hens spoiled on crumbles

[SeaChick]

Hi guys-

Purple, not to contradict you (and since you have first hand experince processing birds, you are probably correct!) but when Penny had an impacted crop I did a lot of research. I found this very helpful page with photos showing the crops at periodic intervals after feed withdrawal. This says that in 4 hours the crop should be empty..... (warning: very graphic pics!!) http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/poultry/bba01s27.html

For whatever its worth!

Stacey

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

We feed our chickens crumble mixed in with steamed rice never had a chicken with an impacted crop. Maybe because it is not so dry and they don't have to rely on so much water intake since it is moist. My wife will feed them till their crop is full. We will take their feed away the night before and then let them have access to water only the next day which we have never had a problem with their crop being full.

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

my girls hate pellets!!! believe me I have seen a difference in egg production, weight and attitude LOL.. Not to mention problems with shells... Me personally I will not buy pellets anymore!! Crumbles is all my girls get... we buy it at TSC for 11.00 for a 50lb bag. Good luck!!!!

 

[rosyposyosy]

increased egg production?! So it's final! My girls only get crumbles from now on!!

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I've only processed 7 birds (or so) but we have cut open the crop
to check it on most of the birds we've done. They all had fresh food
and free range grass and stuff in them, even though they had no access
to this for at least 12 hours.

They pictures in my head are VERY vivid. My wife is a med tech and nursing
student so we usually REALLY check out all the internals.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I reviewed that page Stacey. Very interesting. I think we were confusing
the crop with the gizzard. The picture of the gizzard on that page is what
we saw.

Sorry if my ignorance of chicken internals confused anyone here.

The crop was never visibly full on any of the birds prior to processing.

 

[ole-crone]

Even with my girls molting and the hours getting shorter, we were still getting at least a dozen eggs a day until I decided it would be less wasteful to feed pellets. Within a week the eggs dropped down to 3 a day, if lucky. The girls are starting to grow back their feathers, we've added a light to their coop and this week they are going back onto crumbles. The pellets we have left I'll see if I can smash up. Today I gathered 2 eggs from around 30 chickens. Hoping the crumbles bring them back to at least 5 or 6 a day soon for the winter.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You could also try putting some of the pellets in a bowl with some warm water, as a treat. Some people's chickens really go for that. Mmm... A nice, warm, soft breakfast on a cold morning...

 

[chickenwoods]

Purple chicken you said their crops were like golf balls,as if thats big??

Maybee i should be worried but by the end of the day my mature hens crops are the size of a baseball..is this normal??


I went to the feedstore and they lowerd the price of crumbles to 9.50$/50lb i bought some and my birds do seem alot happier,i switched back to crumbles about 2 days a go (i think) and i've already seen an increase in eggs. from a fall trend of 3-5 eggs,to 7 today..from 13 laying hens.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
My girls are only 7 months old and maybe 5 pounds. If your hens are older than
I wouldn't be surprised if the crops are even bigger. I shouldn't even be posting
on the thread. I've done more to confuse than help people.