find it?I was having a heck of a time tracking it down by just searching for country side organics chicken feed..I'm very concerned for her & need to get her to put on more weight asap!any help is very much appreciated,thank you

I got my birds to gain weight by switching over to a ALL certified USDA Organic feed. I buy mine online from countryside organics. Com and have them ship the food to me. This has made a HUGE difference in my birds, and their weight! The ingredients are wonderful with lots of vitamins and Probotics . The food contains things like all organic field peas and organic wheat, and organic corn,and fish meal with alfalfa, flaxseed, and barely and more! Take a look online at the ingredients of countryside organics feed and you will see a big difference! It is fresh and healthy and you will be able to immediately see the difference in the food! It's really helped my girls put on weight that they needed and eggs are better and their feathers are brighter! You might want to give them a try. At least stop by the site and take look at the ingredients. This might help assist you if your making their own feed. I really hope this helps and wish the very best for you and your flock! This feed has been very successful in my flock. You might consider giving it a try. Welcome to BYC.hope this helps.

 

[Mystical mutt]

I got my birds to gain weight by switching over to a ALL certified USDA Organic feed. I buy mine online from countryside organics. Com and have them ship the food to me. This has made a HUGE difference in my birds, and their weight! The ingredients are wonderful with lots of vitamins and Probotics . The food contains things like all organic field peas and organic wheat, and organic corn,and fish meal with alfalfa, flaxseed, and barely and more! Take a look online at the ingredients of countryside organics feed and you will see a big difference! It is fresh and healthy and you will be able to immediately see the difference in the food! It's really helped my girls put on weight that they needed and eggs are better and their feathers are brighter! You might want to give them a try. At least stop by the site and take look at the ingredients. This might help assist you if your making their own feed. I really hope this helps and wish the very best for you and your flock! This feed has been very successful in my flock. You might consider giving it a try. Welcome to BYC.hope this helps.

hello @realsis I have a lil one pound bantam and she used to weigh more than this,she lost her life partner Mr rooster a few weeks ago and I got her a new hen so very stressful times and she has an ongoing respiratory illness which she will have for life sadly and had some crop issues from the antibiotics I had her on for it so I really want to get her to put on weight again! I put ACV/probiotics in her water for the past almost two wks now(thinking I should stop the ACV tomarrow and only do the probiotics from now on,worried it's upsetting her system at this point?) and am feeding her mash primarily but with gard boiled egg added about twice a week,thinking about putting less than half a tbsp of creamy peanut butter in her feed today to help her get more protien/fat then egg mash tomarrow,curious your thoughts on the peanut butter and how often I should mix that in her mash,I was thinking maybe once or twice a week?..I'm also curious if you have a link to the website for the organic feed you had success with so I can easily find the feed your talking about?I was having a heck of a time tracking it down by just searching for country side organics chicken feed..I'm very concerned for her & need to get her to put on more weight asap!any help is very much appreciated,thank you