Hens won't eat any food, cry on and off all day

[KMac091]

I have had great luck with Vfeedrs. They aren’t very expensive at Chewy, make it very hard for them to fling food or waste any. And are supposed to be shaped a way to make it difficult for rodents to get to the food. They say it works with mash too but I’m not sure it actually would.

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Thanks this is brilliant! I’ve been shopping at our local feed and seed and never thought to check Chewy!

 

[Raymond Dean White]

What is S&P whole grain? A full name/web site would be helpful to examine what is in it and comment further. Pellets/crumbles are a good way to keep their intake properly balanced and not allow them to pick out the "candy".

How many birds do you have? Are they all laying hens or do you have a mix of ages/sexes?

It sounds like you may need to overhaul your feed setup. There are low/no-spill feed setups. Grit and calcium should *never* be mixed in with feed. Pictures of your current feed setup would help as well.

People here are very helpful. Glad you are here to help your chickens do better.

I've been mixing calcium (ground oyster shells) in with my Dumor Layer Pellet feed for years with no ill effects whatsoever. And I think the protein content and the added calcium has kept my Delaware hens from ever eating eggs.

 

[PhenixJiRa]

I use NatureWise Hearty Hen for my dickens. It is a pellet feed without soy and they love it. Costs about $20-25.

In the morning they only have their dry regular feed and also a separate bowl of damp feed from the night before. Same stuff, just damp. They think that’s a treat!

If I’m home in the mid afternoon I give them veggies or another item like scrambled eggs etc but only after enough time has gone that they have eaten some of their food.

About two hours before sunset I let them into the garden where they eat bugs and worms. Then I create a new bowl of wet feed that they devour before going to bed. That same bowl is left over for the morning and we start over again.

For the wet feed you say they don’t finish, I would say to leave it in there or take it inside and return it the next day (due to the rats). You can add a bit more water to “fluff” it and see if they eat it then. I wouldn’t toss it.

I wonder if the rats are freaking them out a bit and stressing them so they eat real quick and then abandon it. I don’t have knowledge on rats though.

 

[kirkwahl]

have-a-heart traps never work. snap traps are cheap Chinese junk. trust me, I know from experience.
I had a very bad rat problem for awhile. they even chewed into the (supposedly rat-proof) coops, until mom the handyman came along with her pellet gun. the only way to work is with water, and food. the traps have to be pretty much solid metal, or electric. that's just the way it is with rats. they are too smart for their own existence.

Glue traps work great for rats. If they touch it, they are held fast.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Glue traps work great for rats. If they touch it, they are held fast.

yes! we used those. they are wonders!

 

[Mrs. K]

I think many of us over feed when we start. And spoiled food stinks. Most rodents feed at night.

So this is what I do I only put out enough food for the day. Chickens do not eat in the dark, they do not need food 24/7.

I have done this for years, and to be honest - it changes quite a bit through the season, weather, size, age and number of birds. When I lock up for the night, I assess and remove the food. If the bowl is bare, I feed a little more the next day. If the bowl has food in it, I feed a little less the next day. Ideally I have about 1/4 of feed left over. That tells me everyone ate, and is full. I never check their crops. Active chickens are healthy chickens. Any chickens crying are healthy chickens. Chickens that are lethargic, not eating, silent, barely moving are sick or starving. Not what you describe.

No, chickens will not starve to death in the presence of food. Not even stupid chickens.

I only set out feeders that supple 24 hour food if we are going to be gone for several days. Otherwise they waste a lot of feed, and bring in rodents.

Mrs K

 

[bcooper4]

have you tried trapping the rats?
we used this to kill many of our little cute rodent friends. make sure to get the rat size one.
do you see them in the daytime? if so, you can use eel traps. put a bit of corn, peanut butter, a jar lid with a bit of molasses, anything you think will lure. we caught 27 rats in one day! the rats won't die automatically, so you must do with them as you see fit. some ideas are:
drown them in a large fish tank (the option we used)
feed them to your pet snake
shoot them with a pellet gun ( what mom did to many afterwards, who did not get lured by delicious treats)

Only one experience but after seeing rats in the daytime around the coop I read in byc about mashed potato flakes and I simply put down dishes in spots unavailable to the chickens and believe it or not the rats disappeared quickly. I believe the basis is they eat the raw flakes which then expand when consumed. You can buy a box for $1 at the Dollar Tree and give it a shot. It did work for me and there were no corpses or living rats to dispose of.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Only one experience but after seeing rats in the daytime around the coop I read in byc about mashed potato flakes and I simply put down dishes in spots unavailable to the chickens and believe it or not the rats disappeared quickly. I believe the basis is they eat the raw flakes which then expand when consumed. You can buy a box for $1 at the Dollar Tree and give it a shot. It did work for me and there were no corpses or living rats to dispose of.

yes. mom tries that one. it killed a few rats, but didn't work nearly well enough for our massive families. I think there were about 75+ rats, and it only killed 5.
it's good though, when you don't have 75+ rats!

 

[DebinCR]

lord have we tried! we've done the have-a-heart live traps as well as snap traps. using peanut butter, corn, cheese, etc. the rats are too smart, with too many snacks that aren't in death traps.

There's always poison, in food or not, if you can put it in the ground away from the chickens. Not my favorite method at all, but it works. I put it in my toolshed with temptations, well away from the chicks. I like the bar variety, all ready to use.

 

[DrumstickRanchTex]

have-a-heart traps never work. snap traps are cheap Chinese junk. trust me, I know from experience.
I had a very bad rat problem for awhile. they even chewed into the (supposedly rat-proof) coops, until mom the handyman came along with her pellet gun. the only way to work is with water, and food. the traps have to be pretty much solid metal, or electric. that's just the way it is with rats. they are too smart for their own existence.

When I had a rodent problem, I took a container, (sometimes large buckets and sometimes a trough) and filled them about 2/3 full of water. Then I rubbed a bit of peanut butter above the water line. My containers were near walls they could climb. They would try to get the peanut butter and would fall in and drown. Sometimes I would catch several in a single container overnight.
I prefer most things over poisons.