at TSC I was told I was buying egg layers, but she gained 3 lbs when I free feed them but she has been eating chick feed instead of her pellets because she wanted to eat what the chicks were eating but I just mixed some oyster shells with layer pellets
Awesome! Sounds like she’s gonna lay soon! Unfortunately meat birds are not meant to live far past POL do they often develop health problems at a young age. They are meant to get very large and that can affect their health in a negative way.
she has been gaining weight and is having trouble getting up the ramp but my mom doesn't want to kill her and she won't let us get rid of her.
Of course it’s hard to let go of a special hen, but i hope you understand that if it continues to get worse you will have to rehoming her (I know you would never kill her yourself so rehoming would be a better option)
my mom won't let me rehome her because she knows that they'll eat her.
I understand- I have a similar situation, as my parents do not want to buy a larger coop. Understanding what is best for the hen, is all you can do if you have no other way of helping her. She is probably ok for now but if it gets to the point, that some time in the future, that she cannot walk around or really can’t get up the ramp, you will have to take some action
this is not related but my 6-week old chicks just found a worm outside and they ate it is that okay?
Yes that’s fine! Good for them to be learning to forage like that. As long as they have access to chick grit they should be able to digest it perfectly fine. They would have been eating beetles with mama in the wild so a worm can’t hurt them. I would hold off on GIVING them new foods until they are 6 weeks old, just safer to make sure that they are eating more of their starter feed than treats
