help! underfed chickens - need help safely gaining weight

[Lucy Wild]

hi its my first time raising chickens and my flock (17 hens from 3-6months old, 1 rooster about 1 year) seems unanimously underweight. A friend of ours helped us find our flock from a few different sources and had them live in on his farm until we finished building our barn (about 3 months) he fed them only cracked corn as far as I know and didn’t allow them out of the coop (I think to prevent them from fighting with his flock, he doesn’t have a separate run). I’m very embarrassed to say that I wasn’t aware they weren’t free ranging until they moved onto my farm (11 days ago) Our friend is old school and didn’t see any problems with it. My husband had been handling the barn building/chicken finding and I wasn’t as proactive as I should have been until they moved in. I only just learned that corn is a very poor diet especially if they aren’t given access to forage.

One of our hens also showed up with bumble foot on her left foot. she is now taking antibiotics and although her foot is looking much healthier, she is very thin, borderline emaciated. She hasnt had much of an appetite since she moved in but I thought it was due to her foot, and that her appetite would return as it healed. Yesterday I started wondering if she is even drinking enough water. she feels like a skeleton no breasts at all. I made an electrolyte drink (water, baking soda, sugar, salt) and a nutrient packed meal (oatmeal, ground eggshells, a green vitamin powder, molasses, scrambled eggs, beef liver, flax seeds, goat yogurt) and have rolled them into little balls and am force feeding her a few times a day and giving her the electrolyte solutions every hour or two. Afterwards I’ve been bringing her outside and letting her sit in the grass and she’ll eat some grit. I’ve also put some grit in her room too (she is isolated from the flock as she seems so weak and barely moves). Today is the first day that I began feeding/watering her that way. Before I was bringing her a plate of different foods and letting her choose to eat what she wanted but yesterday she felt so thin I knew I had to take more steps. I also checked the other birds and although she is definitely the thinnest, they are all very thin too, hardly any breast, even our rooster. The whole flock is young, 4 are laying and they are very thin as well.

I feel like I’m in total Mom mode, worried and wanting to fatten up my kids. For the rest of the flock I made a large bowl of oats with yogurt, green powder, scrambled eggs, liver, sunflower seeds, walnut, flax seeds, egg shell powder, salt, and molasses. Their appetite has always been good but I’m worried that they are so thin due to their previously poor diet so although they are allowed to free range all day I wanted to give them extra nutrients until they are up to weight. I was thinking of doing this everyday until they start to gain and doing it once a day.



I live in Costa Rica and it’s difficult to find good quality feed that doesn’t contain hormones and I can find some chicken specific vitamins but I have better luck find vitas for dogs or cats and just making sure to do my research that it is safe for chickens. I have limited access to oats and most seeds and nuts to try to put together my own feed although it would be possible for a short term solution it would be too expensive in the long run. The “feed” they have constant access too is only cracked corn and foraging throughout the day. I’d like to get them up to a healthy weight as safely as possible. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you for reading this very long post from a worried first time chicken mama!!

 

[Hanathehappyhen]

Thats terrible! You could buy some feed online and ship it to you. Do you have any vegetables like kale or chard? Both are great for them. How thick are the shells of your laying hens? Giving them some rice or yoghurt can help. Good luck!

 

[Lucy Wild]

Thats terrible! You could buy some feed online and ship it to you. Do you have any vegetables like kale or chard? Both are great for them. How thick are the shells of your laying hens? Giving them some rice or yoghurt can help. Good luck!

Thank you! I have access to almost every fruit and veggie. I’ve tried giving them spinach and kale but they didn’t seem interested. That’s why I decided to mix in a “green” powder instead that is full of green veggies.

The shells of the eggs seem as strong as the eggs I buy from our neighbor. They’re small eggs but I understand theyll likely get bigger as the hens get older.

They are all Brahma chickens too if that helps.

 

[Jasper D]

Thank you! I have access to almost every fruit and veggie. I’ve tried giving them spinach and kale but they didn’t seem interested. That’s why I decided to mix in a “green” powder instead that is full of green veggies.

The shells of the eggs seem as strong as the eggs I buy from our neighbor. They’re small eggs but I understand theyll likely get bigger as the hens get older.

They are all Brahma chickens too if that helps.

I give my hens organic layer pellets, they also get blueberries, organic greek yogurt, I grow meal worms and they love those and good protein. I also get ears of corn and put those in their run, watermelon is another favorite.

 

[jewelg]

What a hard learning experience, Lucy, but hang in there. You’re in the right place for info and your explanation and understanding of what happened, and what you’re doing now, is really good. Also, we can’t know what we don’t know. That goes for you in these early days, and also for your friend who started your chicks for you- he was only doing what he knew- so hold onto that grace for him and for yourself.
Our girls love grated fruits and veggies (apples, carrots, shredded cabbage, chopped berries, squash, melon). I’ll mix that up, sometimes with some yogurt, and sometimes just the fresh produce, sprinkle some shredded cheese or some sunflower seeds on it, and some dried mealworms or dried soldier fly larvae. This is usually a big hit.
You can cut a melon in half and let them have at it. They love melon seeds as well as fruit. Papaya fruit is good. Papaya seeds are a strong anti-parasitical (worms,specifically), and I’ve read that papaya skin is not good for chickens. I skin a papaya, scoop out most of the seeds but not all, and give that to my hens. I have 8 birds, so a whole papaya of seeds seems like too much to me for my flock, but I don’t have any hard numbers on that- it’s just my feeling.
Our girls go gaga for cheese- we use this as a treat, but since it’s high fat and good protein, it could be a good regular treat right now as you help your girls put on weight.
We’ve had our hens for 8 months, so I am by no means an expert, but when one of our cats doesn’t finish his wet cat food, it goes to the chickens and they go nuts for it. It’s another high protein option that could help your girls get some weight on, and it might be easier to find in CR. I definitely don’t recommend it as a regular food, but as a treat, though maybe a regular treat as you help them gain weight.
And I agree with others on this thread that it sounds like mail ordering feed is the way to go. Hang in there!

 

[jewelg]

What a hard learning experience, Lucy, but hang in there. You’re in the right place for info and your explanation and understanding of what happened, and what you’re doing now, is really good. Also, we can’t know what we don’t know. That goes for you in these early days, and also for your friend who started your chicks for you- he was only doing what he knew- so hold onto that grace for him and for yourself.
Our girls love grated fruits and veggies (apples, carrots, shredded cabbage, chopped berries, squash, melon). I’ll mix that up, sometimes with some yogurt, and sometimes just the fresh produce, sprinkle some shredded cheese or some sunflower seeds on it, and some dried mealworms or dried soldier fly larvae. This is usually a big hit.
You can cut a melon in half and let them have at it. They love melon seeds as well as fruit. Papaya fruit is good. Papaya seeds are a strong anti-parasitical (worms,specifically), and I’ve read that papaya skin is not good for chickens. I skin a papaya, scoop out most of the seeds but not all, and give that to my hens. I have 8 birds, so a whole papaya of seeds seems like too much to me for my flock, but I don’t have any hard numbers on that- it’s just my feeling.
Our girls go gaga for cheese- we use this as a treat, but since it’s high fat and good protein, it could be a good regular treat right now as you help your girls put on weight.
We’ve had our hens for 8 months, so I am by no means an expert, but when one of our cats doesn’t finish his wet cat food, it goes to the chickens and they go nuts for it. It’s another high protein option that could help your girls get some weight on, and it might be easier to find in CR. I definitely don’t recommend it as a regular food, but as a treat, though maybe a regular treat as you help them gain weight.
And I agree with others on this thread that it sounds like mail ordering feed is the way to go. Hang in there!

And another note- calcium! You want to make sure that laying birds have enough, so you’ll want to add oyster shell to your mail order list, or see if there’s a pet store that carries it. I think tropical pet birds need oyster shell, too, so it might be an easier local find than chicken specific food.

 

[parvani]

Our pullets and cockerels LOVE bananas and scrambled eggs! They literally scarf them down in seconds.

I don't feed them plain eggs because I don't want them to develop a taste for plain eggs. But they love bananas, so I blend some with the cooked eggs.

Eggs are the most nutritious food for chickens as well as chicks. Especially if they're malnourished, eggs will have them up and running around in no time at all.

 

[Davethebirdman]

hi its my first time raising chickens and my flock (17 hens from 3-6months old, 1 rooster about 1 year) seems unanimously underweight. A friend of ours helped us find our flock from a few different sources and had them live in on his farm until we finished building our barn (about 3 months) he fed them only cracked corn as far as I know and didn’t allow them out of the coop (I think to prevent them from fighting with his flock, he doesn’t have a separate run). I’m very embarrassed to say that I wasn’t aware they weren’t free ranging until they moved onto my farm (11 days ago) Our friend is old school and didn’t see any problems with it. My husband had been handling the barn building/chicken finding and I wasn’t as proactive as I should have been until they moved in. I only just learned that corn is a very poor diet especially if they aren’t given access to forage.

One of our hens also showed up with bumble foot on her left foot. she is now taking antibiotics and although her foot is looking much healthier, she is very thin, borderline emaciated. She hasnt had much of an appetite since she moved in but I thought it was due to her foot, and that her appetite would return as it healed. Yesterday I started wondering if she is even drinking enough water. she feels like a skeleton no breasts at all. I made an electrolyte drink (water, baking soda, sugar, salt) and a nutrient packed meal (oatmeal, ground eggshells, a green vitamin powder, molasses, scrambled eggs, beef liver, flax seeds, goat yogurt) and have rolled them into little balls and am force feeding her a few times a day and giving her the electrolyte solutions every hour or two. Afterwards I’ve been bringing her outside and letting her sit in the grass and she’ll eat some grit. I’ve also put some grit in her room too (she is isolated from the flock as she seems so weak and barely moves). Today is the first day that I began feeding/watering her that way. Before I was bringing her a plate of different foods and letting her choose to eat what she wanted but yesterday she felt so thin I knew I had to take more steps. I also checked the other birds and although she is definitely the thinnest, they are all very thin too, hardly any breast, even our rooster. The whole flock is young, 4 are laying and they are very thin as well.

I feel like I’m in total Mom mode, worried and wanting to fatten up my kids. For the rest of the flock I made a large bowl of oats with yogurt, green powder, scrambled eggs, liver, sunflower seeds, walnut, flax seeds, egg shell powder, salt, and molasses. Their appetite has always been good but I’m worried that they are so thin due to their previously poor diet so although they are allowed to free range all day I wanted to give them extra nutrients until they are up to weight. I was thinking of doing this everyday until they start to gain and doing it once a day.



I live in Costa Rica and it’s difficult to find good quality feed that doesn’t contain hormones and I can find some chicken specific vitamins but I have better luck find vitas for dogs or cats and just making sure to do my research that it is safe for chickens. I have limited access to oats and most seeds and nuts to try to put together my own feed although it would be possible for a short term solution it would be too expensive in the long run. The “feed” they have constant access too is only cracked corn and foraging throughout the day. I’d like to get them up to a healthy weight as safely as possible. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you for reading this very long post from a worried first time chicken mama!!

You are trying to raise too many birds if you have no experience. It is very poor judgment.
2 or 4 is fine for a first time. Chickens need feed in front of them 24/7 in a large feeder for a flock and water. I hope you don’t kill them from neglect or ???