Hens have stopped eating pellets

[21hens-incharge]

When you give moistened/wet feed how are you serving it?

I use an open top dish like a dog food bowl.
Mine don't scatter it at all.

Just give a small amount to get them used to it. I never make more than they can finish in one day.

Mixing in a high protein item like canned fish can spark their interest.

 

[Mosey2003]

Is there some reason you won't feed just crumble? They eat that fine, right?

 

[Doc7]

My hens and pullets get one treat a day.
I open the coop at 5 am and turn on the lights.
The first thing they do is go to the feeder and waterer. View attachment 1625521.

Around 9 am they get their Treats for the day scattered in their pen. View attachment 1625524.
They clean it up in about 20 minutes.
That's the only Treats they get for the day.
Chicken Feed and Water are available all day.
My 7 nineteen week old Barred Rocks consume about 2 pounds of feed a day and 4 of them are squatting. Can't wait for the first egg. GC

Man! Their “only treats”
For the day is 20 minutes worth of food? I must be the meanest chicken owner ever. I use about 2 tablespoons of scratch grains to treat my chickens once a week or so if I am home during the day on a weekend!

So my chickens get about 15 seconds of treats a week, vs your 2 hours and 20 minutes?

 

[Equiem]

When you give moistened/wet feed how are you serving it?

I use an open top dish like a dog food bowl.
Mine don't scatter it at all.

Just give a small amount to get them used to it. I never make more than they can finish in one day.

Mixing in a high protein item like canned fish can spark their interest.

I don't really know how to explain it but it's like a blue plastic square bowl type thing?
I have one hen in particular who likes to get in and scratch it all out. I have even tried with bowls which were a little more successful but she still tries her luck!

I rarely make more than they can finish. I read and was told by the advice line by the charity that rescued the hens that they are supposed to eat 120g per day so I try to aim for that. I added some oregano to the wet warm food to try and upgrade the taste

Someone told me to try cat food but I don't want them to just pick it out and have a taste for something else when they're not eating their everyday food.

 

[Equiem]

Is there some reason you won't feed just crumble? They eat that fine, right?

I haven't tried the crumble on its own again yet but they seem very uninterested in eating anything that resembles a dry, hard food source. They even went off their handful of scattered corn they get a day but in the past few days that have eaten that.

 

[Mosey2003]

Are they free ranging or something? That is really odd.

 

[Equiem]

Are they free ranging or something? That is really odd.

They have a large pen that they roam in - I've added a photo (it looks smaller in the photo as it's a panoramic)
I have had no real trouble before, maybe once when I fed them too many snacks but they came back from that but this time it's completely different

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What is the mill date on your pellets?
Is there any chance the feed got wet?

 

[Equiem]

What is the mill date on your pellets?
Is there any chance the feed got wet?

The last bag of feed I have had only just gone "out of date" so I threw the rest away and I am currently worming them which is a brand new bag of feed.
We keep the main bag of food in a vermin proof cabinet inside a shed and then another smaller batch of food in an airtight container in a waterproof chest outside. We have done this since March of last year and never had problems with damp or wet food.

However I do plan on buying smaller bags because my hens are not going through a 20kg bag in the time between milling and best before dates so I will buy a smaller 5kg bag and keep it inside my home if necessary

 

[GC-Raptor]

However I do plan on buying smaller bags because my hens are not going through a 20kg bag in the time between milling and best before dates so I will buy a smaller 5kg bag and keep it inside my home if necessary

That's what I had to do, when I was down to 3 hens.
I had a 50 pound bag of feed go bad 5 months past mill date. The bag was stored in my house too.
The hens stopped eating it and egg production dropped.
I started to buy Non-medicated Start and Grow feed in 25 pound bags and problem solved.
Now I have 10 chickens so I'm back to 50 pound bags. GC