hens spoiled on crumbles

[Cheryl]

For the new person...my girls are 9 weeks old and eating chick grower, it looks the same as the previous food, are other crumbles also designed for pullets and hens or are you opting to keep them on crumbles made for the youngsters? Yes, I am confused!

 

[LoneCowboy]

Yes, you can get layer food in crumble form.

My chicken hate pellets. I was afraid of that. I've been making them a warm pellet mash with them. Just add hot water to their pellets and they wolf it right down. 2 more girls started laying since I did that. Plus, I have a grain grinder. I took their pellets and ran a bunch through on very course setting, and now they look like crumbles. Man, those pellet are really hard. I can't blame them for not wanting to eat them.

 

[allen wranch]

If the crops are down by in the morning, everything is fine. If the crop is full and hard, you have a problem.

However, if you don't see the birds in the morning before they start eating for the day, their crop may start to fill before you check. They shouldn't be too big though.

 

[seminolewind]

Mine won't eat pellets either. Good suggestion about adding hot water to them and making mash. I hate to throw 50 pounds of feed away.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Oh no, don't throw it away! I take out a pie plate full of pellets watered down with hot water till they are just moist, and then mix a handful of scratch into it. They eat 2 whole pie plates of that a day. Nearly lick it clean. It's very funny to watch. They are going to be really bummed when their pellets are gone